Xerox Super Cup Kicks Off in One Week
The J.League season kicks off about a week earlier than usual, this year. The traditional event that gets the season started -- the Xerox Super Cup -- will be held on February 23, and the first league matches will start one week later, on March 2. This year, the Xerox Super Cup is a rematch of last season's Super Cup, with Kashima Antlers taking on Shimizu S-Pulse. Both teams have rather demanding schedules in the run-up to the event. Kashima Antlers are playing three matches in the Asian Club Championship quarterfinals on February 17,19 and 21, while S-Pulse play a home-and-away series in the Asian Cup-Winners Cup on February 16 and 20. Although this could mean that the two teams will be a bit tired from their hard scuedules, it should also ensure that all of the off-season rust has been brushed off and the two squads are in peak form for football.
Although S-Pulse won the Super Cup last year, thanks in part to some injuries to several Antlers starters, this year the shoe is on the other foot. Shimizu will probably start without their center back Ryuzo Morioka and left wing Alessandro Santos, who both have minor injuries that may cause them to miss the season-opener as well. The Antlers are basically healthy, at least prior to their ACC matches. But regardless of who starts, this match is likely to be a fiercely contested match. With the World Cup just three months off, national team candidates on both teams will be doing their best to impress Phillippe Troussier, who will be one of the occupants of the prestige box at Tokyo's National Stadium. Naturally, fans of Japanese football are eagerly looking forward to the start of the season. We hope that readers will tune in to The Rising Sun News regularly, for news and highlights of all the excitement, both for the J.League and the Japanese national team
Rumours and Rumblings
Last-Minute Moves Complete J1 Rosters
With just a week to go before the season begins, most clubs are pretty well set in their player rosters. However, a few teams have made last-minute additions to bolster their lineups ahead of the season.
Probably the most meaningful move was Sanfrecce Hiroshima's signing of Nesco Milovanovic, who will join the team on a one-year loan from Levski Sofia, in Bulgaria. Milovanovic is not a newcomer to Asia, having played a season at Shanghai Shenhua, in China. Sanfrecce are looking for someone to take over the playmaker role filled last year by Stephen Corica. Corica left Sanfrecce at the end of last season and moved to Wallsall FC in England.
Meanwhile, Vissel Kobe may bring back the "Kazu and Yasu" show, as they picked up veteran defender Yasutoshi Miura this week. The elder Miura brother was released by Avispa Fukuoka during the off-season and was still without a team. He will be reunited with brother Kazuyoshi Miura, who joined Kobe at the start of last season. The two last played together on the same team at Verdy Kawasaki, during the 1997 season.
One final acquisition is apparently close to realization. Shimizu S-Pulse are making a bid for Dinamo Zagreb striker, Cvitanovic is a top-shelf striker, who spent some time at Real Sociedad in Spain before returning to Dinamo Zagreb in 1999. He holds the league record for most goals in the Croatian League, with more than 300 tallies in his career. However, he has been in a dispute with his club recently, and reports indicate that he wants to move to another league. For S-Pulse, who have struggled to find a good finisher in recent years, this would be a huge boost to their hopes of winning a long-awaited league title.
National Team Roster Cut Delayed
Phillippe Troussier put off a decision on the 30-player squad that he will send into action against Ukraine on March 21. Based on its original plan, the JFA expected the squad to be cut from about 45 players (including overseas players) to a core group of 30 on February 18. However, several players have recently come down with injuries or other ailments. S-Pulse players Alessandro Santos and Ryuzo Morioka are currently sidelined due to minor ailments, and Jubilo's Hiroshi Nanami has not fully recovered from knee surgery. In addition, Jubilo defender Toshihiro Hattori underwent an emergency operation on Monday for peritonitis (see story below) which will. probably keep him out of the squad for March 21, as well. Another former hopeful, Sanfrecce defender Kenichi Uemura, has been scratched from contention due to a knee injury that will keep him out for up to eight months.
Citing these injuries, Troussier has put off a decision on the final squad of 30 players for the Ukraine match. In his official statement, Troussier said that he wants to consult with the players, and with the individual team doctors, to monitor progress and decide who will be in a condition to take part in the upcoming schedule of friendlies.
While this official explanation is logical, there is some reason to believe that there is a broader agenda involved. Since most of the above injuries are relatively minor Troussier could easily contest the Ukraine match with a 30 player squad including some of his "walking wounded", and simply leave them on the bench. Most would be recovered in time for the next friendly against Poland on March 28, and all should be fit by early April. It seems more than likely that Troussier is using this as a ploy to get the peak contribution from players in his next training camp. The current pool of 40 national team candidates will be divided into three squads, to play a charity tournament in Shizuoka on February 27. By delaying a decision on the group of 30, Troussier can force the full group to give their 100% effort at this event, since they will all still hold out hopes of making the team (as well as fears of being cut). Ever the master of mind games, Troussier has shown once more that he knows more than one way to manipulate players' psyches.
Hattori's Health a Major Concern to Jubilo
Defensive midfielder Toshihiro Hattori underwent an emergency operation on Monday, to repair a small perforation in his intestine caused by peritonitis. Although the operation was fairly routine, and Hattori's long-term health is not a concern, he will probably need about 6 weeks to recuperate fully from the operation. This means that he is likely to miss at least three, and possibly four of Jubilo's early league matches. It may also rule him out of the National Team squad for the March 21 friendly, against Ukraine.
Coincidentally, Hattori has recently appeared along with teammates Toshiya Fujita and Takashi Fukunishi in a series of television commercials for Japan's domestic beef products cooperative (J-Beef). For the time being, Hattori should probably lay off the beef, and stick to soba and boiled veggies.
Yanagisawa Selected "Footballer of the Year
Kashima Antlers striker Atsushi Yanagisawa was picked as Japan's top player for 2001 by the Japan Sportswriter's Association in their annual sports awards. Yanagisawa, who led his team to the league title and scored six goals for the national team during the year, received 50 out of the total 356 votes. Second place went to his teammate, midfielder Mitsuo Ogasawara, and third place was captured by Jubilo Iwata's Toshiya Fujita.
JEF United Look to Broaden Fan Base
JEF United have announced that they will expand the area of their "home town" effective from next season. The team currently calls the industrialized town of Ichihara, an eastern suburb of Tokyo, their home town. However, the team has never really developed much of a fan base among local residents, perhaps because Ichihara does not have much of a "local" identity. Most residents view themselves as Tokyo-ites. This, plus the fact that the team's home stadium is located in a very inconvenient spot more than 25 minutes walk from the nearest train station, has made JEF one of the most ill-supported teams inthe league.
To try to give the team a clearer "local" definition, JEF will expand its official home town to include the cities of Chiba and Kisarazu, which like Ichihara, are locatd in Chiba prefecture. Though this will allow the team to avoid the paperwork needed for a "change" of home towns, this effectively moves the team from the eastern Tokyo suburbs to Chiba, which has a more clearly defined local character. The team says it may begin playing some of its matches at stadiums in Chiba city as early as the second stage of 2002, and could play more than half of its matches in Chiba by 2004.
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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