This is Osako Yuya, a striker for Japan’s Soccer Team, the Samurai Blue. And his goal in the 73rd minute of yesterday’s match against Columbia was the winning goal against a team that was supposed to crush Japan. But of course Japan won, and now all of Japan is cheering for the Samurai Blue to keep winning!

But that’s not all. You see, Osako-san was the subject of one of the funniest memes in Japan back in 2009, and thanks to his goal yesterday that meme is back in all of it’s glory! For those that don’t know the meme, here it is:

So what does “Osako Hanpa Naitte” mean? Well, it means “Osaka is way too good!” And here is the story behind this Japanese meme.

Back in 2009, the captain of a Japanese high school soccer team had just finished losing to Osako Yuya’s squad in a soccer tournament. The team captain was interviewed about the loss, and here is what happened:

As you can see, the entire team was extremely crushed by the loss. And the captain was especially sad. And for those that don’t understand Japanese, the captain is complaining about the following: “Osako is way too good!” And the captain wished that Osako would have told him just how good he was before they played the game–because he would have presumably just run away from Osako’s team, haha!

By the way, this clip has now been watched over 2 million times!

This meme was such a big hit that even Nissin Foods–the company that introduced instant ramen noodles–made a parody of the video in one of its commercials:

Now you can see this great meme on t-shirts and flags in the hands of Japanese supporters. The merchandise was created by designer Yasukazu Asano, who originally only sold 50 shirts. Now they’re flying off the shelves!

Japan’s next World Cup soccer match is on Sunday against Senegal, so make sure to lookout for this meme! And remember “Osako Hanpa Naitte!”

See you soon!