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Nabisco Cup Summaries

3 - 1 0 - 4

The Antlers-Reysol series draws on one of the strongest rivalreis in the league, and the excitement of these matches was in keeping with that competitive spirit. In the first leg, in Kashiwa, Reysol's Korean contingent (minus Yoo Sang-Chul, who has a broken nose) seemed eager to get back into the fray after a disappointing performance in the Confederations Cup. In fact, it took Hong Myung-Bo less than two minutes to pick up a yellow card for rough play. Despite the scrappiness, though, Reysol clearly established control over the injury-decimated Antlers, who fielded a team with nary a single face from their treble-winning squad last year. Reysol got two early first-half goals to take control of the match. Antlers' Atsushi Yanagisawa shook off a sore back to come on at half time, and made the contest a bit closer with a goal midway through the second stanza, but Reysol were never in trouble, and added an insurance goal in the 83 minute.

However, the return leg, in Kashima's brand-new stadium, was a completely different contest. The Antlers came out with a lineup featuring three forwards -- Yanagisawa, Takayuki Suzuki and Tomoyuki Hirase. All three would find the netting before the end of the night. However, ashard as Kashima worked to fight back from their two-goal deficit, Reysol need to be cretited with handing the series back to the Antlers through their own errors. First, they got the Antlers back in contention by scoring an own goal in the first half. Then, when the three-forward line finally broke through Kashiwa's defence in the 57 minute to knot the aggregate scores, Kashiwa defender Norihiro Satsukawa responded by going on a rampage, picking up two yellow cards in just over five minutes. Reduced to ten men and with the Antlers holding all the momentum, Reysol could only defend desperately and pray to last until the PK round. But that was not to be. Just ten minute after Satsukawa was dismissed, Suzuki put Kashima ahead on aggregate with a powerful blast, and Yanagisawa laid the icing on the cake in the 82 minute with his sixth goal in the past four matches.

3 - 1 3 - 2

Shinji Ono's stock continues to rise, as rumours swirl that Dutch club Feyenoord are about to sign him to a four-year contract. In the first leg of the series with Gamba Osaka, Ono scored two goals and provided one assist on a goal by Tuto. Ono's play was magnificent, and the goals were both created on individual creativity and sheer power. Since his injury against the Philippines, almost two years ago, Ono seemed to lose the power that he showed in his first year in the league, no longer trying to drive past defenders when he had a chance. On this night, though, both of his goals were created when he took the ball high in the penalty area ahd shoulered his way past the defenders to get space and unleash his shot. If the powerful Ono of old is really back, Feyenoord had better sign him quick before too many other clubs get a chance to see what he can do.

The only worry for Reds fans, as the team returned to Urawa for the second leg, was that Ono seems to be carrying the team a bit. While it is still unclear how the team will manage to stay competitive once he does indeed leave for Europe, the Reds showed in the second leg that they are not just a one-player club. In the first half, "Tuto" Ruschel took a long pass from Ono to the edge of the box, stopped dead in his tracks to get the defence to pull back, then cut towards net once more and fired a low-angle shot that cleared the keeper and put the Reds in the lead. His strike partner Yuichiro Nagai got a second goal in the 60 minute, as a lead pass from Tuto left him free on the right side of the box and he drilled a line drive into the far side of the net. Wth a four-goal aggregate lead, the Reds got a bit lazy, and let Reginald Vital pull one goal bakc with a lob shot over the keeper's head in the 66 minute. Ten minutes later, Masanobu Matsunami added a goal with a header from a corner kick. However, Ono put an end to any thoughts of a comeback with a cheeky goal just three minutes on, pulling the keeper out with a drive to the left side of the box, and then rolling the ball softly past him and into the net.

1 - 0 1 - 2 (PK 6 - 5)

Shimizu S-Pulse can blame only themselves for this loss, as they conceded an own goal midway through the first half of the first leg, and then showed a lack of any real initiative to try to restore the score line. The second leg started out a lot more exciting, as JEF scored in just the 3 minute, and S-Pulse came back with two goals of their own over the next ten-minute span -- one from Masaaki Sawanobori and one from Alex. However, afterthe 20 minute, the game turned into a defensive struggle, and at the end of regulation the two teams were tied on aggregate (In Japan, there is no away-goals rule). After playing two uneventful overtime periods, JEF snuck by on penalty kicks to advance to the next round

1 - 0 1 - 1

Jubilo Iwata certainly did not look like the team that is eight points clear in the J.League first stage competition, as they just barely managed to sneak by J2 club Oita Trinita. To be fair, though, Jubilo played without a lot of their regulars, both due to minor injuries and as some of the members of Japan's national team squad rested after the Confederations Cup tournament. Masashi "Gon" Nakayama got a goal in each match, and unfortunately for Oita, they did not have the firepower to respond with both of their top strikers -- Jinno and Kubica -- out with injuries.

3 - 0 2 - 0

Shoji Jo had a reply for those who have written him off as a has-been, scoring two goals in the first half of the first leg, in Yokohama, allowing the Marinos them to cruise home to their first victory under a new coach. Jo may not be a very creative player, but he still has the ability to put the ball away when he is in front of the net.

In the second leg, Midfielder Tomokazu Hirama took center stage, scoring the first goal after less than 60 seconds and adding a second on the 30 minute mark. Avispa looked totally listless in both matches, and seem to be losing the fire that inspired them to a very competitive start this season. After starting out as one of the league leaders, Avispa have fallen back to their usual spot in the middle of the table, and now they are ignominiously dumped out of the Nabisco Cup competition as well.

1 - 0 2 - 1

In a battle of J2 clubs, Kazuki Ganaha scored his first goal of the season to secure a victory for Kawasaki against Yokohama FC. In the second leg, Frontale scored two goals early, and then cruised to a win on a 3-1 aggregate, becoming the first J2 club ever to reach the quarterfinals of the Nabisco Cup competition since the tournament's inception.

3 - 3 2 - 1 (ET)

A real barn-burner in Hiroshima saw FC Tokyo take a first-half lead in the first leg, only to concede a blistering hat trick to Tatsuhiko Kubo sandwiched around the half time break. But just when Hiroshima seemed to have the match wrapped up, they conceded two late goals to award Tokyo a share of the glory. In the return leg, FC Tokyo took the advantage on a goal from Kelly just before half time, but a late strike by Yutaka Takahashi put the sides even on aggregate, and Hiroshima scored the golden goal on a looping header by Susumu Oki

2 - 2 2 - 1

In the first leg, Nagoya and Kobe traded goals, and looked fairly evenly matched in a game that was 1-1 at half time and 2-2 at the final whistle. Nagoya got the victory on a strike by Ueslei which broke a 1-1 deadlock to send Grampus on to the quarterfinals

That makes the matchups for the next round look as follows:

Quarterfinal Round