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J.League, Week 15
A Lesson in Futility

But before we go further in discussing these three matches, lets take a look at the results of all of the matches played this week:

Kickoff	Home	.	Away
14:00		0-1
14:00		2-0
14:00		2-4
14:00		1-0
14:00		1-0
14:00		3-2
14:00		1-1
14:00		4-1

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3 - 2

The match began slowly, but with a good deal of body contact, as any Avispa match usually does. While the Fukuokan fans will no doubt be sad to see their team relegated, it is unlikely that any other team in the league will be sorry to see them go. But despite the fact that Avispa are the runaway leader in number of red and yellow cards collected, on this particular day, referee Leslie Mottram seemed to be focussed mainly on the sins of the opposition. Gamba received two yellow cards in the first ten minutes, and six cards in the first half! Perhaps inevitably, the flurry of cautions took its toll. In the 31 minute, defender Tomohiro Katanosaka was shown his second yellow, and sent trudging to the showers. Then, a mere three minutes later, Masao Kiba upended an Avispa player on the left sideline and was shown an immediate red card, reducing Gamba to nine men.

One would have expected the Avispa players, who were struggling for their lives in this match, to respond to this gift with a burst of energy. But with one or two exceptions, the players seemed to be sleepwalking their way through the match. There were times when nine-man Gamba seemed to have more players on the ball than eleven-man Avispa. The only real exception to this pitiful display was Romanian midfielder Pavel Badea. Given the two-man advantage, Badea's tireless running finally had an impact five minutes before half time, when he managed to turn the corner on his defender and cut towards the left post. Badea's pass found Tomoji Eguchi directly in front of the net, and Eguchi tapped the ball in to give Avispa the lead.

But amazingly, Avispa responded by showing even LESS desire for the ball, and just before the half time whistle, Yasuhito Endo received a nice back-heel from Nino Bule on the edge of the box, and fired a bullet into the low left corner to knot the scores.

Avispa went in at half time implausibly tied against one of the league's weaker sides, playing with only nine men. But with another 45 minutes to play, and everything on the line, surely one would expect them to receive an inspirational speech at half time and come out breathing fire in the second half. But then, this would be overlooking the team's remarkable record of underachievement. In the 12 stages it has contested since joining the J.League, Avispa has finished better than 11th place only once, and no less than seven times, it has finished either dead last, or second to last. As the second half began, the team lived up to its reputation, with many players standing around idly as the minutes ticked away. Only Badea seemed to be playing with any crispness, and it was his performance that finally got Avispa back on top. But if one watches his single-handed run on goal in this replay, you can see at least six other Avispa players just standing around watching the play develop!!!

The fates surely had to reward this pathetic perfomance with what it deserved. And sure enough, fortune turned its back on Avispa in the 72 minute. Despite a two-player advantage and a one-goal lead, Avispa's defence somehow allowed defender Shin Asahina to run completely unmarked down the left side on the overlap, and break into the box one-on-one with the Avispa keeper. Veteran goaltender Nobuyuki Kojima pulled down the opposing player, and earned a red card, which not only reduced Avispa's player advantage to ten on nine, but also gave Endo a chance to level the score with a PK

Though Avispa still had a one-player advantage, the tide of the match now seemed to flow entirely in Gamba's favour. The team from Osaka were quicker to the ball on almost every play, and as seemed fitting on this tragicomic afternoon, the final goal went to Gamba, after Toru Araiba finished off a mazy run with a hard shot across the face of goal and into the opposite corner.

1 - 1

But Kobe knotted the score midway through the first half, on a sparkling bit of ball work by Kazu Miura. Kazu has shown signs of rejuvenation in the final few matches this season, and he provided a goal for the highlight reel on this afternoon, screening off his defender to collect a long crossing pass, flicking it ahead of himself with a perfect trap, then rushing into the open space to fire a shot over the keeper from close range.

In the second half, Kobe seemed to lose interest in the offensive side of the pitch, and simply set up camp in their own end to await the Marinos attack. Although Yokohama had countless chances to score during the second half and the two extra time periods, their woeful finishing sent the ball errantly away from net again and again. Marinos fans can take heart in the fact that they are still a member of the J1, but they can hardly be encouraged by the lack of firepower displayed by their team in the second half. A thorough reorganisation will be needed if they are to avoid a similar fate next year

When the J.League awards are handed out this year, Shoji Jo deserves special mention for offensive impotence. His inability to do anything useful with the ball this season has earned him the nickname "The Black Hole" among some Marinos fans, because if you sent the ball in his direction, you know it is never going to come back out. Jo capped off a truly awful season with a milestone in futility during his last ball possession of the year. With seconds to go in the second extra time period, he received a pass on the edge of the penalty area, with no defender within five meters, and proceeded to trip over the ball and fall flat on his face!

1 - 0

Tokyo Verdy have had their difficulties over the course of the year, but if effort counts for anything, the performance of the team in the opening minutes of this match alone was enough to make them worthy of J1 status next season. The lean, mean men in green were all over the field from the opening whistle, chasing down balls and throwing themselves into attack with an energy and determination that belied their league-cellar status. The defenders were cutting off FC Tokyo's counterattacks before they even reached midfield, and even the sluggish Edmundo was seen running for space when he didnt have the ball!

The energetic start paid off in the 13 minute, when Edmundo bulled his way through two defenders and pushed the ball ahead to veteran midfielder Hideki Nagai, who quickly pulled the trigger and slipped the ball inside the left post.

Considering the pace at which they started the match, it was perhaps inevitable that Verdy would run out of steam eventually. Though they probably deserved at least one more goal in the first 30 minutes, as the match approached half time, FC Tokyo were at least seeing possession of the ball on occasion. The second half was much more lethargic than the first, but play continued to go largely the way of Verdy. FC Tokyo, it must be noted, were without their three Brazilians, Kelly, Sandro and Amaral. Inevitably, some observers have mused on whether the prospect of losing a cash cow as valuable as the Tokyo Derby match might have convinced FC Tokyo to "take it easy" in their final match.

But certainly no one can deny the spirit shown by the Verdy contingent, especially in the first half. When the full time whistle blew, Verdy players were in tears of relief at their narrow escape from relegation. Although the team still faces a number of weak spots, the addition of Edmundo in the front line certainly made Verdy a more competitive team down the stretch. It will be very interesting to see whether he decides to remain in Tokyo next year, and if so, whether Verdy can begin the climb back to their former glory.

Elsewhere

Second-stage winners Kashima Antlers clearly were saving their fire for what promises to be a fierce championship series with Jubilo Iwata. The Antlers gave six starters the day off, and began their match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima with a number of rookies and trailer squad stalwarts. The ever-schizophrenic Sanfrecce predictably put in one of their best performances of the year, after it no longer mattered, and walked away with a 4-1 victory at home.

Jubilo Iwata also seemed to be looking beyond their match with JEF United, and twice conceded leads to a very delightful brace of goals by youngster Takenori Hayashi. But in the end, Jubilo pulled away for a 4-2 victory.

Kashiwa Reysol closed out a very disappointing season with a 1-0 loss to Shimizu S-Pulse. Steve Perryman surely cannot be heartened by the fact that he lost the last match of the year to his former team, and after a seventh-place finish to the season, his name could very well surface in the next episode of our year-end soap opera: "As the Coaching World Turns"

Finally, Urawa Reds put together a fairly encouraging performance in what may be one of the last matches played at old Komaba Stadium, with a 2-0 victory over Nagoya Grampus. Masahiro Fukuda, who will probably be hanging up his spikes after the year-end Emperor's Cup matches, finished his J.League career with a goal less than a minute after coming on as a second-half sub. Although the Reds have yet to find a convincing replacement for former team leader Shinji Ono, they have a deep pocketbook and the prospect of plenty more cash to come now that the 63,000-seat Saitama Stadium has been completed. Look for the Reds head office to be one of the most prolific shoppers during the off-season.

And so, the second stage comes to an end, with Kashima Antlers and Jubilo Iwata on top of an otherwise very even race. Though the two traditional powerhouses finished as the First and Second Stage champions this year, there was enough parity in the league this season to leave a lot of teams with very legitimate hopes for next year, especially as overseas clubs pluck the top talent from Iwata and Kashima. Here are the final standings:

Rumours and Rumblings

J.League Attendance Soars in the 2001 Season

As is usually the case, Urawa Reds were the runaway attendance leader, and next year they promise to improve on their whopping average of 30,000 fans per game, with the opening of the 63,000-seat Saitama Stadium. Unfortunately, a few franchises are still performing well below average, and if the trend continues, they may have difficulty with their finances in the coming year. Surprisingly, both Kashiwa Reysol and JEF United -- teams that were contenders for much of the season -- finished near the bottom of the table. Here is a summary of attendance by all J1 teams.

J.League Attendance (J1): 2001
Rank	Team	Avg per Match	Total Attendance
1		30,528	213,693
2		25,885	207,080
3		19,591	156,725
4		19,320	135,241
5		17,570	140,556
6		17,352	138,816
7		16,629	116,401
8		14,692	102,846
9		13,203	92,421
10		12,715	101,717
11		12,853	102,823
12		11,394	91,149
13		10,436	73,052
14		10,011	80,086
15		9,313	65,189
16		8,453	59,174

The attendance results for the J2 division were a bit mixed. Two teams -- Albirex Niigata and Vegalta Sendai -- averaged over 10,000 per match, outdrawing even many J1 teams. However, the majority of the clubs in this division had average attendance figures of around 3000-4000. While this is considered a respectable figure for a second-division club, some of the lower-ranked clubs will probably have to cut back on their efforts to sign quality overseas talent if they hope to make ends meet. Lowly Mito Hollyhock averaged only 1500 fans per match, and there are serious concerns that the club will go bankrupt before the start of next season.

J.League Attendance (J2): 2001
Rank	Team	Avg per Match	Total Attendance
1		16,659	366,500
2		14,011	308,243
3		6,638	146,043
4		4,391	96,592
5		4,112	90,472
6		3,864	85,014
7		3,808	83,777
8		3,784	83,240
9		3,479	76,527
10		3,130	68,850
11		3,007	66,160
12		1,559	34,304

Emperor's Cup Tournament Kicks Off

This year, the campaign is off to an interesting start, as on J2 club has already been knocked off by an lowly University team. Tokai University, representing Kanagawa prefecture, defeated J2 club Omiya Ardija 2-0 in their first-round match. Another giant-killer to watch is Kunimi High School, who won last year's high school championship. Kunimi triumphed 4-0 over Sunlife FC, and will face Jutendo University in the second round. If the youngsters can get through this challenge, they will have the thrill of taking the field against Jubilo Iwata on December 9, just one day after Jubilo play their J1 championship match against Kashima Antlers. The dark horse team with perhaps the best chance of making a splash in this tournament, though, is Otsuka Pharmaceutical. This company team from Tokushima Prefecture, which also competes in the JFL, crushed their first-round opponent 8-0, and faces a fairly easy opponent in Zenshin University next week. Assuming they progress, they would face JEF United in the third round and then, most probably, Yokohama Marinos or Kyoto Purple Sanga in the fourth round.

For a full matrix of the tournament, including the results of matches held thus far, Click here.