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April 1, 2002: Week 4
Purple Sanga Crush Jubilo!

Date	Home	.	Visitor	Venue
31 Mar		2-1(ET)		Nihondaira
31 Mar		2-1(ET)		Sendai Stadium
31 Mar		2-2		Expo '70 Stadium
31 Mar		0-3		Ichihara Seaside
31 Mar		0-1		Big Arch
31 Mar		0-3		Mizuho Stadium
31 Mar		0-1		Kokuritsu Stad.
31 Mar		3-1		Iwata Stadium

2-1 (ET)

Both teams came out with very aggressive game plans, which made for a very exciting match, heightening the enthusiasm (and noise level) even further. Over the first tem minutes or so, Vissel got one or two dangerous opportunities created mainly by the sideline runs of striker Masayuki Okano. On one play, he sprinted down the right line, pulled the ball back to turn his defender, and then accelerated once more, all the way to the end line, and crossed the ball to the near post. But unfortunately, Kazu Miura headed the ball just wide of the post. On the other end, Teruo Iwamoto made several attempts to provide through ball for Vegalta's ace striker Marcos, but some staunch defending by Sidiclei and Yukie Tsuchiya managed to turn him away each time.

Despite the very exciting opportunities from the run of play for both teams, the first goal came on a quirky set play. Vissel won a corner kick from the right side, which was taken by Kazu. His cross was hard and on target, but it looked like keeper Norio Takahasi had it in his sights. But Takahashi misplayed the ball, with his punch going straight up into the air, rather than out of the box. Vissel midfielder Ataliba managed to win the battle for position near the back post, and when the ball came down, he was able to head it home from just inches away.

Vegalta nearly equalized a mere five minutes later, as Iwamoto provided a perfect ball to Marcos on a slant towards the near post, but the ever-dependable Sidiclei chased him down and managed to just barely get a boot in the way to deflect the shot wide. Though play went end to end at a very fast pace, neither team was able to get a truly dangerous chance for the remainder of the first half.

The second half began with an even greater surge of noise, and a sense of urgency, as Vegalta tried to equalise and Vissel attempted to put the match out of reach. In the 60 minute, a truly baffling, yet wildly exciting sequence ratcheted up the excitement even higher. It began on a free kick taken by Vegalta at midfield. After recieving the short kick from fellow defender Hajime Moriyasu, Norio Omura looped a long ball over the defence. Yasushi Fukunaga was in offside position, and the Vissel defence stopped chasing the play. But Fukunaga wisely strolled away from the ball, as Yoshiteru Yamashita sprinted from an on-side position to catch up with the ball at the left edge of the box. The referee initially let the play continue, but then just as Yamashita unleashed his shot (which the keeper managed to dive onto), he appeared to blow his whistle, though with all the crowd noise, it is hard to be sure. Since the linesman's flag was still down, a Vegalta player tried to rush into the play from the right top corner of the box, but Sidiclei knocked him down -- perhaps accidentally -- as he threw his arms wide, making an appeal for offside. Finally, the referee began blowing his whistle frantically to stop play

At this point, all hell was breaking loose. The Vegalta players wanted a PK, or at the very least, an explanation for why play had been stopped. The Vissel players were arguing that play had already been stopped, as they were sure they had heard a whistle for offside. After conferring with both of the linesmen once, the referee showed signs that he was going to give a drop ball right at the penalty spot. Then he went back and sought their advice a second time, and just for good measure, asked the opinion of the fourth official. Naturally, by this time, the stadium was in an uproar. At last, the ref decided to give an indirect free kick INSIDE the penalty area, accusing Sidiclei of interference, but not of a foul, yet giving him a yellow card for verbal abuse, just to make sure that everyone watching was totally confused.

If anyone thought the situation couldnt possibly get any crazier, they would have been wrong. On the subsequent kick, Marcos rolled the ball to Iwamoto who took a looping shot. The ball cleared the onrushing defenders, as well as the keeper, but hit the crossbar. Bouncing straight down, the ball hit at some point just to the goal side of the end line, though even the replays were unable to show whether or not the ball was completely over the line. As it rebounded off the ground, a defender headed it over the bar. . . . .

With the rafters of Sendai Stadium shaking to their foundations, the announcers had ceased trying to describe the events, and were reduced to occasionally shouting the name of the player with the ball. But this wild sequence of play wasnt over yet. On the subsequent free kick, Tsuchiya cleared the ball down the right sideline, and the speedy Okano was off to the races on the counterattack. As he approached the box, the last defender closed in, and Okano dropped the ball to Ataliba. Ataliba pulled the ball back, allowing two more Kobe strikers to catch up with the break, and then lobbed a pass for Shoji Jo at the right post. Jo headed the ball on net from point-blank range, but with a diving stab, Takahashi somehow managed to push it away. The ball bounced to Ryuji Bando at the top of the box, and he took not one -- not two -- but THREE shots on goal, all of them smothered by one desperate defender after another!

The second half continued at only a slightly less frantic pace, as Sendai Stadium reverberated to the oddly farcical strains of "Country Roads" (the Vegalta fan club's favourite chant). As the match neared an end, Vissel Kobe were forced to defend more and more frantically. But try as they might, Vegalta simply couldnt get the equalizer. Because of all the stoppages, five full minutes were added on, but with 94 already on the clock and the home team still scoreless, it looked like this was the end.

And then, on what was surely their last push forward, a lob pass sent Marcos into space at the right corner. As he cut towards goal, Sidiclei once again emerged from the defensive pack, cutting off his progress. But just as Marcos crossed into the box, he chipped the ball into the air, and the ball glanced off Sidiclei's arm, giving Vegalta a PK!!!

As Marcos converted, the stadium erupted into what might have been the highest decibels of the afternoon. Those watching at home teetered precariously on the edges of their seats, waiting eagerly to see what drama would unfold in extra time . . . .

. . . . at which point, NHK suddenly broke away from the match, and began broadcasting a tsunami alert for Okinawa prefecture.

No, as unbelievable as this might sound, it is NOT an april fool's joke. As millions of viewers shook their heads in disbelief, the next forty minutes ticked away as a monotone announcer repeated the same warning announcement over and over: "a tsunami, or tidal wave warning has been issued for the following areas of Okinawa. The maximum height of the wave is expected to be two meters in some areas. Those living in low-lying coastal areas are advised to move to higher ground. "

Those at the stadium would be treated to a thrilling finish. Ten minutes into the extra time period, substitute midfielder Takahiro Yamadaraced into the left corner and fired the ball for the far post. Yamashita flashed into the box, leaping high over the defence and drilling a header into the net. Those watching on TV, however, would have to wait over two hours to get the news. NHK didnt even bother to run a subtitle announcement to tell viewers the results of the game. I suppose we were expected to be content with the news that the tsunami was small, and caused no serious damage. Anyway, thats the way it happened . . . believe it or not!

Lineups:
Norio Takahashi, Yusuke Mori, Ricardo Ribeiro, Norio Omura, Tetsuya Murata (Tomohiro Katanosaka 93), Hajime Moriyasu, Silvinho, Yasushi Fukunaga (Shinji Fuhiyoshi 74), Teruo Iwamoto (Takahiro Yamada 67), Yoshiteru Yamashita, Marcos
Makoto Kakegawa, Sidiclei, Yukio Tsuchiya, Koji Yoshimura, Shigeyoshi Mochizuki, Masayuki Okano (Daniel 89), Ataliba, Masaya Nishitani (Takeshi Hirano 55), Kazu Miura, Ryuji Bando (Naoya Saeki 84), Shoji Jo

At any rate, S-Pulse's first-half lethargy continued, while FC Tokyo came out with guns blazing, as they have in every match this season. THis made for a very high-paced and exciting match. BOth teams had their opportunities early on, though S-Pulse looked a bit ruffled by the Tokyo pressure. In the 30 minute, the visitors got on the scoreboard first. FC Tokyo won a corner kick from the left side, and it was taken by midfielder Yukihiko Sato. His kick was a low line-drive to Masamitsu Kobayashi at the near post. Kobayashi headed the ball up in a looping arch for the far post, and Tokyo's ace striker, Amaral, raced in to head the ball home and give Tokyo the early lead.

S-Pulse struggled to equalize, but over the remainder of the first half, their offense sputtered, and Tokyo maintained the upper hand. It wasnt until the second half began that S-Pulse began to create truly dangerous scoring opportunities. The first came just two minutes after half time, as Shimizu forward Baron used his height to outjump the defence for a long clearance, and headed it on for captain Masaaki Sawanobori. Sawanobori raced towards goal, one step ahead of his defender, and caught up with the ball just as it reached the edge of the box. Fortunately for Tokyo, though, keeper Yoichi Doi reacted well and rushed off his line to meet the attack. To beat the outrushing keeper, Sawanobori had to pull the trigger on his first touch of the ball, and his shot was slightly off target, flashing to the left of the post.

Ten minutes later, S-Pulse nearly scored again, as Alessandro Santos lobbed a pass from the top of the circle and found Baron at the right post, but the tall Brazilian's shot hit the post and bounced harmlessly away. FC Tokyo created some danger of their own, and the second half became a wild, see-saw battle with play going end to end. In the 65 minute, FC Tokyo almost put the icing on the cake. Kobayashi hit a ball from the left edge of the box that might have been a cross and might have been a shot. Whatever the case, the keeper had to punch the ball out as it nearly dropped into the net. His deflection was controlled at the far post by Kelly, who dropped a pass to Sato, steaming into the box. But the keeper did well to get back on his line and block Sato's drive.

Finally, in the 72 minute, S-Pulse got their break. Right wing Daisuke Ichikawa brought a ball up the sideline, and as his defencer closed in, he cut back and created an opening for himself. Alex met Ichikawa's cross at the top of the box, and one-timed it to Sawanobori at the penalty spot. The Tokyo defenders all appealed for offside, and they might have had a point. But the referee played on, and Sawanobori wheeled around to bury the ball in the back of the net.

Regulation time ended with the score still deadlocked, setting S-Pulse up for their fifth golden goal overtime in their last six matches (if you include the Xerox Cup and the Emperor's Cup final). SInce S-Pulse has yet to lose a golden-goal decision this year, the home crowd roared its approval, expecting lightning to strike yet again. They were not to be disappointed. Just four minutes into the extra session, substitute striker Kohei Hiramatsu weaved his way through midfield, racing past two Tokyo defenders before his path to goal was closed down, near the edge of the box. As the defence closed in, Hiramatsu pushed the ball to Ctivanovic, and the big Croatian fired the ball into the low left corner to collect his first J.League goal, and send S-Pulse to yet another extra-time victory.

Lineups:
Takaya Kurokawa, Tomohiro Ikeda, Katsumi Oenoki, Takuma Koga, Daisuke Ichikawa , Kohei Hiramatsu, Yasuhiro Yoshida, Alessandro Santos, Yoshikiyo Kuboyama (Kazuyuki Toda 45), Masaaki Sawanobori (Ctivanovic 87), Baron
Yoichi Doi, Minoru Kobayashi, Jean Carlo Witte, Tetsuya Ito, Takahiko Shimotaira, Satoru Asari, Masashi Miyazawa, Yukihiko Sato (Daisuke Hoshi 76), Kelly, Masamitsu Kobayashi (Kohei Toda 79), Amaral

Reduced to ten men and without their starting keeper, Sanfrecce resorted to a dour, defensive wall which turned the match into a rather dull affair. In the end, however, justice prevailed as the Antlers got the winning goal midway through the second half. Kashima won a free kick on the left side, about five meters beyond the box. The kick was taken by Mitsuo Ogasawara, who sent a perfectly-placed cross to the far post, where Koji Nakata headed it home

Lineups:
Takashi Shimoda, Yuichi Komano, Michel Pensee Billong, Shinya Kawashima, Kentaro Sawada, Naoya Umeda (Yuki Kuwabara 59), Kazuyuki Morisaki, Koji Morisaki (Tulio Tanaka 82), Chikara Fujimoto, Milo (Yuji Osaki 32), Tatsuhiko Kubo
Hitoshi Sogahata, Fabiano, Seiji Kaneko, Akira Narahashi, Augusto, Koji Nakata, Koji Kumagai (Takuya Nozawa 69), Mitsuo Ogasawara, Masashi Motoyama (Tomoyuki Hirase 82), Atsushi Yanagisawa, Takayuki Suzuki

Jubilo Iwata had relatively little difficulty with the league doormat, Kyoto Purple Sanga. Indeed, the only thing unusual about this match was the fact that Jubilo failed to score more goals. It may simply be that they were bored into silence by Kyoto's lethargic defending. The first goal, scored nine minutes into the match, highlighted the truly pathetic level of play in the Purple Sanga camp. Following an inlet pass from midfield, striker Masashi Nakayama passed the ball to Aleksandr Zivkovic about a meter from the left post. Zivkovic apparently felt that the shot wasnt quite easy enough, so he passed back to Nakayama at the penalty spot. Nakayama thought about shooting, then changed his mind and passed to Toshiya Fujita slanting for the right post. Fujita also seemed to feel that the five-meter shot was too well screened, so he passed the ball about fifteen meters, straight across the face of the goal, to an unmarked Zivkovic for the easy tap-in. Some readers may find it hard to believe that three players could stand around and exchange five passes within the penalty area, without a defender even making an attempt to smother the play. But the fact is, Nakayama, Fujita and Zivkovic werent even pressured for time. The passes were all delivered with a casual air, as if part of a practice drill.

Jubilo doubled their advantage in the 22 minute, on a corner kick from Zivkovic that found Naohiro Takahara open in front of the net. Takahara headed home, to collect his first goal since returning to Japan from Argentina. After the second score, the two teams decided that football was too boring, and a wrestling match would be more fun. Over the subsequent 60 minutes, the two teams would collect six yellow cards and two reds, but despite their efforts to turn the Purple Sanga black and blue, Jubilo didnt seem to show much interest in scoring further goals. They only woke up after Purple Sanga registered an unlikely tally ten minutes after the break, on a nice slant into the box by Shingo Suzuki.

Jubilo woke up after the Kyoto goal, and it took them just three minutes to restore the two-goal lead. This time, Nakayama took off on a breakaway, left all of the Kyoto defence in his dust, and then was pulled to ground by the keeper as he angled in for his shot. This earned Hideaki Ueno a red card and allowed Fujita to convert from the spot. Thereafter, the teams went back to their wrestling match, with Takahiro Yamanishi joining Ueno in the showers after an 82 minute red card. Ugly as it might have been, the win carries Jubilo to the top of the table, with an unblemished record. Kyoto, meanwhile, are plumbing new depths in peripatetic pusillanimity, though at the very least, they are challenging sports writers to come up with new adjectives to describe their performance.

Lineups:
Arno VanZwam, Hideto Suzuki (Go Oiwa 86), Makoto Tanaka, Takahiro Yamanishi, Norihiro Nishi, Takashi Fukunishi, Jo Kanazawa (Toshihiro Hattori 60), Toshiya Fujita, Aleksandr Zivkovic, Masashi Nakayama, Naohiro Takahara (Rodrigo Gral 75)
Hideaki Ueno, Jin Sato, Kazuhiro Suzuki, Makoto Atsuta (An Hyo-Yon 45), Makoto Kakuda, Shingo Suzuki, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Park Choi-Son, Daisuke Nakaharai (Tadashi Nakamura 45), Daisuke Matsui, Teruaki Kurobe (Naoto Hirai 59)

The match between Urawa Reds and Gamba Osaka was somewhat duller than the overtime contests in Sendai and Shimizu, but it was nevertheless a closely-fought battle between two well-matched teams. The Reds entered the match without a point, having fallen to three straight losses despite playing reasonably competitive matches in all three contests. Gamba, meanwhile, have looked much livelier and more dangerous since the addition of their Brazilian duo of Marcelinho Carioca and Magrao , and have moved into contention with the league leaders for the first time in many years.

The match was also exciting for the sudden change in atmosphere. When the two teams kicked off, there was bright sunshine over the stadium, but within a few minutes, it had clouded up and reain was threatening. This must have been a foreboding sight for the Reds, since Gamba scored their first tally as the first few drops began to fall. As has been the case in most of their goals this season, the play was created by the ever-artistic Marcelinho Carioca. Picking up a ball on the right side, the Brazilian playmaker drove into the box, but as a defender closed him down, he dropped the ball to Yasushi Endo, who unleashed a solid shot inside the right post to put Gampa on top 1-0.

No sooner had the ball been returned to center circle than the heavens opened and the field was drenched by a torrential downpour. As the two teams tried to navigate their way through the dim and sodden terrain, a long ball from midfield sent Gamba striker Kota Yoshihara into the clear at the left edge of the box. Yoshihara made a nice cut for goal, but two Reds defenders can be faulted for simply shadowing him, rather than closing him off. Yoshihara saw the small opening that they had left him, and fired off a low-angle shot that just barely managed to elude the keeper and slip inside the far post.

Things were looking pretty gloomy for the team from Urawa, but as the half wore down, there was a sudden reversal in the atmospherics. The rain abated, and the clouds began to roll away to show patcvhes of blue sky. Just before the end of the half, right wing Nobuhisa Yamada made one of his patented runds donw the sideline, cut into the box and dropped a pass back to Livonir "Tuto" Ruschel. Tuto rumbled into the box and fired a blast that cut the deficit to just one goal at the intermission.

At half time, the sun suddenly broke through and the stadium was bathed in light, with a rainbow even making a breif appearance on the horizon. Some 15 mintues into the second half, the rays of hope began to emerge for Urawa fans, as well. On a play that looked very similar to Yoshihara's goal, the Reds' ace striker, Emerson, picked up a ball on the left and cut towards the box. Splitting two defenders who were too slow to cut off his angle, Emerson fired over the keeper to knot the score.

With time running down, Urawa got what looked like the crucial break. substitute midfielder Tatsuya Tanaka collected a long pass and broke for the box with just one mand to beat. The defender made a low, sliding tackle that sent Tanaka flying headlong into the box, for what the Reds players claimed was a PK. But the referee felt that the fould occurred just outside the box, and Urawa was unable to convert from the free kick.

Unfortunately, play died down to a sluggish crawl in the extra time period, with neither team coming particularly close. Thus, the match ended in a 2-2 draw. Lineups:
Ryota Tsuzuki, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Hiroshige Yanagimoto, Masao Kiba, Satoshi Yamaguchi, Yasuhito Endo, Toru Araiba, Marcelinho Carioca, Takahiro Futagawa (Hideo Hashimoto 63), Kota Yoshihara (Masanobu Matsunami 90), Giuliano "Magrao" Aranda
Norihiro Yamagishi, Tadaaki Tsuboi, Masami Ihara, Hideki Uchidate, Nobuhisa Yamada, Keita Suzuki, Ryuji Michiki , Harison (Toshiyuki Abe 64), Tuto (Tatsuya Tanaka 81), Masahiro Fukuda, Emerson

In the past, Nagoya Grampus have earned a reputation for being the underperformers of the league. At the start of this season, we predicted that this year they would finally shake off that reputation, if only because nobody expected them to perform very well. But we should have known better. Four weeks into the season, Nagoya are already performing well below expectations, and if they keep it up, they might even have to contend with the threat of relegation. Coach Zdenko Verdenik, who achieved great success last year with a much less talented team, at JEF United, jumped onto the Nagoya bandwagon with the possible hope that he could build a contender. But afterthe performance that Grampus turned in this week, he may be wishing he was back in Ichihara. On the other side of the pitch, Consadole Sapporo came into this match with three straight losses and one eye on the future relegation situation. But for this week, at least, the team seemed to turn their performance up a nothc, and they may have found a new team leader in Takafumi Ogura.

The match started out on a very defensive note. Both teams were tentative, with Consadole pressuring the ball hard in their own end but unwilling to extend their defence and thus unable to create any real dangerous counterattacks. At the half, the score was 0-0 and apart from a couble of long and hopeful shots by Ueslei and a single exciting cut across the top of the box by Ogura, neither team had even come close to scoring. But just four minutes into the second act, Consadole got a break which transformed their performance altoghether. Midfielder Tomohiro Wanami collected a defensive clearance and began dribbling upfield aimlessly, as he had done several times earlier in the match. But as he crossed midfield, he dropped the ball off for Ogura, who was open on the sideline. Ogura carried the ball towards the center of the field, drawing two defenders as he did so. But Wanami continued his run upfield, and just as he neared the final defender, Ogura spun about and looped the ball into the corner for him to run onto. Wanami collected the ball in the corner and spied Hiromi Kojima breaking into the box. His low cross was well placed for Kojima, but a defender was right on the striker's shoulder to deny the shot. Yet fortune smiled on Sapporo, as Kojima and his defender made a stab for the ball at the same time, throwing both off balance. Kojima missed the ball, but the defender made contact, deflecting the cross right into his own net.

The goal lifted Consadole on a wave of enthusiasm, and for the next several minutes, they were quicker to every loose ball, and a step ahead of Grampus at every corner of the field. Five mintues after the first goal, Ogura once again ran a post play, collecting a pass from midfielder Koji Yamase and carrying it laterally across the field as Yamase tried to shake free of his defender. Ogura again made a sudden spin move and lofted the ball for Yamase, just as he neared the edge of the box. Maintaining his stride, Yamase settled the ball once, then fired a high, hard cannon shot that hit the roof of the net before Nagoya keeper Seigo Narazaki could gather himself for a jump.

By this time, Grampus were in a panic, and lost their composure almost completely. Instead of trying to work the ball upfield against the now-extended Consadole defence, they were reduced to long, aimless drives downfield hoping vainly for a lucky bounce to give Ueslei or Marcelo an open shot on net. About ten minutes after their second goal, Consadole closed the lid on Nagoya's coffin, thanks to yet another fine post-up by Ogura. After receiving an inlet pass from midfield at the top of the circle, Ogura screened his defender while looking for help. Yamase broke across the top of the box, followed closely by the last two Grampus defenders. Ogura dropped the ball to Yamase just as he reached the center of the circle, and in a burst of speed, Yamase cleared his defender and found an opening. As he looked towards goal, Yamase spotted a wide-open Hitoshi Morishita, sprinting for the left post. Yamase pushed the ball into his path, and Morishita volleyed it with the left foot, sending a grass-cutting drive underneath the dive of Narazaki, putting the match out of reach and giving Consadole their first win of the season.

Lineups:
Seigo Narazaki, Yasunari Hiraoka, Masayuki Omori, Masahiro Koga, Tetsuya Okayama (Yasuyuki Moriyama 71), Tomoyuki Sakai, Tarik Oulida, Yusuke Nakatani (Kunihiko Takizawa 59), Naoshi Nakamura (Ko Ishikawa 59), Ueslei, Marcelo
Yohei Sato, Yasuyuki Konno, Kyosuke Yoshikawa, Kensaku Omori, Ryuji Tawbuchi, Tomohiro Wanami, Hitoshi Morishita, Biju, Koji Yamase, Hiromi Kojima (Gakuya Horii 81), Takafumi Ogura

The most discouraging match of the afternoon pitted Kashiwa Reysol against Tokyo Verdy. While most of the league has been putting on a performance of exciting, attacking football this season, these two teams slogged from one end of the field to another in an aimless, defensive morass that was an insult even to the paltry crowd of 8,000 who showed up at Tokyo's national stadium in the chilly rain to watch the match.

This game was significant only in the fact that it marked Edmundo's first appearance since foot surgery, over the winter break. Although Verdy looked a shade more competitive with their go-to man in the lineup, creativity was sadly lacking. To make matters worse, keeper Daijiro Takakuwa had to be stretchered off after a collision with Harutaka Ono, and will be nursing a knee injury for the next few weeks.

Reysol did not look much better, for that matter. Hwang Sun-Hong and Yoo Sang-Chul looked like they were still feeling the effects of jet lag following their long overseas tour with the Korean national team. Nor were their teammates much livelier. The only player who made an impressive showing was Cesar Sampaio, who had a hand in the first goal. after an exchange of headers at midfield, Sampaio corralled the ball and struck a bicycle kick to loop the ball over his head and into the Verdy end. Ono picked up the ball and carried it deep into the left corner before launching a high cross towards the box. Yoo met the ball in full stride, just inside the box and directly in front of goal. His header was a powerful shot that been the substitute keeper, Takahiro Shibasaki, and gave Reysol the winning margin to this dull match.

Lineups:
Yuta Minami, Shigenori Hagimura, Takeshi Watanabe, Norihiro Satsukawa, Tomokazu Myojin, Mitsuteru Watanabe, Cesar Sampaio, Tomonori Hirayama, Harutaka Ono, Yoo Sang-Chul, Hwang Sun-Hong (Hideaki Kitajima 70)
Daijiro Takakuwa (Takahiro Shibasaki 23), Takuya Kawaguchi (Hideki Nagai 65), Kentaro Hayashi, Atsushi Yoneyama, Takuya Yamada, Yoshiyuki Kobayashi, Naoki Soma, Yoshihiro Nishida, Edmundo, Keiji Ishizuka (Naoto Sakurai 73), Marquinhos

Finally, Yokohama Marinos strolled to a fairly convincing win over JEF Ichihara. JEF received a big blow just 13 minutes after kickoff, when Zeljko Milinovic, the key to their defence, had to leave with an injury. With their best central defender missing, JEF struggled on defence and conceded the first goal just before half time. Yokohama won a free kick about ten meters outside the box, and Shunsuke Nakamura took the kick, finding Naza near the back post for a strong finish.

The second goal was scored on an individual effort by Nobuhisa Shimizu, but Nakamura had a hand in the final goal as well. Nine minutes from time, the Marinos playmaker took the ball into the right corner and cut a looping pass back in to Will, who hit a first-time volley from the edge of the box to close out the scoring.

Lineups:

Ryo Kushino, Eisuke Nakanishi, Zelko Milinovic (Akihiro Takita 13), Takayuki Chano, Masataka Sakamoto, Yuki Abe, Shigetoshi Hasebe (Mitsutoshi Watada 77), Edin Mujcin, Shinji Murai, Katsutomo Oshiba (Naotake Hase 63), Choi Yong-Soo
Tatsuya Enomoto, Yuji Nakazawa, Naza, Naoki Matsuda, Yasuhiro Hato (Tatsunori Hisanaga 89), Yoshiharu Ueno (Akihiro Endo 89), Daisuke Oku, Dutra, Shunsuke Nakamura, Will (Ryosuke Kijima 89), Nobuhisa Shimizu

Based on their loss on Sunday, FC Tokyo fall from the top of the table, and Jubilo are now the sole leaders. Though S-Pulse has won all four of its matches, by leaving it to extra time, they have lost three precious points, and thus are adrift of Yokohama Marinos, who have three wins and a draw.

Rumours and Rumblings

J.League All-Star Voting Begin

This year's all-star match will be held on August 24, at Saitama Soccer Stadium. Each team will, include 14 players selected by fan balloting, with the top vote-getters for each of the 11 field positions winning a place, plus the next-highest vote-getters in the front line, midfield and back line. Balloting gakes place at all J.League matches between now and the end of the first stage. Ballots can also be cast at TOTO ticket sales locations, and by post card.

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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