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2002 J.League Schedule Released

We have already discussed the issue of the split schedule that will occur during the First Stage (see the Jan 15 Rising Sun News report). However, perhaps the biggest impact will be felt not in the league matches themselves, but in the Nabisco Cup. This year, the league cup will include only J1 teams. Although this is an unfortunate change for J2 clubs seeking to raise their profile, it is clear that scheduling a full slate of cup matches for 28 teams would be impossible this year. As it is, the J1 teams will have to play a double round-robin -- six matches -- in just a sixteen day period, from April 27 to May 12!! Since many teams will have players missing due to national team commitments, the Nabisco Cup is likely to be a wild and crazy affair this year, particularly the first round. For a full schedule of Nabisco Cup matches, Click Here.

The league schedule itself is quite a crowded one. Teams will play a rather sedate schedule of seven matches during March and April before the First Stage enters its "Big Interval" on April 21. This should leave teams reasonably well rested for the mad rush of Nabisco Cup matches. When the First Stage resumes, however, on July 13, the remaining eight matches will be played in a rush over five weeks, from mid-July to mid-August. This could be the most interesting period of the year, since this final stretch will almost certainly decide who wins the First Stage championship. As we noted in our earlier discussion, teams that come back from the World Cap break in good condition, but not overly exhausted, could stand to benefit greatly.

The Second Stage will be played at a more normal pace of matches, though it will start and finish a bit later than usual. The fifteen matches of the second stage will run from August 31 to November 30, and the Nabisco Cup quarterfinal and semifinal round matches will take place mainly on Wednesdays, between league matche dates.

One interesting change this year is that the J.League has finally abandoned the practice of playing all matches for a given week on one day. In the past, the only matches that were not scheduled for the same day were make-up matches, in cases where a team had to play an Asian Club Championship match on a regularly scheduled J.League match day. This year, however, most weeks will have matches scheduled to take place on both Saturday and Sunday. This seems like a good change, since it will not only give those people who work on Saturdays a chance to go to live matches, but it will also spread out the television schedule, to reduce direct head-to-head broadcasting conflicts.

The full schedule for the first stage matches is listed below. For the Second Stage schedule, Click Here

Rumours and Rumblings

Nakazawa Deal On-Again, Off-Again, Finally On-Again

Yokohama had been pursuing Nakazawa for several weeks, but "Bomberhead", as he is known by fans, claimed that Verdy management was keeping him in the dark about the negotiations. Following a face-to-face meeting with Marinos management, Nakazawa publicly stated his desire to move. Yet Verdy refused to give their blesssing to the deal. Verdy's president went so far as to declare that he was "100% sure" Nakazawa would be playing for them in 2002. Since Nakazawa was without a contract for the new season, and only the league tradition of maintaining ties with existing clubs bound him to Verdy, the Tokyo management really had little bargaining power. Under league rules, they might have forced him to sit out a year before becoming a free agent, but to take such a hard line, especially with a national team member during a World Cup year, bordered on the unthinkable. Fortunately someone in the Verdy front office must have come to their senses, and based on reports issued on Monday morning, it now looks like the deal will go through in a day or two.

Taka Heads for Home

Although many Boca coaches had positive things to say about Takahara's abilities, they repeatedly protested that he was not a good fit with the team structure and strategy. This problem persisted even after former coach Carlos Bianchi left the club and a new coaching staff took over. No doubt the criticisms were justified, but one has to wonder why the team was so eager to sign Takahara in the first place, if his style of play was such a poor match with the team's strategy. In any event, Boca have decided to let Takahara go, and at the time of writing, it appears that he will soon return to Japan to join his former team, Jubilo Iwata.

Though a sudden economic crisis clearly had an impact in this particular case, this is likely to go down as yet another example of an overseas club signing a Japanese player expecting to reap huge piles of money from licensing contracts, and then becoming discouraged when the cash fails to pour in. Anyone with an ounce of foresight will understand why Japanese fans and media representatives balk at paying money to watch a player sit on the bench. So far, the most successful ventures involving Japanese players and overseas clubs have been those where the player is evaluated first for his playing abilities, and only second for his marketing potential. Surely players such as Takahara have the ability to succeed in a European or South American club, though not necessarily on a title condender in a top-flight league. The problem is that unless the team gives careful thought to the player's role in the team, everyone -- player, club and fans alike -- will end up disappointed. One can only hope that the same fate does not await Shunsuke Nakamura at Real Madrid.

Antlers Advance to Asia Final Eight

Although fans will no doubt be disappointed by the lack of any real effort by the J.League side, Kashima seemed to view this merely as a formality, and are saving their energies for the quarterfinal round, which kicks off in Korea on February 17-21. The Antlers will face two Korean clubs -- Anyang LG and 2001 champs Suwon Bluewings, as well as China's Dalian in the quarterfinal round-robin, with the top two teams progressing. The schedule for the quarterfinals is as follows:

Could Bismarck Be Back?

Bismarck has already established a record of success in the J.League that may never be equalled, having taken part in eight league championship series, and hoisting the J.League trophy on a remarkable six occasions -- twice with Verdy and four times with Antlers. Now, according to some sources close to the Yokohama Marinos, he may have a chance to extend that record. Bismarck is reportedly being courted by Marinos management as a possible replacement for Shunsuke Nakamura, when the midfielder moves to Real Madrid after the World Cup. Yokohama have already made enough changes to their roster to be viewed as a legitimate title contender in 2002, and the addition of the "Bismarck Magic" could just be enough to capture them another league crown.

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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