It may seem as if he just burst onto the scene but Shoki Hirai is 23 years old, and has been patiently plugging away out of the spotlight at Gamba Osaka for a few years now, biding his time, and fighting for a place against the likes of Araujo, Magno Alves, Leandro and Cho, among others, as well as fighting off newcomers Pedro Junior, Dodo and Ze Carlos in 2010. The fact that he got into the team at all has been a “lucky” combination of injuries (Lucas and Cho) and foolishness on the part of one player (Pedro Junior took exception to being substituted, lashed out at Gamba coach Akira Nishino, and was soon on a plane out of Osaka!). To this writer, Hirai’s talent was never in doubt – I have been fortunate enough to have seen him play a close range – and I mean CLOSE range – as I have refereed matches, where he has been freely scoring goals, numerous times in Gamba satellite games over the last few years.Regular readers of my rants will know that I advocate less foreigners in the the Japanese game in order to give up-and-coming youngsters a chance to play. The fact that Gamba Osaka were “fortunate” enough to have so many problems up front with their imported players, has meant that Hirai, along with Usami, Otsuka and, to a lesser extent, Hoshihara, have finally found themselves on the field. And none of them have wasted their chance.But it is Hirai who has grabbed the baton with both hands, and both feet! Just look at the stats … in the ACL he came in for the group games and hit four goals in a week in two games against Singapore Armed Forces. In the J.League he has hit 7 goals in 7 games, and those goals have come from only 15 shots registered! How’s that for a ratio!? Compare that to another forward who might feel aggrieved at not going to South Africa – Jubilo’s Maeda has scored 7 goals also, but from 11 games (and 25 shots). Yokohama’s Watanabe has 7 goals from 12 games (including a PK). Hirai as a HUGE future.Hirai made his debut in 2006 in an Emperor’s Cup game, but had to wait until this season to get his big chance. After a few substitute appearances over the last two seasons he has come in and endeared himself to the Gamba faithful with his deadly accuracy and taking of chances. Gamba have a new hero! The future looks bright for Gamba Osaka up front! Now let’s see what they can do about the back line… but that’s another story! If only Hirai hadn’t been injured in April he would also be on the plane to South Africa (Yano? Please!) and Japan would also have a new hero …. it’s a funny old game!