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Yamazaki Nabisco Cup, 2004
The Yamazaki Nabisco Cup is the annual J.League cup tournament. The tournament takes place over the course of the regular J.League season, with most matches scheduled on holidays that come in the middle of a week, or on weekends when no league matches are scheduled. Although it is not quite as prestigeous as the Emperor's Cup (which, like the FA Cup in Britain, includes teams from all divisions and even university and high school champion teams), the Nabisco Cup has nevertheless become an important part of the annual J.League schedule.
The format for the Nabisco Cup has changed several times, but the use of pool groups to determine the final eight teams seemed to be a very successful format in 2003, and it has been retained ever since. On the other hand, in order to reduce the burden on teams that proceed to the knockout round, the total number of matches played was reduced in 2004 by changing the format of the knockout tournament from a home-and-away competition to a single-elimination tournament. This reduced the maximum number of games that any team would play in the tournament to nine (six in the pool round plus the quarterfinal, semifinal and final).
However, for obvious reasons, the use of a single elimination process in the knockout stage was not satisfactory and it was dropped after the 2004 experiment. However, since the top team in each pool met the runner-up of another pool in the quarterfinal round, the winner of each pool hosted the quarterfinal match. This provided an extra incentive to teams in the pool round, to fight for the top spot rather than merely trying to qualify. Theoretically, this was "fair", but the use of non-neutral stadiums for the semifinals was a big issue of contention, and the result was that the league returned to a home-and-away system in 2005.
Below is the full schedule and results of matches in the 2004 Nabisco Cup. CLICK HERE for information on past Nabisco Cup champions
2004 Yamazaki Nabisco Cup Pool Round Matches
Pool A | | Date | Home | . | Away |
|---|
| 27 Mar | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 0-0 | Yokohama Marinos |
| 27 Mar | Cerezo Osaka | 1-1 | Tokyo Verdy |
| 29 Apr | Yokohama Marinos | 2-1 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
| 29 Apr | Tokyo Verdy | 4-1 | Cerezo Osaka |
| 29 May | Tokyo Verdy | 3-0 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
| 29 May | Cerezo Osaka | 0-1 | Yokohama Marinos |
| 05 Jun | Yokohama Marinos | 1-2 | Tokyo Verdy |
| 05 Jun | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 2-0 | Cerezo Osaka |
| 17 Jul | Tokyo Verdy | 2-1 | Yokohama Marinos |
| 17 Jul | Cerezo Osaka | 0-2 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
| 24 Jul | Yokohama Marinos | 1-0 | Cerezo Osaka |
| 24 Jul | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 1-3 | Tokyo Verdy |
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| Team | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|
| Tokyo Verdy | 16 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 4 |
| Yokohama Marinos | 10 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 11 |
|
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Pool B | | Date | Home | . | Away |
|---|
| 27 Mar | Jubilo Iwata | 0-0 | Albirex Niigata |
| 27 Mar | Gamba Osaka | 1-3 | Nagoya Grampus |
| 29 Apr | Albirex Niigata | 4-4 | Gamba Osaka |
| 29 Apr | Nagoya Grampus | 5-2 | Jubilo Iwata |
| 29 May | Jubilo Iwata | 0-1 | Gamba Osaka |
| 29 May | Nagoya Grampus | 1-2 | Albirex Niigata |
| 05 Jun | Gamba Osaka | 2-3 | Jubilo Iwata |
| 05 Jun | Albirex Niigata | 0-1 | Nagoya Grampus |
| 17 Jul | Albirex Niigata | 1-1 | Jubilo Iwata |
| 17 Jul | Nagoya Grampus | 2-2 | Gamba Osaka |
| 24 Jul | Jubilo Iwata | 1-1 | Nagoya Grampus |
| 24 Jul | Gamba Osaka | 2-0 | Albirex Niigata |
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| Team | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|
| Nagoya Grampus | 11 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 8 |
| Gamba Osaka | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 12 |
| Albirex Niigata | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Jubilo Iwata | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 10 |
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Pool C | | Date | Home | . | Away |
|---|
| 27 Mar | Urawa Reds | 2-3 | Oita Trinita |
| 27 Ma | JEF United | 4-0 | Shimizu S-Pulse |
| 29 Apr | Shimizu S-Pulse | 2-0 | Urawa Reds |
| 29 Apr | Oita Trinita | 1-4 | JEF United |
| 29 May | Shimizu S-Pulse | 3-2 | JEF United |
| 29 May | Oita Trinita | 0-3 | Urawa Reds |
| 05 Jun | JEF United | 2-0 | Oita Trinita |
| 05 Jun | Urawa Reds | 3-0 | Shimizu S-Pulse |
| 17 Jul | Urawa Reds | 2-1 | JEF United |
| 17 Jul | Shimizu S-Pulse | 1-0 | Oita Trinita |
| 24 Jul | JEF United | 1-2 | Urawa Reds |
| 24 Jul | Oita Trinita | 0-2 | Shimizu S-Pulse |
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| Team | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|
| Urawa Reds | 12 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 7 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 12 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 9 |
| JEF United Ichihara | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 8 |
| Oita Trinita | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 14 |
|
|
Pool D | | Date | Home | . | Away |
|---|
| 27 Mar | Vissel Kobe | 1-0 | Kashiwa Reysol |
| 27 Mar | FC Tokyo | 1-2 | Kashima Antlers |
| 29 Apr | Kashima Antlers | 1-2 | FC Tokyo |
| 29 Apr | Kashiwa Reysol | 1-1 | Vissel Kobe |
| 29 May | Vissel Kobe | 0-3 | Kashima Antlers |
| 29 May | Kashiwa Reysol | 0-2 | FC Tokyo |
| 05 Jun | Kashima Antlers | 0-2 | Kashiwa Reysol |
| 05 Jun | FC Tokyo | 2-1 | Vissel Kobe |
| 17 Jul | Kashiwa Reysol | 0-0 | Kashima Antlers |
| 17 Jul | Vissel Kobe | 1-2 | FC Tokyo |
| 24 Jul | Kashima Antlers | 2-0 | Vissel Kobe |
| 24 Jul | FC Tokyo | 1-1 | Kashiwa Reysol |
|
| Team | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|
| FC Tokyo | 13 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 |
| Kashima Antlers | 10 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Vissel Kobe | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
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Quarterfinal Round
| Date | Home | . | Away |
| Sep 4 | Tokyo Verdy | 2-1 (ET) | Shimizu S-Pulse |
| Sep 4 | Nagoya Grampus | 2-1 | Kashima Antlers |
| Sep 4 | Urawa Reds | 3-2 | Yokohama Marinos |
| Sep 4 | FC Tokyo | 4-1 | Gamba Osaka |
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Semifinals
| Date | Home | . | Away |
| Oct 9 | FC Tokyo | 4-3 (ET) | Tokyo Verdy | | | Oct 9 | Urawa Reds | 4-1 | Nagoya Grampus |
Finals
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