Cerezo Osaka FW Yoshito Okubo (38) scored his first three consecutive goals in the opening match. In the 14th minute of the first half of the match against Furusato FC Tokyo, he scored the first goal with a splendid head dive. Although he suffered a 2-3 backhand defeat in two straight games, he participated in all points with a goal and an assist, and with that, he was the top scorer of the first three games with four shots. He extended his highest scoring record from J1 to 189 and once again appealed for a full revival. Tokushima Vortis missed J1’s long-awaited first home win by drawing 1-1 with Vissel Kobe.

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Okubo, dancing like a butterfly, scored a splendid header. In the 14th minute of the first half, he passed the opponent’s mark on the front line and jumped from his head to the floating ball pass from midfielder Sakamoto who was on the back right.

“When I hit it firmly on my head, I probably took it off. I wish I could touch it somehow and be sucked into the goal. I’m glad I did.” I scratched him across the front of my head and hit him to the left of the goal. The consecutive points since the opening are the first three consecutive games to surpass the two consecutive games of the Kawasaki Frontale era in 2015, and it is an approximate gain of four points in three games.

In the second half, he assisted midfielder Harakawa, who was a winner at one point. Cerezo Osaka scored 2 goals in the 3 games, and Okubo participated in 5 goals out of a total of 6 goals. “I think it’s too good. It’s great that I can afford it in front of goal. I feel like I’ll go in if I hit a shot.” With 189 points, which is the highest number in J1, the fourth top scorer in 6 years is also on the horizon.

The reason for the better performance is the hypoxic exercise I first worked on. By practicing in a thin air gap, the body tried to absorb more oxygen and resistance was strengthened. He played 19 games in J2 Tokyo V last season for a total of 736 minutes, but this season he has already played 205 minutes in just 3 games. It becomes a body that burns fat easily and the body stays in shape with the best weight of 70 kg.

On this day, the Japan national team coach Hajime Moriyasu inspected. Returning to the national team and entering the framework of the Tokyo Olympics (Olympics) are no longer a dream story. “Now, a game is a game. If the team wins and scores or assists, it will naturally follow.” A great veteran who turns 39 in June will produce a miraculous year after effort.[Kazuyuki Yokota]

▼ Okubo C Osaka Record Note FW Okubo scored his first three consecutive opening games. Not just since the start of the season, Okubo has scored three or more goals in a row for the ninth time since he was 14 or 15 in the Kawasaki F era. The longest is four games in a row. In addition, the goal of three or more matches in a row at 38 years and 8 months became the oldest Japanese record for FW Kazu (Kazuyoshi Miura = current Yokohama FC) to break the 37 years and 8 months achieved in 2004 during the era of Kobe. … Including foreign players, the 41-year-old 3-month-old Kashima Zico midfielder in 1994 is the oldest.