Yokohama F. Marinos captain Shunsuke Nakamura was named the MEIJI YASUDA J1 League Coca Cola Most Valuable Player for October, his second time receiving the honour this season.

The midfield icon scored once and two assists over three games last month, with his performance in F. Marinos’ 3-1 win at Vegalta Sendai drawing particular praise from the selection committee. 

Nakamura not only scored from one of his trademark free-kicks in that match, but ran the furthest out of all his team-mates in order to secure a valuable win..

His partnership with fellow October MVP nominee Ademilson was also superb, with a league-best 18 passes distributed to the Brazilian. 

Thanks to Nakamura’s impact, F. Marinos have risen to seventh place overall, and third in the league’s second stage standings.