Biting into a chocolate taler made him famous throughout Germany. The VfL Bochum striker is now also promoting chocolate in Japan.

He shows humor and business sense: just under two weeks ago, Takuma Asano caused quite a stir. When the VfL Bochum striker unabashedly bit into a chocolate taler that fans had thrown onto the pitch in protest against a DFL investor during the match against Union Berlin, it caused amusement throughout Germany.

Especially as the energy boost made Asanao one of the best players in Bochum’s 3-0 win in the minutes that followed. “The taste wasn’t good, but that wasn’t important,” said Asano after the game.

Now the 29-year-old is eating chocolate again. And it seems to taste better to him. On his social media channels, the Japanese international advertises for a confectionery manufacturer from his home country.

He calls himself “Chocolate Boy” and smiles as he holds a bar of chocolate up to the camera in an advertising image. “It contains a lot of cocoa polyphenols, so even athletes can eat it with a clear conscience,” he writes. And almost 15,000 of his followers on Instagram like the promise of “sweetness and health”…

It wasn’t just for fun. I really thought it could give me energy.

Takuma Asano

There’s no doubt about it, throwing the chocolate coins was a great opportunity for the Japanese player. And it provided an unforgettable moment in Bochum’s first half of the season. “The chocolate gave me power,” said Asano on that December 16 after the win over the Irons. “It wasn’t just for fun. I really thought it could give me energy.” Even at that early stage of the game, Asano said he felt tired. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to play like that in the second half.”

And he certainly could: After the chocolate boost, Asano turned up the heat and became one of the best Bochum players on the pitch. He made it 1:0 in stoppage time of the first half and the Japanese player, who had scored Japan’s second goal in his national team’s 2:1 victory over Germany at the World Cup in Qatar, was involved in numerous other good Bochum attacking moves. Coach Thomas Letsch only substituted him shortly before the end of the match.

Takuma Asanao has scored five goals in the Bundesliga so far, making him Bochum’s most prolific scorer. Despite – or because of the chocolate?