---

March 18, 2002: Week 3
Tightening the Table

Before discussing the matches further, lets have a look at the scores of all the J1 matches this week

Date	Home	.	Visitor	Venue
16 Mar		5-2		Sendai Stadium
16 Mar		0-2		Kokuritsu Stad.
16 Mar		2-1		Nihondaira
16 Mar		1-0		Mizuho Stadium
16 Mar		2-1		Big Arch
16 Mar		1-1		Tokyo Stadium
17 Mar		4-0		Iwata Stadium
17 Mar		3-1		Expo '70 Stadium

0-1

Vegalta enjoyed excellent fan support last season, as well, but since their advance to the J1, the team has been drawing crowds with a size and volume to match even the renowned "Saitama Red Army" of Urawa Reds supporters. The home crowd profided a big lift to their team this week, and after their brisk start to the season, opponents will be dreading the prospect of travelling to Sendai Stadium in the future. The first half of this match was fairly well balanced, with both teams getting some good opportunities on the offensive end. Reysol snatched an early lead, in the 24 minute, when Harutaka Ono took a corner kick from the left corner. Yoo Sang-Chul snuck in at the back post and headed it past the keeper. However, it took Vegalta just 5 minutes to reply. Midfielder Teruo Iwamoto weaved his way through three defenders, then fed the ball to Silvinho in acres of open space on the right side of the box. Silvinho cut his shot back against the grain, threading it through two defenders and the keeper.

The crowd's explosion of enthusiasm was short-lived, as Reysol went back in front just two minutes later. Once again, Vegalta's defence allowed Kashiwa to penetrate the left wing, and Hwang Sun-Hong had all the time he needed to drop a pass back out to national team midfielder Tomokazu Myojin, steaming into the box . Myojin's rocket from 15 meters slipped between two defenders and into the low right corner, to put the visitors back on top. For the remaining 15 minutes of the first half, Kashiwa seemed to take control of the tempo, and threatened to increase their lead. The Vegalta defence did a good job holding off the barrage, but they were pinned back in their end for long periods of time. Then, just moments before the whistle for intermission, Vegalta won a free kick about three meters outside the box on the right side. Iwamoto, who has been the sparkplug for the team in all three of their matches this season, hit a beautiful curling shot over the wall, which squeezed just under the bar and off the far post, sending Vegalta into the locker room with an even score line.

The dramatic equalizer sent the crowd into even louder reverberations of noise and energy. When the two teams emerged for the second stanza, the thunderous roar was like a wave of energy, carrying Vegalta forward into attack. The advantage that Reysol had show in possession late in the first half vanished, as Vegalta grabbed the match by the scruff of the neck and began to squeeze.

Ten minutes in, Sendai got the break that would turn the tide permanently in their favor. A back heel from ace striker Marcos sent Yoshiteru Yamashita into the clear, and he raced for the left post with only one defender in pursuit. As keeper Yuta Minami raced off his line to cut down the angle, Yamashita fired the ball low between the cleated uprights (the "five-hole", for you hockey fans), leaving Minami in a tangled heap and putting Vegalta on top for the first time.

Once Vegalta had the lead, the tidal surge of momentum overwhelmed any hope that Reysol might have had to get back into the match. For the next ten minutes, wave after wave of attack rolled over the Kashiwa defence, and it seemed only a matter of time before the killer blow would be struck. That coup de grace finally came in the 67 minute, from a rather unlikely source. Sendai won a corner kick from the right side, and Iwamoto lobbed the ball into the box. Defender Norio Omura, who was acquired from Yokohama at the start of the season, rose over the pack to head the ball home.

Though Vegalta already had the match neatly tucked away, following Omura's goal, last year's J2 scoring leader, Marcos, put the finishing touches on a fine afternoon by scoring his first J1 goal, in the 71 minute. This win makes Vegalta one of only two teams with an unblemished record, of 9 points from three matches. They trail only perennial contenders Jubilo Iwata in the league table. Tohoku fans are no doubt revelling in their early success, and will hope that the team can keep up this magnificent early performance.

Lineups:
Norio Takahashi, Yusuke Mori, Ricardo Ribeiro, Norio Omura, Tetsuya Murata (Tomohiro Katanosaka 81), Hajime Moriyasu (Naoki Chiba 89), Silvinho, Yasushi Fukunaga, Teruo Iwamoto, Yoshiteru Yamashita, Marcos (Shinji Fujiyoshi 85)
Yuta Minami, Shigenori Hagimura, Takeshi Watanabe, Norihiro Satsukawa, Tomokazu Myojin, Mitsuteru Watanabe (Makoto Sunakawa 85), Cesar Sampaio, Tomonori Hirayama, Harutaka Ono, Yoo Sang-Chul, Hwang Sun-Hong (Hideaki Kitajima 75)

The Antlers came out this week with more energy than they have show in any other match this season. Some commentators have suggested that the heavy match schedule in late February may have worn out the players, and this was one reason for their lack of finishing ability. Whether or not that was true, their performance on Saturday looked much fresher, sharper and more deadly. Although JEF United started their season with two victories, they never looked like winning this one. The pattern of the match was established early on, when Masashi Motoyama looped a ball over the defence for Takayuki Suzuki . Leaping high in the face of a challenge from the last defender, Suzuki headed the ball on and the team's scoring ace, Atsushi Yanagisawa, ran onto it for an unchallenged lob over the keeper and into the open net.

But before the celegrations began, the referee blew his whistle and called the play back for a foul by Suzuki. The ref claimed that Suzuki had cleared out the defender with a forearm. A replay showed that Suzuki did indeed swing his arm, but only to get more impetus on his header. The arm came nowhere near to making contact with the defender, and it was only Suzuki's momentum that caused a collision to occur, long after the ball had bounded on to Yanagisawa. Though this would be one of several very bad calls by Mr. Fernandez-Marin on the day, it would not make much difference in the end. With just 15 mintues gone, Kashima were dominating play and it was clear that scoring was simply a matter of time.

In the 21 minute, Yanagisawa finally did collect his first goal of the season, this time on a set play. Mitsuo Ogasawara took a corner kick from the left side and his lob was headed out by a JEF defender. However, Motoyama collected the loose ball at midfield and sent it back into the box. Both Yanagisawa and Suzuki had space at the far post, but Yanagisawa was the first to the ball. His header cleared the leap of the keeper and found the top right corner of the net.

Kashima had several chances to increase their lead in the first half, including one magnificent spin move by Ogasawara that carried him through three defenders and into the clear, but his shot was just wide of the post. On JEF's end, the number of opportunities was very limited. Edin Mujcin provided the only real threat through the middle, and Kashima's back line did an excellent job of keeping the ever-dangerous Choi Yong-Soo away from the ball. Hitoshi Sogahata was challenged only once or twice, including a late-first-half volley by Choi from the edge of the box. He proved equal to the few shots that JEF did manage.

Shortly after the second-half restart, Motoyama made what should have been a brilliant goal-scoring play. As two defenders converged on him, Motoyama, with his back to the goal, scooped the ball over his own shoulder and spun around, preparing to break away for a wide-open shot on goal. But as the ball looped past him, defender Eisuke Nakanishi stuck out his hand and deliberately swatted the ball away. Considering how freely he dispensed yellows to the Antlers players in this match, such a deliberate hand ball, on the edge of the penalty box, should have drawn a certain red. But Mr. Fernandez-Marin seemed hesitant even to give the yellow, and only pulled out his book when a host of snorting Antlers descended on him in a stampede of protest.

Nevertheless, Kashima had a free kick opportunity at very close range. As he has been doing with lethal frequency over the past six months, Ogasawara strolled up to the ball and sized up his target. At the referee's whistle, the baby-faced assassin took one casual step forward and fired a bullet. The ball sizzled over the wall and just inside the left post, giving Ogasawara his first confirmed kill of the season, and the Antlers their first victory.

Though Kashima cruiused to a fairly easy victory over the remaining 35 minutes, shortly before the end of the match, an unfortunate event provided them with a hurdle to overcome next week. On one of the few calls he got right all day, the referee booked Yutaka Akita for a shirt pull on Choi, which was his second yellow of the match. This means that the Antlers will be without their top defender in next week's match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Lineups:
Ryo Kushino, Eisuke Nakanishi, Zelko Milinovic, Takayuki Chano, Masataka Sakamoto (Tadatoshi Masuda 63), Shinichi Muto, Yuki Abe (Naotake Hanyu 76), Edin Mujcin, Shinji Murai, Katsutomo Oshiba, Choi Yong-Soo
Hitoshi Sogahata, Fabiano, Yutaka Akita, Akira Narahashi, Augusto, Koji Nakata, Koji Kumagai, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Masashi Motoyama (Seiji Kaneko 85), Atsushi Yanagisawa , Takayuki Suzuki (Tomoyuki Hirase 89)

This matchup between one of the league's most solid defensive units and one of the most agressive team-offenses certainly gave the 26,000 at Tokyo Soccer stadium their money's worth. The first half may nave ended with no score, but it was anything but dull. Both sides pressured the ball from one end of the field to the other, making for a very physical contest. The two teams collected four yellow cards apiece, and unlike the situation in several other matches, this was not simply a reflection of over-policing by the men in stripes.

Yokohama's defence, anchored by Nakazawa and two other national team candidates, Naoki Matsuda and Yasuhiro Hato, offered strong resistance to Tokyo's counterattacks, but FC Tokyo's players also demonstrated some fierce defending, particularly their new Brazilian stopper, Jean Carlo Witte, who seemed to always be in the right position to break up the Marinos thrusts. After 75 minutes of relatively defensive, but nevertheless exciting play, Yokohama finally found a crack they could exploit. As a ball was cleared from the back line, Tokyo began to push forward to clear the zone. But Shunsuke Nakamura collected the clearance and lobbed a pinpoint pass to Will, just as he broke past the last defender. Will headed the ball just beyond the reach of the keeper, and the Marinos had a 1-0 lead.

The next fifteen minutes were played at a furius pace, as Tokyo desparately tried to climb back into the match and Yokohama tried to double their advantage. Just as it seemed like the Marinos would get away with their third narrow victory in a row, Tokyo climbed back in on a brilliant set play. The team won a corner kick on the right side, and sent everyone but the keeper into the box to look for the equalizer. Asari's chip into the box found Kelly, who headed the ball down into the low right corner to knot the score.

Not surprisingly, given the defensive prowess displayed throughout the match , both teams refused to allow an easy shot in the overtime periods, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Lineups:
Yoichi Doi, Minoru Kobayashi, Jean Carlo Witte, Tetsuya Ito, Ryuji Fujiyama, Satoru Asari, Yukihiko Sato (Masatoshi Matsuda 80), Masashi Miyazawa, Masamitsu Kobayashi (Daisuke Hoshi 89), Kelly, Amaral
Tatsuya Enomoto, Yuji Nakazawa, Naoki Matsuda, Naza, Yasuhiro Hato, Yoshiharu Ueno, Daisuke Oku, Dutra, Shunsuke Nakamura, Will, Nobuhisa Shimizu (Kotaro Yasunaga 88)

But on the other side of the ball, Nagoya played 65 minutes with a man advantage, and 20 minutes with eleven players to Verdy's nine ( Narita Takaki received his marching orders for unsportsmanlike conduct in the 72 minute), yet managed to manufacture only a single, rather fortunate goal from Ueslei. The tally came on a long hail-mary pass from deep in the Grampus end, which allowed Ueslei to split his two defenders and race away for an open shot on goal. Neither one of these two teams is playing well at the moment, and both for the same reason -- lack of offensive creativity. Barring some very major improvements in performance, both Grampus and Verdy are likely to remain at the low end of the table this season

Lineups:
Seigo Narazaki, Yasunari Hiraoka, Masahiro Koga, Masayuki Omori, Tetsuya Okayama, Tomoyuki Sakai, Tarik Oulida, Yusuke Nakatani, Naoshi Nakamura (Kunihiko Takizawa 73), Ueslei, Marcelo (Yasuyuki Moriyama 88)
Daijiro Takakuwa, Takuya Kawaguchi, Kentaro Hayashi, Atsushi Yoneyama, Takuya Yamada, Yoshiyuki Kobayashi, Toshimi Kikuchi (Narita Takaki 63), Naoki Soma Naoto Sakurai (Daigo Kobayashi 67), Keiji Ishizuka, Marquinhos

The good news for Urawa was that they finally did get on the board, with a fine finish by Emerson in the 10 minute. The score was mainly a tribute to the speed of Emerson, who outraced his defenders for a long lead pass, cut back into the box and drilled a grass-cutting grounder past the keeper.

However, S-Pulse equalised shortly after half time, as Baron headed a lob into the box down for Kohei Hiramatsu, and the stocky striker fired home from point-blank range Then, in the dying minutes of regulation, a lob into the box by Dasisuke Ichikawa found the head of Baron, whose shot slid into the corner of the net, sending S-Pulse to victory.

Lineups:
Takaya Kurokawa, Tomohiro Ikeda, Katsumi Oenoki, Takuma Koga, Daisuke Ichikawa, Teruyoshi Ito (Yasuhiro Yoshida 78), Kazuyuki Toda, , Alessandro Santos, Cvitanovic (Masaaki Sawanobori 57), Kohei Hiramatsu (Takayuki Yokoyama 86), Baron
Yohei Nishibe, Masami Ihara, Tadaaki Tsuboi, Hideki Uchidate, Nobuhisa Yamada, Keita Suzuki, Shinji Jojo, Masahiro Fukuda, Harison, Tatsuya Tanaka (Tuto 60), Emerson (Yuichiro Nagai 85)

It took 34 minutes for Sanfrecce to erase the deficit, thanks to a thundering header by Tatsuhiko Kubo. The ball was carried to the end line by Fujimoto and then centered to the top of the box. Kubo soared above the penalty spot and powered it home Midway through the second half, Umeda blasted a cannon shot from the edge of the box to give Sanfrecce the lead, and the eventual margin of victory.

Lineups:
Takashi Shimoda, Yuichi Komano, Michel Pensee Billong, Shinya Kawashima, Kentaro Sawada, Naoya Umeda, Kazuyuki Morisaki, Koji Morisaki (Tulio Tanaka 81), Chikara Fujimoto, Susumu Oki (Nesta Milovanovic 61), Tatsuhiko Kubo
Hideaki Ueno, Kazuhiro Suzuki, Jin Sato, Makoto Kakuda, Park Choi-Son, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Daisuke Nakaharai (Tadashi Nakamura 79), Shingo Suzuki, Daisuke Matsui (Yusaku Ueno 67), An Hyo-Yong (Makoto Atsuta 45), Teruaki Kurobe

Sadly, the match drew just 10,000 fans, but those who did turn out certainly got their money's worth. The game offered some very interesting head-to-head matchups. First, there was the clash between Gamba's two Brazilian goal-getters Marcelinho Carioca and Magrao against Vissel's Brazilian brick wall of Sidiclei and Ataliba. On one sideline, there was a sprint competition between two of the league's fleetest-of-foot, Masayuki Okano of Kobe and Osaka's Toru Araiba. All in all, it was a very entertaining contest.

Though Gamba has been the more successful this season, it was Vissel that got out of the blocks fastest. In the 11 minute, Shoji Jo provided a fine assist, one-timing a pass out of midfield to fellow striker Ryuji Bando. Bando caught up with Jo's lead pass at the edge of the area and slammed a shot inside the right post to put Vissel on top.

Just five minutes later, Masaya Nishitani would double the Kobe lead on a free kick. After Okano was fouled a short distance beyond the right corner of the area, defender Shigeyoshi Mochizuki drove his kick into the defensive wall, but the ball bounded out to Nishitani on the edge of the box, and his looping drive found the low right corner.

Gamba finally got onto the scoreboard in the 50 minute, as Marcelinho and Magrao teamed up for their fourth cooperative tally of the young season. Marcelinho was the brightest star in the Gamba constellation on Sunday, finding space all over the field to display his nimble ball skills and pinpoint passing. However, Gamba's finishing was less than spectacular, as the two strikers were well blanketed by Vissel's defence. On this particular play, Magrao snuck behind Sidiclei and was able to make contact on a diving header, to make the game a bit closer.

But Vissel did a good job of keeping Marcelinho contained the rest of the way, and veteran Kazu Miura added an insurance goal fifteen minutes before the final whistle, which was the top highlight of the match. Taking a slant pass into the box, Kazu feinted for the left post, then cut back to clear one defender and leave the keeper stranded. As two other defenders converged, he flicked the ball up and over them both, to put the match out of reach.

Lineups:
Makoto Kakegawa, Sidiclei, Yukio Tsuchiya, Kunie Kitamoto, Shigeyoshi Mochizuki, Ataliba (Naoya Saeki 82), Masaya Nishitani (Takeshi Hirano 56), Masayuki Okano, Kazu Miura, Ryuji Bando (Daniel 71), Shoji Jo
Ryota Tsuzuki, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Noritada Saneyoshi (Shin Asahina 70), Masao Kiba, Satoshi Yamaguchi (Hideo Hashimoto 45), Yasuhito Endo, Toru Araiba, Marcelinho Carioca, Takahiro Futagawa, Kota Yoshihara (Masanobu Matsunami 45), Giuliano "Magrao" Aranda

Though Jubilo had the slight edge, Consadole managed to keep the match fairly close for the remainder of the first half, but just after intermission, another blunder put the team from Sapporo in an even deeper hole. In the 48 minute, defender Robson da Silva picked up his second yellow card of the match, reducing his team to ten men. Thereafter, the match was dominated by Jubilo, and only some lackadaisical finishing prevented the score line from being much worse. Fujita picked up his second goal of the afternoon in the 62 minute, after a blistering shot by Takahara was deflected by a defender. The ball fell right into the path of the oncoming Fujita and he slammed it just inside the right post. Ten minutes later, Masashi Nakayama extended it to 3-0, running onto a corner kick from the left side and heading it in at the far post. Midway through the second half, Rodrigo Gral made his first appearance for the team, coming on as a substitute for Takahara. It took just eight minutes for him to collect his first-ever J.League goal, as he outraced a Consadole defender to a loose ball in the back line, and powered the ball through the hands of the keeper .

Lineups:
Arno VanZwam, Go Oiwa, Hideto Suzuki, Takahiro Yamanishi, Ryoichi Maeda (Nobuo Kawaguchi 68), Takashi Fukunishi, Jo Kanazawa, Toshiya Fujita, Aleksandr Zivkovic, Masashi Nakayama, Naohiro Takahara (Rodrigo Gral 75)
Yohei Sato, Hitoshi Morishita, Maxsandro de Oliveira, Kyosuke Yoshikawa, Kensaku Omori (Tomohiro Wanami 78), Yasuyuki Konno, Biju, Naoki Sakai (Tomokazu Hirama 61), Koji Yamase, Robson da Silva, Takafumi Ogura (Gakuya Horii 76)

Following this week's matches, only two teams still have an unblemished record. Jubilo holds the edge at the top of the table over Vegalta Sendai, based on goal difference. Shimizu S-Pulse also have three wins, but since two of those were in extra time, they find themselves level on points with FC Tokyo and Yokohama Marinos, who both have two regulation-time wins and a draw. Here is how the league table looks

Rumours and Rumblings

Kashiwa Reysol Low on Ammunition

League Bosses Decide Not to Rock the Boat

A second matter that the leaguer bosses discussed is the league's two-stage format. Some have complained that playing the season over two stages is somehow "unfair", because the team that wins the most matches in a year does not necessarily become champion. Though this point does have some persuasiveness, the counterargument is that a two-stage format reduces the tendency for teams who are out of the running from just going through the motions in the final few matches of the year. Teams that suffer a series of injuries or go through a slump early in the year have a second chance to start with a fresh slate in the second stage. Both sides of this issue have many proponents, but the league has a good reason to be hesitant about abandoning the two stage format without careful consideration. The J.League actually did adopt a single-stage format once before, in 1996. Whether it was just a coincidence or not, this happened to coincide with a sudden drop-off in public interest, attendance and TV ratings. This may have simply marked the passing of soccer's early appeal as a "fad", and the drop in attendance mayh have been unrelated to the single-stage format. Nevertheless, the League has decided to mull the matter over for a few more years, at least. The two stage format will be retained in 2003 and 2004.

One final matter that was discussed at the meeting was the selection of candidates to succeed the current JFA chairman Shunichiro Okano. The 71-year-old Okano plans to step down at the end of this year, and based on the discussions at this week's meeting, it looks like the current JFA vice-chairman and J.League chairman Saburo Kawabuchi is the leading candidate for the position.

a name="troussier">

Troussier Becomes Japan's Winningest Coach

<

The Animal Arrives

The controversial striker arrived in Japan late last year to rescue Verdy from relegation, and has been lauded by fans and the press ever since. For his part, the player who earned the nickname "Animal" for his supposed nastiness and instability, has behaved more like a teddy bear since coming to Japan, and has endeared himself to fellow players as well as Verdy fans. True to his new form, Edmundo's comments in his airport interviews dwelled on his concern for the team, and his desire to make a contribution to Verdy as soon as possible. However, according to his doctors, it is unlikely that he will be able to play a competitive match until after league play resumes in July, following the World Cup break.

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.

Send all questions, comments and queries to: