July 9, 2002
The League Returns to Action:
In the J2, league leaders Oita Trinita had to struggle in order to get a 1-0 victory over Omiya Ardija, but they maintained their impressive run of victories and now look like they could run away from the rest of the pack. The J2 season is long and gruelling, so it is a bit too early to pick Oita as a certainty for promotion in 2003, especially since the team has a history of folding down the stretch. However, this year their lead is large enough that they might just be able to get their long-awaited ticket to the top division.
The other two top contenders also won their matches by 1-0 score lines last weekend. Albirex Niigata are riding a wave of enthusiasm in Niigata prefecture which actually began last year, but has received a boost from the world cup. The team has been consistently drawing over 15,000 to home matches, and even at distant Hakata-no-mori Stadium, the travelling condingent was large and loud. Nevertheless, Niigata were lucky to emerge with victory, thankjs only to an own goal by Avispa on a miscue in the box, early in the match.
Cerezo Osaka prevailed on a late goal by young midfielder Yoshito Okubo, despite being reduced to ten men just before half time. Cerezo have been something of a disappointment this season, but their wealth of talent and the depth of their bench suggest that they still must be viewed as a leading candidate for promotion, since these factors will become more telling as the long, 44-match season winds down and players begin to tire. Okubo has been a bit disappointing himself, having joined the league in 2001 as the top rookie prospect. A broken leg ruined his rookie season, and it seems like he is just now returning to peak form. History shows that such serious injuries often affect players mentally, long after they are healed physically. If the youngster from Kyushu can live up to his early promise, it will be a big boost to Cerezo's hopes.
The last of the real "contenders", Kawasaki Frontale, also captured three points last week, but they needed two goals in the final ten minutes to achieve a come-from-behind win over lowly Sagan Tosu (and at home, no less). Although the J2 looks like it will be a four-team race for a few months, yet, Kawasaki are likely to be the weakest contender among the four unless they start to get more production out of their two misfiring forwards, Kazuki Ganaha and Bentinho.
The J1 schedule for July 13-14 promises to give fans an exciting return to action. And in the wake of a successful World Cup, fans seem to be responding with interest. Nagoya Grampus and JEF United have nearly sold out Matsumoto Stadium, a venue in central Japan with no current team in residence, but a beautiful football-only facility which was used by Paraguay as a home base during the world cup. There are also preliminary indications that the key matchup between Urawa Reds and Jubilo Iwata, at Saitama Stadium, could post one of the highest attendance figures in years.
But the hottest ticket in the J.League right now is for the match between Yokohama Marinos and Vegalta Sendai, at Mitsuzawa Stadium. At the start of the year, when Yokohama were coming off their worst season ever and Vegalta Sendai were viewed as a weak upstart, just promoted from J2, someone in the J.League scheduling department apparently decided that it would be better to hold this match at the 15,000-seat Mitsuzawa, rather than cavernous Yokohama International Stadium. Mitsuzawa is a lovely, football-only facility, and it will surely be a great venue for such a key match. But with Yokohama and Sendai battling it out for first place in the league, and the added attraction to Yokohama fans of seeing Shunsuke Nakamura one last time before he departs for Reggina, this event could easily draw a crowd that doubles, or even triples the capacity of Mitsuzawa stadium.
Another match which could bring in a surprisingly large crowd is the contest between Kashiwa Reysol and Kyoto Purple Sanga, at Nishikyogyoku Stadium. Kyoto has been the most poorly supported team in the league for several years -- even during their brief residence in the second division, they failed to draw as many fans as rival teams. But this week, there will be a unique attraction which could alter the calculations. Korean national team striker Park Ji-Sung, of the Purple Sanga, will face off against his Korean strike partners Hwang Sun-Hong and Yoo Sang-Chul. This could make the match a popular event in the Kansai area, which is home to a large community of ethnic-Korean Japanese.
Elsewhere, Kashima Antlers will host Tokyo Verdy, welcoming back teammates Naoki Soma and Daijiro Takakuwa, who are on loan to Verdy for one year. Shimizu S-Pulse will host Gamba Osaka in another match that has already sold out, Vissel Kobe will take on Consadole Sapporo in a possible fight against relegation, and FC Tokyo will face visiting Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
Rumours and Rumblings
Zico Japan: It just keeps getting better!
After Zico was named to the position of head coach for the Japan national team, The Rising Sun News noted that, considering his busy schedule and lack of actual front-line coaching experience, Zico might well name an assistant "drill sergeant" to handle the day-to-day team training, and to join him on the bench for matches. Sure enough, our prediction may be about to come true. And the selection is one that surprised even the prescient RSN prognosticators. According to reports in some Japanese sports tabloids, Zico may be joined by former Japan head coach Takeshi Okada. We will have more to say on this once the news is confirmed, but for the time being, suffice it to say that the combination of Zico and Okada on the bench will be a dream line-up, comparable only to Ronaldo and Rivaldo on the field.
Meanwhile, the JFA confirmed that the responsibility for grooming the U-23 squad will fall to former Japan olympic team coach Masakuni Yamamoto, who has been working with the youth team in one capacity or another since the early 1990s, and probably deserves much of the credit for the succes of Japan's 1999 World Youth Championship Team, which he selected and trained right up until the week before it left for Nigeria, when Troussier suddenly took over the coaching seat and rode it to a second-place finish. Yamamoto is also a former head coach of Jubilo Iwata.
Statistics Suggest Saitama Stadium Sellout
Many commentators have wondered aloud whether the World Cup would provide the boost to J.League interest that the league has been predicting. If there was any doubt remaining, initial figures for ticket sales have dispelled them as completely as a morning mist on a hot August day. Initial ticket sales data indicates that several of this weekend's matches may sell out. Tickets to the Yokohama Marinos matchup against Vegalta Sendai, at 15,000-seat Mitsuzawa Stadium, were all gone several weeks ago, but what has really caused J.League watchers to sit up and take notice is the reports coming out of Saitama Stadium. The 63,000 seat facility, built for the World Cup, is a magnificent football venue -- surely one of the two or three best stadiums in Japan. However, as recently as three months ago, even members of Urawa Reds management were reluctant to suggest that they would ever be able to sell out the facility for a league match.
The largest crowd ever recorded at a J.League match was around 67,000, for the Yokohama derby match between the Marinos and the late Yokohama Flugels, in 1996. This marked the high-water point for J.League popularity, and since that time, no J.League match has ever come close to that figure. As of Tuseday, however, officials at Saitama Soccer Stadium announced that they had already sold slightly over 60,000 tickets, and if good weather brought out a reasonably large number of fans buying tickets at the gate, the match might very well sell out. It already looks certain that the match will register the second-highest attendance in J.League history, and considering the character of Reds fans and the acoustics of Saitama Stadium, it may also set a new record for the highest decibel level on a nationwide TV broadcast, surpassing "Deep Purple: Live at Budokan", set all the way back in December 1975.
Schoolboy Star Joins Jubilo
This week, the most closely-watched teenager in Shizuoka prefecture was not some idol singer doing a summer concert at Mt Fuji, but Shimizu Tech high school midfielder Naoki Kikuchi, a 17-year-old who recently accepted an offer from Jubilo Iwata, and could see his first J.League action this weekend. Kikuchi was reportedly scouted by no less than nine J.League clubs, but he apparentl;y opted for Jubilo due to its proximity to his home town, and its reputation as a championship team. Kikuchi confirmed his decision this week, and was at Jubilo's practice facility on Monday morning, working out with the rest of the team.
Brazilian midfielder Carlos Dunga, who works as a technical adviser for Jubilo, was effusive in describing Kikuchi after a few hours of practice. "For a kid his age, his speed in approaching the ball, and the pressure he puts on opponents is remarkable. He definitely is ready to play at a high level."
Manaka Makes Magnificent Recovery
July 10 was a day of joy for Cerezo Osaka fans. Not only were they able to enjoy the thrill of a thorough victory over Mito Hollyhock, but they witnessed the return of one of the team's most well-liked and personable players, Yasuo Manaka. As we reported earlier this year Manaka was the victim of a mugging/beating in February of this year which left him close to death. Considering the severity of his skull fracture, as well as his age (33), doctors indicated that this might well mean the end of his career.
But the diminutive midfielder has always been a fighter, both with his first club, Kashima Antlers, and more recently at Cerezo Osaka. Manaka scored 33 goals in his J.League career, prior to the injury, and holds the record for the fastest hat-trick ever scored (three goals in five minutes). As soon as he was able to leave the hospital, Manaka embarked on a training regimen to try to make a comeback. This week, Manaka returned to action in Cerezo's weekend match against Yokohama FC. Then, in just his second match since the injury, Manaka scored a goal in his team's home match against Mito Hollyhock, helping his team to a convincing 4-1 victory. The Cerezo faithful will surely be hoping that this is just the start of many more fine performances from a gritty competitor and a highly regarded team player.
Edilson Returns to the Reysol Fold
Kashiwa Reysol announced on July 10 that they have reached a contract agreement with Brazilian striker Edilson Silva Ferreira (Edilson). The team had held discussions with the diminutive ball wizard during his World Cup visit to Japan. Edilson first emerged as a budding star during his previous period at Reysol, in 1996 and 1997, and was one of the league's top ten scorers in both seasons. Edilson is reportedly good friends with Cesar Sampaio, who joined Reysol earlier this year (the two played together for Corinthians, and when they were younger, for Palmeiras). Certainly, the addition of a finisher like Edilson would be a big boost to Reysol, who have relied too much on their defence in recent years. However, the news of Edilson's contract may have overtones that are not quite as pleasant. The team already has three foreign players on its roster (Sampaio, and Koreans Yoo Sang-Chul and Hwang Sun-Hong). Although J.League rules allow a team to carry as many foreign players on the roster as they like, only three can be named to the lineup for any given match. Therefore, the deal for Edilson suggests that Reysol probably expect either Hwang or yoo -- or perhaps both -- to leave the team in the near future. Both players have reportedly been seeking possible offers to play in Europe, though neither one has actually received a formal offer.
Verdy's New Coach Cleans House
While a number of J.League teams are still hunting around for a last-minute acquisition to bolster their roster, cellar-dwelling Tokyo Verdy have taken the opposite tack as new head coach Lori Paulo Sandri attempts to rebuild the club and rescue it from relegation. On July 7, the team announced that it had cut three players, two of whom have been central figures in the Verdy organisation for several years.
The most high-profile player to get the axe -- if he can still be viewed as high-profile -- was Masakiyo Maezono. At one time, Maezono was viewed as one of Japan's rising stars, and after defeating Brazil at the 1996 Olympics, Maezono moved to Tokyo Verdy for a fat contract and a huge wave of publicity. No one is absolutely sure what happened next, though there are persistent rumours that the midfielder developed a severe problem with alcohol, which steadily debilitated him physically. With his reputation falling and Verdy's flag in retreat, Maezono signed with Santos in Brazil, in the first of several attempts to revive his career. But the downward spiral continued, and he was shipped from Santos to lower-division Goias, and eventually had to come begging for a second chance in the J.League. He spent two unimpressive years at Shonan Bellmare, in the J2 division before getting another call from Verdy in 2001, thanks to the intervention of his old friend Yasutaro Matsuki. But the ball skills and aggressive play that Maezono showed in his younger days were now long gone, and he spent the past two years as a bench player, or on the taxi squad.
Another player who failed to impress Sandri was Kenji Ishizuka, a veteran who spent several years in Paraguay as a youngster, and also played for a year in Brazil. Ishizuka was with Verdy for nine years, but as he approaches 30, he apparently no longer has the pace or the skill level needed to hold down a spot on the team. The third player dropped was yet another veteran, Yoshihiro Nishida, which reinforces the impression that Sandri is cleaning out all of the old-timers, even if they still may have another year or two of life in them, as he tries to rebuild Verdy from the ground up.
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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