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J.League Suntory Championship
First Leg: Miracle Beneath Mt. Fuji

2 - 2

But lets begin at the beginning . . .

The match kicked off on a sparkling clear late-autumn day, under perfectly clear skies that gave the crowd and Shizuoka's "Epoca" Stadium a glimmering view of the snow-capped Mt. Fuji. But despite the fine weather, a storm was brewing, and it would not take long to break. From the opening tap, Jubilo threw themselves into the match with energy and ferocity that allowed them to pry the initiative away from the sleek ball-control midfield play of the Antlers. This was certainly to be expected, but what turned the match into a tempest in a teapot was some very questionable officiating by Mr. Okada. The only referee in the J.League who has refereed a World Cup match, Mr. Okada is also renowned for a tendency to make questionable calls in important matches. It did not take long for him to get his opportunity to make an impact on this one. Within the first five minutes, several Antlers players were steaming after he called several cheap fouls against the Antlers, while letting similar charges by Jubilo pass. Whether this was merely a matter of perception or not, midfielder Bismarck gave the referee a piece of his mind after another borderline foul call, and rather than brushing off the comment as a good referee should, Okada gave Bismarck a quick yellow for dissent.

With the Antlers players already feeling aggrieved, the stage was set for more fireworks. In the 10 minute, midfielder Jun Kanazawa >collected a ball that appeared to have rolled over the end line, and passed into the penalty area for Gon Nakayama. Nakayama was cut off by defender Fabiano. Nakayama dove to the ground, (despite the fact that a replay showed virtually no contact) and Okada rewarded his acting by pointing to the spot. To add insult to injury, Okada showed a card to Fabiano for protesting the call -- the second yellow card issued for dissent in a mere 10 minutes!!! Toshihiro Hattori drilled the PK and Jubilo were quickly up by a goal.

But even though Jubilo showed no sign of needing any assistance from the referee, apparently, Okada felt that he needed to inject himself into the match one more time, to ensure that the match would be decided in Jubilo's favor. In the 37 minute, the Antlers got a free kick from the left side, and the ball was centered perfectly to striker Takayuki Suzuki . However, before he could get a head on the ball, Suzuki was pushed hard in the back by a Jubilo defender, and sent tumbling head-over heels. It looked like a very good candidate for the equalizing PK. But as Suzuki spun through the air, his hand came into contact with the ball, and Okada -- to the astonishment of even the scrupulously uncontroversial NHK announcers -- called an intentional hand ball and showed Suzuki his second yellow card.

Reduced to ten men, things were looking very bleak for the Antlers. Not only were they down by a goal and a man to one of the toughest opponents in the league, but they were clearly shaken psychologically by the transparent bias of the referee. When asked to comment on his plans for the second half, the usually calm Antlers coach Toninho Cerezo launched into such a tirade of rapid-fire Portuguese that eventually the broadcasters had to cut him off and resume the telecast. When asked to summarize Cerezo's comments, the translator prevaricated and finally commented "he said that Kashima needs to just ignore the officiating and try to get back to Kashima with as small a deficit as possible."

The saddest part of this disturbing display of officiating in the first half was that Jubilo seemed to be doing just fine without any help from Mr. Okada. They continued to pressure the ball as hard as possible, giving the Antlers no time to get their passing game in order. One gets the sense that they could have held the advantage even without an extra man. Jubilo's hustle and crisp play was illustrated best just nine minutes into the second half. Midfielder Daisuke Oku broke up a pass at midfield and cleared it to Nakayama, who took off goalward with two men in support. As the Antlers defence backpedaled furiously, Nakayama lined up and struck a cannon shot from about five meters outside the box, rippling the nylon in the upper right side of the net.

But just when it seemed like Jubilo might add a third tally and make the second leg a mere formality, the winds of fate turned about, and the miracle beneath Mt. Fuji began to play out. Desperate to get at least one goal back and close the margin for the second leg, Toninho Cerezo pulled Bismarck and put in Masashi Motoyama , a young dynamo whose three goals this season were all late game-winners. Sure enough, Motoyama's aggressive running won the Antlers a corner kick in the 79 minute, and it was taken from the left side by Mitsuo Ogasawara. The kick curled perfectly, coming down directly in front of goal, where the Antlers' most grizzled veteran, Yutaka Akita was camped out. Akita screened his defender with his body, and headed the ball home and thrusting his fist into the air in defiance, as if to declare, "I dont hear no fat ladies singing yet!"

Casting caution to the wind, Cerezo immediately made a second substitution, bringing on reserve striker Tomoyuki Hirase as soon as the ball was put back in play. With Hirase and Motoyama running furiously in pursuit of the ball, and the resto of the Antlers clearly buoyed by Akita's goal, the tide began to swing in favour of Kashima. Just three minutes later, Augusto made one of his few forward forays of the entire match, and as he cleared his defender on the left wing, he sent a low line drive into the area. The Jubilo keeper, Arno VanZwam , tried to get out of the net to cut off the cross, but the ball was just centimeters beyond his reach, and all he could do was bat it away. Unfortunately, the ball fell directly at the feet of Hirase, and after a deke to step away from the final defender, he sent the ball curling just inside the left post, to knot the score at 2

In the dying minutes, the reinvigorated Antlers began trotting all over their opponents, leaving little doubt that the result would stand. In fact, a goal rush in the dying moments by Motoyama and Hirase created one of hte best scoring chances of the match, and only a desperate defensive play by Go Oiwa flicked the ball over the end line before Hirase could head it home. But the damage to Jubilo's momentum had been done. Though the two teams will go to Kashima next week with the score all even, in reality it is hard to deny that the Anters will have a huge psychological edge in their quest to raise a fourth league trophy.

Second Leg Preview

As the match report above has already suggested, both teams are likely to be fired up for the final, and both certainly have the personnel to capture victory. However, the Antlers staged a stirring comeback on Sunday in Shizuoka, to salvage a 2-2 draw after trailing 2-0 and reduced to ten men. It is hard to deny that they will have a psychological edge going into their final contest, in addition to the natural edge provided by their home stadium.

The player matchups and team strategies of Kashima Antlers and Jubilo Iwata have been analyzed at length by all of the sports publications in Japan, so rather than add to that deluge of data on the two combatants, this preview will focus on some of the more "eclectic" factors to consider in picking the winner of this year's J.League championship. Here are a few points for the reader to consider:

"The Last Shall Be First" Factor

The "Alternation" Factor

The "Shutout" Factor

The "Bismarck" Factor

But if that is not remarkable enough, the story gets even more amazing. In the final match of the 1995 championship, Bismarck was injured, and unable to play. In the 1999 championship match, he was substitited late in the second half. In other words, every time that Bismarck has been on the field for the final whistle, his team has walked off as the J.League champions.

. . . . . Im sure that readers will be watching Toninho Cerezo's lineup card for the final match closely. The Rising Sun News, however, expects to see the Brazilian dribbling out the clock in the final seconds, and kneel down for his traditional post-match prayer. On that basis, we offer the following prediction:

Antlers 2 - 1 Jubilo
(Kashima Antlers win 2001 J.League Championship)

Rumours and Rumblings

Japan Books Friendly with Real Madrid

According to coach Phillippe Troussier, Japan has agreed to play the exhibition against Real Madrid on May 8. In addition, Troussier and JFA Chairman Okano have been busily lobbying other national team officials to set up friendly matches over the next six months. Although no other specific dates have been confirmed, Japan has reportedly receved tentative commitments from Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Costa Rica, Mexico, Croatia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

As the Coaching World Turns

No romance lasts forever, and certainly that is true in the coaching world. Kiyoshi Okuma, the longest-serving J.League coach, finally called it quits this week, announcing that he would step down as head coach of FC Tokyo. The capital city club announced soon thereafter that it had signed Hiromi Hara, former coach of Urawa Reds, asa its new chief.

Meanwhile, former Japanese national team member Koichi Hashiratani, who was extremely successful in his coaching debut at Montedio Yamagata, is the top candidate to take over the reins at Consadole Sapporo, following the departure of Takeshi Okada. Hashiratani has limited coaching experience, but his excellent head for the game -- evident since his playing days -- turned the small-town team from Yamagata into a promotion candidate after just one year of coaching work. Hashiratani has yet to receive his S-level license, which would be required in order to move to a J1 club, but he reportedly is close to completing the certification requirements.

The biggest drama this week involves a love triangle gone sour. Slovenian coach Zdenko Verdenik, who achieved remarkable success with JEF United during his first year as the head coach and seems to be a strong candidate for Coach of the Year, announced suddenly that he was stepping down as the manager of the team from the east suburbs of Tokyo and taking over the head coach position of Nagoya Grampus. Verdenik seems to have despaired of receiving enough financial and organisational support to take JEF United any further than he did in 2001 (and understandably so), Instead, he will be charged with the task of whipping a group of skilled, perrennial underachievers into shape.

Grampus seems smitten with Verdenik's no-nonsense approach, and Verdenik indicated that he has very high expectations for his new team, stating at the press conference, "I think this team has the ability to play the compact, fast-paced football that I believe can win a title". However, the romance between coach and club was dealt a setback when Verdenik's jilted former partner refused to grant an amicable divorce. JEF United have indicated that they will file a greivance with the League over Verdenik's abrupt and unseemly departure. Though it may not actually be a breach of contract, JEF officials stated, "it was certainly not gentlemanly behaviour. Members of the J.League should demonstrate better manners." according to the club.

Annother unpleasant divorce was announced during the week, when Sanfrecce Hiroshima coach Valery Nepomniachtchi told club officials that he had decided to step down after a very strong performance in his first year of J.League coaching. Despite his brilliant success in erasing the legacy of boredom and dismal defensive dullness left by former Sanfrecce chief Eddie Thompson, coach Valery seems to have been unable to adjust to life in Japan. At his farewell press conference, he noted that "I have been thinking about leaving for almost four months", and eventually he decided to move back to more familiar environs, in Russia.

Gamba Osaka looks like one of the winners of this year's coaching sweepstakes. The team announced that Akira Nishino, former head coach of Kashiwa Reysol, will take the reins next season. Nishino, who was well-regarded by players at Kashiwa but viewed by management as an underperformer, in fact did better with the material he was given at Kashiwa than many others might have donw. Certainly his replacement, Steve Perryman, has discovered that success does not come easy in Chiba. Perhaps the team were not the "underperformers" that many have called them. Instead, it may simply be that Nishino managed to make a team of average players look better than they really are. At any rate, Nishino will have a chance to start from scratch at Gamba, as the team needs a very thorough facelift if it hopes to be a contender in 2002.

Be sure to tune in next week, for the next episode of "As the Coaching World Turns".

Emperor's Cup Second Round Brings Some Surprises

Komazawa University	4-1	Kunimi High
Tokai University	4-3 (ET)	Nippon Steel Oita
Yokohama FC	5-0	NTT Kumamoto FC
Kawasaki Frontale	1-0	Hochi University
Mito Hollyhock	1-0	Denso
Albirex Niigata	2-1 (ET)	Ibaraki SC
Vegalta Sendai	4-1	FC Kyoken Kyoto
Honda Giken	6-0	Kainan FC
Sagawa Kyubin SC	10-0	Saga Namba Club
Oita Trinita	2-1 (ET)	SC Tottori
Shonan Bellmare	0-0 (3-4PK)	Nara Shogyo U.
Sagan Tosu	1-0	Jatco TT
Ventforet Kofu	1-0	Alo's Hokuriku
Montedio Yamagata	1-0	Ehime FC
Kyoto Purple Sanga	3-0	Gunma FC Fortuna
Ryutsu Keizai U.	2-3	Otsuka Pharmaceutical

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

Emerson's Retirement Leave Big Hole at Urawa

Argentina Looking for a J.League Warmup

Morishima and Okubo Staying Put at Cerezo

Marinos All At Sea, as Jo & Nakamura Jump Ship

Meanwhile, Jo's Yokohama teammate Shunsuke Nakamura has reportedly narrowed down the number of European clubs he is negotiating with, to "just" four. Many have expressed surprise (in this writer's case, the correct word would be "shock") that any European club would actually be interested in landing Nakamura. The slightly-built midfielder has been in a terrible funk for the past year, and has not put in a truly convincing performance since last March, when he was manhandled badly by Patrick Vieira and Youri Djorkaeff in a friendly at the Stade de France. Although there has been a great deal of speculation about the reasons for his poor performance, it would seem that the physical thrashing he received must have dealt a serious blow to his self confidence, which was never particularly strong in the first place. Nevertheless, Nakamura seems to have set his sights on playing in Spain or Italy. If rumours of a move to Real Madrid pan out,. though, it is hard to imagine him getting much playing time (if, indeed, he ever sees the light of day), but there can be little doubt that he needs a change of scenery from Yokohama.

With national team keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi already departed, the Marinos are faced with an even more complete rebuilding task than they did last year. It will be interesting to see if Sebastiao Lazaroni can do a better job of restructuring the team than his predecessor, Ossie Ardilles.

Cesar Sampaio Signs for Steve

With Steve Perryman taking over the helm, much is expected of Kashiwa Reysol, but during his first half-season in charge, Perryman was unable to do any better than his predecessor, Akira Nishino. Sampaio is expected to be the first in a series of off-season signings that Perryman plans to make in order to rebuild the team in his own image.