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March 25, 2002:
Cerezo in Full Bloom
The cherry blossoms bloomed early this year, as blossoms exploded with colour earlier than at any time in recorded history. Perhaps this can be ascribed to global warming, but the timing was appropriate as attention turned away from J.League first division teams for a while, and the J2 teams captured a bit of limelight. While Japan's national team holds matches against Ukraine and Poland, the first division has taken a break and will not resume play until March 31. However, the J2 teams play four matches in the interim between J1 dates, and as a result, soccer fans have some time to ponder the second division race, as teams start to position themselves for possible promotion.
Off in Osaka, the cherry-blossom namesake, Cerezo Osaka ("cerezo" means cherry, in Spanish) began staking their claim to dominance in the second division. To be precise, Cerezo currently are only in second place among J2 clubs, having lost points in a 1-1 draw at midweek against Kawasaki Frontale. But when one considers that the team was playing this match without three key starters, who are on national team duty, Cerezo's performance thus far in 2002 seems rather daunting. Oita Trinita hold the lead in the J2, for the time being, and their results such far suggest that they will also be a leading contender for promotion. Before we look at each of the teams, and their performance thus far in 2002, lets look at the scores of matches over the past week.
March 20, 2002
| Date | Home | . | Visitor | Venue |
|---|
| Mar 21 | Cerezo Osaka | 2 - 2 | Kawasaki Frontale | Nagai Stadium | | Mar 21 | Montedio Yamagata | 2 - 3 | Ventforet Kofu | Yamagata Stad. | | Mar 21 | Mito Hollyhock | ppd. | Omiya Ardija | Hitachinaka | | Mar 21 | Albirex Niigata | 2 - 2 | Shonan Bellmare | Niigata Stad. | | Mar 21 | Avispa Fukuoka | 1 - 1 | Yokohama FC | Hakata-no-mori | | Mar 21 | Oita Trinita | 2 - 0 s | Sagan Tosu | Oita Big Eye. |
March 23-24, 2002
| Date | Home | . | Visitor | Venue |
|---|
| Mar 24 | Yokohama FC | 1 - 2 | Oita Trinita | Yumenoshima | | Mar 24 | Sagan Tosu | 1 - 1 | Albirex Niigata | Tosu Stadium | | Mar 24 | Omiya Ardija | 2 - 0 | Avispa Fukuoka | Omiya Stadium | | Mar 24 | Kawasaki Frontale | 1 - 0 | Mito Hollyhock | Todoroki | | Mar 24 | Shonan Bellmare | 0 - 1 | Montedio Yamagata | Hiratsuka | | Mar 24 | Ventforet Kofu | 1 - 3 | Cerezo Osaka | Ose Stadium |
 
Even before the season started, anyone with an opinion agreed that Cerezo Osaka would be a leading candidate to win the second division title in 2002. The team took a core of very energeting and offense-oriented players and, despite being relegated last year, they actually ADDED several important players, especially on the defensive end. The team reinforced these favorable reviews by storming out of the gate with a 6-0 win in their first match of the season. Though the 2-2 draw against Kawasaki Frontale showed that (at least when their national-team members are out of action) the team CAN be vulnerable, it also highlighted the skills of some other Cerezo stalwarts who had a chance to shine in the absence of Hiroaki Morishima, Akinori Nishizawa, and Yoon Jung-Hwan (who is away for duty on the Korean national team). One of the biggest contributions came from 19-year-old Yoshito Okubo, who missed most of his rookie year with a broken leg, but is making up for lost time this season. Okubo scored a goal and had an assist in the match against Frontale, raising his goal total to four in just five matches.
Just four days later Cerezo unveiled yet another weapon that should make opposing defences cringe. Newly signed striker Almir Turkovic, a Bosnian international who joined the team on a one-year loan from NK Osijek, exploded for a hat trick in his first appearance for the club, against Ventforet Kofu. Considering how awesome the Cerezo offense seemed even before Turkovic's arrival, the prospect of adding another goal-scoring wizard makes this team a virtual certainty to clinch victory in this year's J2 race. Considering this dominance, the real question this year is, what other teams will remain in the hunt for a promotion spot, and how close they cam make the race.
 
The only J2 team that still has a perfect record this season is Oita Trinita. The feisty little team from Kyushu has narrowly missed promotion in each of the past three seasons, and they took several important steps in the off-season to boost their hopes of finally making the leap this year. Former Gamba Osaka goalkeeper Hayato Okanaka and former FC Tokyo sweeper Sandro de Chavez Rosa have been key additions, helping to settle the team's back line. Meanwhile, strikers Andradina and Takayuki Yoshida have been getting the job done on offense, with at least one of the two having scored in every match this season.
Trinita have benefitted to some extent from an easy schedule in their first five matches. However, this weekend will give them a chance to demonstrate how much of a contender they truly are, as they take on an understrength Cerezo side at Nagai stadium. Naturally, Oita will be hoping to come away with at least one point while theyh have the opportunity. When Cerezo are back to full strength, they may not have another opportunity to do so.
 
There is already a gap of 5 or more points between the two leaders and the next group of teams, raising concerns that the J2 race will be decided early, and the suspense needed to maintain fan interest will drop off. Nevertheless, there is a long way to go in this season, and several other teams have looked reasonably impressive in their first few outings. Kawasaki Frontale is one of these contenders. Although the team slumped badly last year, particularly after ace striker Emerson was traded to Urawa Reds, their performance in the first five matches of the season has been encouraging. One particular positive sign has been, the return to form of striker Kazuki Ganaha. The 22 year old showed signs of promise during the 2000 season, but he fell into a slump last year and failed to fulfill that promise. Though he has been relegated to the bench as a result, he has come off the bench to score two goals already, this year, and could be back in the starting lineup soon.
Two off-season acquistions, Kazuki Iio and Bentinho will try to keep Ganaha on the bench. Iio has shown early signs of success as well. The former Verdy striker is getting his first chance to play on a regular basis, and has done reasonably well to justify that role in the first few matches. Bentinho, on the other hand, has been a bit of a disappointment. He does not look as sharp as he did in his previous incarnation, as Kashiwa Reysol's go-to man. If he does recover his form, though, Kawasaki will have several scoring options at their disposal this season.
 
Albirex Niigata entered the season as one of the favorites to gain promotion, but their performance so far has been disappointing. Though they are level on points with Frontale, the team has allowed two of the weakest clubs in the league -- Shonan Bellmare and Sagan Tosu -- to hold them to draws in the last two matches. The team has been scoring goals, all right, but the defence has failed to carry their share of the burden. Unless Niigata can tighten up their back line, they will have a hard time matching the pace of contenders like Cerezo, Trinita and Frontale.
 
Ventforet Kofu have made a surprisingly strong start this season, and amazingly, stand in seventh place after five matches. The perrennial cellar-dweller of the league have not only discovered some scoring prowess, but their defence has been able to put in respectable showings even against teams like Frontale and Cerezo. Though the team's win over Mito Hollyhock is nothing to get excited about, a 3-2 victory away to Montedio Yamagata showed that Ventforet may be ready to avoid another last place finish this season. Even more encouraging was the team's performance against Cerezo last weekend. Though they lost the match 3-1, Ventforet looked competitive for the full 90 minutes, and striker Yutaka Kageyama scored a very pretty goal. If the team can keep up this performance, they might even be able to finish in the top half of the table this season.
 
Perhaps the biggest disappointment, so far, has been the team from Yamagata. Although Montedio came very close to winning promotion last season, despite having no real star players, this season the players are playing up (or rather, down) to their reputations. Consecutive losses to Sagan Tosu and Ventforet Kofu do not bode well for this team's promotion chances in 2002. Although Montedio recovered to win last Saturday, the 1-0 margin of victory against a weak Shonan Bellmare team once again showed the team's lack of real scoring options. Coach Koichi Hashiratani has his work cut out for him, as he tries to restore some life into this slumping team.
Following this weekend's matches, two teams have yet to record a loss. Oita Trinita are still perfect on the season, and Cerezo are also looking very dangerous. The two teams will meet on Saturday, March 30 in what could be an early indication of which team has the best chance to win the J2 race this year.
| . | Team | Pts | GP | W | D | L | GDif | GF | GA |
|---|
|
1 | Oita Trinita | 15 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | +7 | 9 | 2 | | 2 | Cerezo Osaka | 13 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | +13 | 16 | 3 | | 3 | Albirex Niigata | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | +2 | 6 | 4 | | 4 | Kawasaki Frontale | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 6 | 7 | | 5 | Avispa Fukuoka | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | +3 | 8 | 5 | | 6 | Omiya Ardija | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 4 | 3 | | 7 | Ventforet Kofu | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 7 | 10 | | 8 | Shonan Bellmare | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 5 | 8 | | 9 | Sagan Tosu | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 3 | 6 | | 10 | Yokohama FC | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -3 | 5 | 8 | | 11 | Montedio Yamagata | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -9 | 3 | 12 | | 12 | Mito Hollyhock | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 1 | 5 |
Rumours and Rumblings
 Nanami Eyes Return for WC2002
Jubilo Iwata midfielder Hiroshi Nanami made his first competitive appearance this year, in a practice match this weekend. After winning the MVP honors in the 2000 Asian Cup, Nanami has struggled with a knee injury that has required two separate operations. Though it will take some time for him to regain his form, a return to action this week indicates that he may still have a chance to win back his spot on the national team in time for the World Cup.
 Mito Hollyhock Climbs Out of Cellar
After their March 23 match against Omiya Ardija was postponed by (we kid you not) "strong wind", Mito Hollyhock managed to scrape through to a 1-0 victory and collect their first points of the season. Striker Kentaro Yoshida scored the only goal of the match in the 83 minute, allowing Mito to advance to 11th place in the league table, ahead of Montedio Yamagata.
 Antlers Prove to be a Popular Opponent
Kashima Antlers are proving to be the most popular J.League club to serve as a warm-up opponent to visiting national teams ahead of the World Cup. This week, the team announced that it has scheduled a friendly match against Argentina. The match is likely to be played at the Kashima Clubhouse Ground, but it could be played at Kashima Stadium, which will be the venue for Argentina's match against Nigeria. Tentadtively, the date of the match has been set as May 22. The Antlers have already scheduled a friendly match against Italy, to be played at Tokyo's national stadium on May 26.
 Troussier Seeks "Technical Advice from Michel
Japan national team coach Phillippe Troussier has proposed an addition to his coaching staff ahead of the World Cup. After his close friend and fellow Frenchman Henri Michel was axed from his position as head coach of the Tunisian national team, last week, Troussier has reportedly proposed that the JFA sign Michel to a short-term contract as a "technical advisor". When asked about this possibility by reporters, Troussier bristled a bit and made it clear that his old friend was not the sort of person who would act as "a spy". Yet he continued by saying that there was no reason - either legal or moral - why Michel could not be hired by another country to provide useful technical advice, after having been sacked by Tunisia. If such an arrangement is indeed made, it would certainly offer Japan an edge in their World Cup first round match against Tunisia.
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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