82nd Annual Emperor's Cup:
A Match for the Ages
2 - 3 (ET)
On a brilliantly clear and sunny afternoon, a packed house at Tokyo's National Stadium roared their approval as the penultimate match between relegation-bound Cerezo Osaka and the perrennial bridesmaids Shimizu S-Pulse kicked off. On paper, there was little doubt that S-Pulse were the favourite, since they finished the J-League season in the upper rankings, while Cerezo were not even able to avoid relegation. But from the opening whistle, the team in flaming pink were swarming all over the field, and for about 20 minutes, they dominated both possession and scoring opportunities. The spark plug of the team, captain Hiroaki Morishima, the silky smooth Korean Yoon Jung-Hwan, midfield enforcer Kazuaki "Robocop" Tasaka and hyperactive striker Kenji Oshiba had the ball bouncing around at midfield lke the Chinese ping-pong team on amphetimines, and S-Pulse seemed unable to break the momentum. But despite creating several golden opportunities, Cerezo's shots were off the mark, and despite their frenetic pace, they failed to draw first blood.
As the initial rush of energy began to fade, and S-Pulse started to regain their composure, a rare counterattack would change the complexion of the match permanently. A long, lofting pass from midfield happened to catch the Osaka defenders off guard, and veteran Masaaki Sawanobori got into the clear. As the entire defence raced to catch him, Sawanobori spotted Alessandro Santos trailing the play, and headed the ball back to his unmarked teammate. Santos collected the ball at the top of the box and drove towards goal, but when his path was cut off, he pulled the ball back anc chipped it towards the net. The keeper had broken the wrong way, leafing the near side of the net open, and Santos' soft shot curled inside the left post, to make the score 1-0.
This took nearly all of the steam out of Cerezo's attack, and for the remaining 20 minutes of the half, the match was dominated by S-Pulse. Cerezo no longer had the crispness on their passes or the movement off the ball that had allowed them to keep the initiative early in the match, and Shimizu's superior size and slickness pushed the team in flaming pink back against their own goal mouth. Only a bit of luck prevented the deficit from growing larger, as Baron hit the crossbar with a wide-open shot in the dying minutes of the first half. But regardless of the score, the match seemed to be safely in S-Pulse control.
Early in the second half, Cerezo tried gamely to regain their earlier pace. For a few minutes, it seemed like they might have a chance to get back into the match throguh hustle and pressure on the ball. But disaster struck against the run of play, when S-Pulse won a free kick on the right edge of the box, and Sawanobori curled his free kick onto the head of defender Ryuzo Morioka, who leapt over the defence to nod the ball home.
With just over 10 minutes to play, there seemed to be little question that Cerezo were dead. Not just dead, but dead and buried. Sealed in a steel coffin with a stake through their hearts, buried six feet under, and covered over with a concrete slab that said "abandon all hope, ye who enter here". It would take a miracle to recover from such a predicament. But on New Year's day, perhaps miracles are possible. Coach Nishimura brought in three substitutes -- rookie Yoshito Okubo as a third offensive midfielder, tall defender Kazunari Okayama as a forward, and veteran Yasuo Manaka as yet another offensive midfielder, leaving the Osaka back line with just two men back. But dfence wasnt an option at this stage. Cerezo were rolling the dice, throwing everyone forward in a mad dash for goal. At first, it seemed a futile gesture, as S-Pulse nearly turned counterattacks into the final nail in the coffin. But with 10 minutes left, the strategy finally paid off. A long drive by Tasaka found the tall Okanaka in the middle of the box. He headed the ball back to an unmarked Morishima, and Morishima's blast into the right corner resurrected the hopes of Cerezo players and fans. With slightly less than ten minutes to play, the margin was reduced to just one goal.
Suddenly, the momentum of the match was turned on its head. The field seemed to be inundated with a swarm of flaming pink, as the Cerezo players raced furiously to every loose ball, threw their bodies into the fray and challenged every S-Pulse touch of the ball. as Shimizu desparately tried to fend off the swarming attack, the team from Osaka threw all but one defender at their opponent's goal mouth, leaving the southern end of the field virtually empty. As the clock ticed towards 90, Manaka broke past his defender on the left flank, and centered the ball to Yoon. Though he was unable to get off a clear shot, the deflection fell right to the feet of Okubo, who burst into the five yard box, and pushed the ball past the diving keeper before colliding with him, and sprawling to the turf. Eleven pink arms shot into the air, appealing for a foul, and the referee did not disappoint them. As time expired, Yoon calmly drove home the tying goal from the penalty spot, and the match went into extra time.
At this point, the tension and suspense filled the stadium like the smell of gunpowder at the peak of a fireworks display. The crowd roared with anticipation as the golden goal extra time period began, and the two teams threw their exhausted bodies into the fray once more. But the suspense would not last for long. Just eight minutes into the extra session, Cerezo made a fatal mistake, as a back pass from midfield turned Morishima the wrong way, and Santos rushed in like a raven to a rubbish tip, stealing the ball away before Morishima could recover his footing. Santos steamed towards goal as the paper-thin Cerezo defence rushed to recover, and he fed Sawanobori at the edge of the box with just one defender still back. Sawanobori drew the defender, and pushed the ball back to Santos, who looped a fass to the far post for the wide-open Baron. Cerezo goalkeeper Shimokawa nearly made a spectacular save, but his deflection came back a second time, off Baron's knee, and slipped inside the right post to bring the match to a thrilling conclusion.
And so, the perpetual bridesmains walked down the aisle at last. After falling short in the final match of one league championship, two previous Emperor's cups and three league cups, on New Year's Day 2002, S-Pulse finally hoisted a silver cup. The drama and excitement of this, the final match of the J.League 2001 season surely bodes well for Japanese football in 2002!
Rumours and Rumblings
Film clips courtesy of Internet Soccer Program J-Ole. Visit their web site at http://www.j-ole.com/ for results and highlights of all J.League matches.
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