Arminia Bielefeld stay on course in the Bundesliga with a 2-2 draw at SC Freiburg. Meanwhile, Masaya Okugawa played a big part in this. A rather inconspicuous player with special moments.
It’s not unusual for him to become a phantom. Then Masaya Okugawa disappears, can hardly be seen on the field for minutes. Only to suddenly strike. His coach Frank Kramer describes it like this: “Even if you don’t see him, he’s there in the next situation and can be a goal threat.”
The Japanese player’s shot on Saturday in Freiburg to make it 1:2 was anything but unstoppable, but Okugawa still heralded Bielefeld’s comeback. A historic one: for the first time since the 30th matchday of the 2007/08 season, Arminia scored after trailing 0:2 in the Bundesliga. Back then in the 2:2 in Nuremberg, now in Freiburg.
Kramer: “He always has clever ways to the opponent’s goal “
Thanks to Okugawa, who only had 35 ball contacts but four shots on goal. One of them landed over the stunned Freiburg keeper Benjamin Uphoff and into the net. It was the 25-year-old’s sixth goal of the season, and on the first day of the second leg he had already surpassed Bielefeld’s top scorers of the previous season – Fabian Klos and compatriot Doan Ritsu both scored five times.
Overall, the attacking and flexible midfielder has only once in his career been more successful in finishing than he is currently: in the 2019/20 season, he scored nine goals for RB Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga. A mark that does not seem unattainable this year. “Phantom” Okugawa certainly knows where the opponent’s goal is. “He is always good for goals,” Kramer describes his protégé, “he always has clever ways to the opponent’s goal.”
It’s a development Okugawa has taken with great diligence. “He has had to work a lot with the team,” Kramer says of the Japanese, who came to East Westphalia from Salzburg in January 2021. After scoring only one goal in his first six months, the offensive man is now increasingly blossoming. He already has six goals to his name, the only time Arminia failed to pick up any points was when he scored his first goal of the season in Mönchengladbach (1:3).
And: Okugawa has scored in each of the last three games and has played a major part in his team’s seven-point streak, which has put them back in the thick of the relegation battle. The last Armine to score in three consecutive Bundesliga games is also the one who last scored more than five goals in a season: Artur Wichniarek in the 2008/09 season.
