Olympic Football Club have confirmed the signing of Japanese attacking midfielder, Takeru Okada ahead of the 2022 NPL Queensland season.
The 27-year-old arrives at Goodwin Park following stints at Heidelberg United and Wollongong Wolves where he established himself as one of the stars of the NPL.
Okada spent two seasons with the Wolves, scoring in both the Final and Semi Final as Wollongong were crowned national NPL Champions in 2019, the same season they won the NPL NSW Premiership.
Okada earned a spot in the NPL NSW Team of the Season in each of his two seasons at Wollongong and played for New South Wales against Queensland in the State of Origin clash at Perry Park in 2020.
The attacking midfielder then moved to NPL Victoria powerhouse, Heidelberg United for the 2021 season, scoring two league goals before the competition was abandoned as a result of the COVID-19 enforced lockdown.
The opportunity to bring Takeru Okada to Olympic was made possible by Olympic’s International Director, Kazuya Ito who assists the club with the acquisition of VISA players as part of his role.
Like Ito, Okada’s club in Japan is Cerezo Osaka, after coming through the club’s academy the 27-year-old spent three seasons as part of the J-League sides first team squad between 2013 and 2015.
After sustaining a knee injury, Okada fought his way back through the Japanese leagues and also spent a year playing professionally with GKS Betchatow in Poland.
Okada, who will wear the number 11 jersey for Olympic said he’s hungry for success at Goodwin Park.
“I decided to come to Olympic because it’s a great team with a great coach,” Okada said.
“My goal is to win the Grand Final and win the league title with Olympic.”
Okada trained with his new team mates for the first time earlier this month as pre-season training commenced ahead of the 2022 NPL Queensland season.
Olympic FC 2022 NPL Queensland squad (announced): 3. Zac ANDERSON, 7. Daniel LECK, 8. Keegan JELACIC, 9. Zac KIERPAL, 10. Steve WHYTE, 11. Takeru OKADA, 14. Shannon BRADY, 17. Danny DRIVER
