The bite into a chocolate coin made him famous throughout Germany. The VfL Bochum striker is now also advertising chocolate in Japan.

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

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

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

He calls himself “Chocolate Boy” and in an advertising picture he is smiling as he holds a bar of chocolate up to the camera. “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 question about it: the chocolate throw was a great opportunity for the Japanese player. And he had created an unforgettable moment in Bochum’s first half of the season. “The chocolate gave me power,” said Asano after the win over the Iron on December 16. ‘It wasn’t just for fun. I really thought it could give me energy.’ He said he felt tired even at this early stage of the game. ”I thought I couldn’t play like this in the second half.”

And he was able to: after the chocolate boost, Asano turned on and became one of Bochum’s best players on the pitch. He scored the 1-0 in first-half stoppage time. The Japanese player, who scored the second Japanese goal against Germany in his national team’s 2-1 win at the World Cup in Qatar, was involved in numerous other good Bochum offensive actions. It was only shortly before the end of the game that coach Thomas Letsch substituted him.

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