Team Data: Cerezo Osaka Team Name: Team Logo & Mascot: Team Flag: Home Uniform Away Uniform Home Stadium Nagai Stadium Seats 50,000 (WC2002 venue) Team Data: Management Corporation: Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. Established: 9 December, 1993 President: Junichi Fujii Investors: Consortium of 17 local companies, including Nippon Meat Packers, Inc. and Yanmar Diesel Engine Co., Ltd., as well as Osaka City Address: 2-2-19 Nagaihigashi, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka City, Osaka 558-0004 Hometown Area: Osaka City Home Stadium: Nagai Stadium (capacity: 50,000) Joined J. League: 1995 Major Titles: JSL Champions: (as Yanmar Diesel) 1971, 1974, 1975, 1980 Emperor's Cup: (as Yanmar Diesel) 1968, 1970, 1974 Roby Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Nobody seems to know why Cerezo chose a wolf as a mascot, though the team claims that Roby symbolizes "intelligence, teamwork and aggressive play". Go figure.

Team Roster 2008 Schedule Historical Results Preseason Forecast Cerezo Osaka have long been one of the most colourful teams in the J.League, and not solely for their "flaming pink" uniforms. Although Cerezo have yet to win a title, they have come within a whisker of victory on two occasions, and if the team continues to play its aggressive style of attacking football, it seems only a matter of time before they claim some silverware. In 2000, and again in 2005, Cerezo went into the final match of the season in first place, only to stumble at the final hurdle. While this has surely disappointed their fans, it is often the teams that break their fans hearts with dramatic "near misses" that enjoy the most fanatical support. Although their cross-town rivals, Gamba, were the ones to win the title in 2005, Cerezo seems to be the team that enjoys the greater passion among folks in Osaka Cerezo got its start in 1965, as the club team of Yanmar Diesel. In the same year that it was established, the team gained admission to the Japan Soccer League, and quickly established itself as a formidable opponent, winning the league championship four times, the league cup three times and the Emperor's Cup twice during the 1970s and early 1980s. Yanmar entered a slump in the late 1980s, and was breifly demoted to the second division, but immediately prior to the formation of the J.League in 1993, the club revived, gaining admission to the old JFL. After two successful JFL campaigns, it incorporated as Osaka Football Club Ltd. in 1993 Year League Emperor's Cup JSL Cup Coach 1957 Founded Furukawa 1965 7th Lost in prelim " 1966 8th Lost in prelim Onitake 1967 5th 2nd " 1968 2nd Champion " 1969 5th Lost in prelim " 1970 4th Champion " 1971 Champion 2nd " 1972 2nd 2nd " 1973 3rd Semifinal Champion " 1974 Champion Champion (Special Cup) " 1975 Champion Semifinal " 1976 4th 2nd Lost in prelim " 1977 5th 2nd 2nd " 1978 2nd Quarterfinal Quarterfinal Kamamoto 1979 4th Semifinal 2nd round " 1980 Champion 2nd round Quarterfinal " 1981 4th Quarterfinal 2nd round " 1982 2nd Quarterfinal 2nd " 1983 5th 2nd Champion " 1984 9th Quarterfinal Champion " 1985 10th 2nd round 2nd round Mita 1986 6th Quarterfinal Semifinal " 1987 6th 1st round Quarterfinal " 1988 8th 2nd round Semifinal " 1989 7th Quarterfinal 2nd round " 1990 11th 1st round 2nd round Yoshimura 1991 3rd 1st round 1st round " 1992 4th Third round " 1993 7th Lost in prelim " In 1993, Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. was established, and the team adopted a new name. Based on the results of a public contest, the name selected was "Cerezo", which means "cherry" in Spanish. Osaka (and all of Japan, for that matter) is well known for its cherry blossoms, and the team not only adopted Cerezo as a name, but also chose pink as one of its team colours. The very next year, Cerezo won the JFL championship and advanced to the J.League. It takes a real tough guy to play in a pink uniform, and Cerezo has a reputation as a very tough opponent, despite the fact that the team has never won a championship. In 1999 and 2000, the team's performance improved markedly with the addition of several key players. Hiroaki Morishima, the captain and a frequent national team member, joined striker Akinori Nishizawa and several top Korean nationals, such as Noh Jung-Yoon, Hwang Sun-Hong and Yoon Jung-Hwan, as well as volante Kazuaki Tasaka (now a Cerezo coach), whose bald head and forceful style earned him the nickname "Robocop". The team boasted one of the most potent offenses in the league, and came within a single goal of winning the first stage championship in the 2000 season. Unfortunately, this marked the high-water mark for the team, and preceeded a collapse of dramatic proportions. After a weak finish in the second half of 2000, the team released its Korean contingent, and striker Nishizawa moved overseas, first to Espanyol in Spain, and then to Bolton Wanderers, in England. Injuries to key personnel made matters worse, and the team quickly went into a talspin from which it was unable to recover. As a result, the team was relegated to the J2 division at the end of the 2001 season. But Cerezo regrouped following their relegation. The team managed to convince most of its top players to stay on, and fight for promotion in the very next year. Over the course of the season, several youngsters came into their own, particularly striker Yoshito Okubo, who not established himself as one of the leaders of Japan's youth team in their quest for a berth in the 2004 Olympics, and has won some calls to the full national team as well. Okubo and a collection of other young, attack-minded players, and along with the remaining core of veterans like Morishima, helped Cerezo return to the J1 division in 2003. Cerezo has always employed a ferocious attacking strategy, demonstrating a style of play that is as flashy as their flaming pink uniforms. However, until recently the team has struggled due to inconsistent defending and some rather questionable management performance. The best illustration of this problem came in 2004, when the team achieved a rather dubious "record" performance, by going through five separate coaches over the course of a single season. In fact, following the close of the 2003 season, the team replaced its coach twice before the 2004 season even began! Selection of foreign players was also a weak point, and since Cerezo often used foreing players in the back line, this helps to explain their reputation for poor defence. In 2005, the signing of some useful contributors in Brazilians Ze Carlos, Fabinho and Bruno Cuadros, plus some talented youngsters like Kenjiro Ezoe and Kota Fujimoto, tightened up Cerezo's defence considerably, and this turned them suddenly into a title contender. Though later events would make this sudden surge of success appear flukish, for a few weeks in late 2005 it looked like the Flaming Pinks would finally claim some silverware,. with their first league title. But it was not to be. On the final day of the season, Cerezo conceded a goal in injury time to tumble out of first place and miss their chance of glory. After falling just short of success in 2005, the team seems to have collapsed both physically and emotionally, and for the next 12 months the team went through the worst slump in its history, culminating in relegation at the end of the 2006 season. Cerezo now face the prospect of another stint in the second division, and another period of regrouping. The team did manage to convince a number of veterans to stay on and see the team through the 2007 season, but still failed to regain a spot in the J1 in a single season. The yo-yo act is surely growing tedious for fans in south Osaka, who will be hoping that the Flaming Pinks can show a bit more consistency in years to come.

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