July 24, 2002
The Stretch Run Begins
Although Wednesday evening is usually not a good time to draw huge crowds, the attraction of the Shizuoka Derby and Tokyo Derby matches were enough to pack both Jubilo Iwata Stadium and Tokyo Soccer Stadium. Before we begin to discuss the matches in detail, here is a summary of this week's J1 results.
| Date | Home | . | Visitor | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Jul |  | 2-3(ET) |  | Sapporo Dome |
| 24 Jul |  | 2-3(ET) |  | Sendai Stadium |
| 24 Jul |  | 1-2 |  | Kokuritsu Stad. |
| 24 Jul |  | 2-1 |  | Tokyo Stadium |
| 24 Jul |  | 3-1 |  | Iwata Stadium |
| 24 Jul |  | 4-1 |  | Mizuho Stadium |
| 24 Jul |  | 2-1(ET) |  | Nishikyogyoku |
| 24 Jul |  | 1-2 |  | Big Arch |
2-1 
In terms of content, the Tokyo derby match was a showcase for a number of exciting young prospects, incuding Naohiro Ishikawa and Mitsuhiro Toda of FC Tokyo, as well as Verdy's Hayuma Tanaka and Kazuki Hiramoto. However, when all was said and done, it was the veterans on both teams that did the damage.
2-1 The match began at a furious pace -- indeed, it maintained that pace for most of the 90 minutes. Though play went from end to end for the opening ten minutes, FC Tokyo began to slowly take control of the tempo, and created some good opportunities off runs by Toda, Clesley "Kelly" Guimares, and particularly the slicing runs of Ishikawa. Since joining FC Tokyo from Yokohama Marinos, after the start of the season, Ishikawa has looked like a new model. Liberated from the static midfield play of Yokohama, he has begun cutting through opposition defences like a scythe, and sure enough, it was a dash down the right flank by Ishikawa that set up the first goal. However, the scoring honors fell to the grand old man, also referred to as "The King Of Tokyo", Amaral. Though he is beginning to display the effects of his 35 years, there is no doubt that Amaral is still "The King" when he gets the ball inside the penalty box. After dashing down the wing, Ishikawa crossed to Amaral, who tried to head the ball from a few inches off the ground. However, it was blocked by the keeper and bounded out into the center of the box. Unperturbed, Amaral rolled to his feet, collected the ball, and drove a short-range shot off the feet of a defender. He then collected THAT rebound, wriggled past the keeper with a chip shot, and then gave the ball one last lashing into the back of the net, for emphasis.
The rest of the first half was almost all FC Tokyo, and they very nearly scored a second time. But after collecting another fine centering pass from Ishikawa, Amaral's shot went into the side netting. As the two teams emerged from the locker rooms, the burden was on Tokyo Verdy, to show that they have enough punch to avoid relegation this year. It didnt take long for them to show their mettle. After a first half in which the highlights of the Verdy attack were two rookies, the veterans took center stage in the second half. Naoki Soma
began making more and more forays down the left flank, and Edmundo started to get involved in the action. About ten minutes into the second stanza, Soma made a run towards the box, and was pulled off his feet by Jean Carlo Witte, who was shown a yellow for the "professional foul". Edmundo lined the ball up from just three meters outside the box, and sent a perfect curling drive over the wall and into the top right corner of the net.
Just five minutes later, Edmundo was once again moving into attack, and this time it was the rookie, Hiramoto, who provided his support. Hiramoto pushed a slant pass to Edmundo, and then raced past him into the box. Edmundo put on a lovely fake, and pushed the ball ahead of Hiramoto just as he ran by, leaving Jean with little option but to bundle over Hiramoto. Unfortunately for FC Tokyo, the referee not only decided that the foul was committed inside the box, but he also showed Jean a second yellow, reducing the team to ten men.
Edmundo had no trouble drilling the PK, and suddenly Verdy were on top, and with a man advantage to boot. But this certainly did not take any of the enthusiasm out of FC Tokyo. On the contrary, they turned up the pressure even higher, turning the match into a real battle. Over the subsequent 20 minutes, the referee handed out seven cards, including two to Naoto Sakurai. With the two teams back at even strength, FC Tokyo pushed forward all the more furiously looking for the equalizing goal. But Verdy managed to hang on in the dying minutes, and collected just their second win of the season. Although this will be good news to a team worried about relegation, the physical nature of play over the final stretch leaves Verdy with five players ineligible for next week's match against Shimizu S-Pulse. In the final analysis, though, they will surely take this badly needed win. They will need every point they can muster to move out of the relegation zone.
Lineups:
Yoichi Doi, Ryuji Fujiyama (Yuta Baba 78), Jean Carlo Witte, Tetsuya Ito, Akira Kaji, Takahiko Shimotaira, Masashi Miyazawa, Naohiro Ishikawa, Kelly, Mitsuhiro Toda (Teruyuki Moniwa 66), Amaral
Daijiro Takakuwa, Seitaro Tomisawa, Naoki Soma, Alexandre Lopez, Hayuma Tanaka, Takuya Yamada, Hideki Nagai (Naoto Sakurai 54), Daigo Kobayashi, Yoshiyuki Kobayashi, Edmundo, Kazuki Hiramoto (Marquinhos 74)
- 
When the two teams from Shizuoka prefecture face off in head to head competition, you know that you have a battle brewing. However, this match surprisingly took almost 30 minutes to get started. For the first half hour, both teams resorted to long, aimless passes and clueless runs, producing a very disjointed and dull contest. Play didnt begin to settle down until the stretch between the 20 and 30 minute, with Jubilo showing the superior poise and ball control. Finally, from about the 30 minute, Jubilo began to create some better offense by showing more patience in midfield, and sending sharp forward passes to Masashi "Gon" Nakayama and Naohiro Takahara, allowing the two forwards to use their individual skills to create shots.
- When a goal finally did come, in the 37 minute, it was on a truly amazing play which might have been more appropriate at a volleyball match than a football contest. Jubilo won a corner from the left side, and it was taken by Toshiya Fujita. His high cross was punched out of the area by the keeper, but Hiroshi Nanami got under the clearance at the top of the circle and headed the ball back into the box. Takahara reacted faster than the defence, leaping to head the ball towards the left post. Nakayama lunged and beat the keeper to the ball, heading it skyward once again. Screening off his defender, Takahara got the final head to the ball, popping it into the open net to put Jubilo in front.
Shortly after half time, Jubilo displayed their efficiency on set plays once again. Once again, Fujita took a corner kick from the left side, but this time his ball soared over the pack to Go Oiwa, just beyond the far post. Oiwa headed the ball back towards goal, and Nakayama slipped past his defender to slam it home.
At this point, all hell broke loose. In addition to a surge of energy (and body contact) from the players on both teams, the crowd began to get involved -- in a rather ugly way. As the two teams lined up for a corner kick, a can sailed out of the crowd and hit Nanami squarely in the back, in one of the first such events ever to take place in Japan. The frenzy moved to another level when S-Pulse scored from the corner. Defender Ryuzo Morioka, pulled off balance by a tug on his shirt, was unable to get his head on the ball, so he swung his left shoulder around and knocked the ball into the net with his shoulder blade!
Unfortunately, an S-Pulse comeback was not in the cards. Just 30 seconds after the S-Pulse goal, Jubilo carried the ball forward and Fujita placed a perfect lead pass for Nakayama, just as he accelerated into the box from the right wing. Nakayama hit a first-time volley that screamed into the top of the net, and restored Jubilo's lead to two goals.
Although the S-Pulse players continued to run hard,. it was clear that the Nakayama strike had shattered their confidence, and the display of energy over the final 15 minutes was largely meaningless. In the end, the score line stood up, allowing Jubilo to move a point closer to the league leaders.
Lineups:
Masanori Sanada, Tomohiro Ikeda, Ryuzo Morioka, Toshihide Saito, Takuma Koga (Alessandro Santos 67), Daisuke Ichikawa (Kohei Hiramatsu 45), Kazuyuki Toda, Teruyoshi Ito, Masaaki Sawanobori, Baron, Yoshikiyo Kuboyama
Arno VanZwam, Hideto Suzuki, Go Oiwa, Makoto Tanaka, Norihiro Nishi, Toshihiro Hattori, Toshiya Fujita, Jo Kanazawa, Hiroshi Nanami (Takahiro Kawamura 89), Naohiro Takahara, Masashi Nakayama
2-1 
With their big gun, Emerson , out on accumulated yellow cards, the Urawa Reds handed the scoring duties to young Tatsuya Tanaka. The 19-year-old striker has been chomping at the bit, waiting for this opportunity, and although Emerson is more multi-dimensional, and only a year older, Tanaka showed that Hans Ooft will need to find some way to include him in the lineup, before much longer. The Reds dominated most of the first half, and indeed, had the better opportunities for most of the match. But solid defending by Reysol kept them off the board until the dying moments of the first half, when Tanaka finally registered his first tally.
2-1
Brazilian midfielder Harison added an insurance goal midway through the first half, and despite a last-second consolation goal from Yoo Sang-Chul, who was playing his last match in a Reysol uniform, the Reds seemed to have this match safely in hand. Steve Perryman tried to juggle his lineup for this match, perhaps in hopes of reversing the team's inexorable slide towards the bottom of the table. But Reysol's performance this season (and Gamba's new -found energy under former Reysol coach Akira Nishino) seems to confirm what many onlookers have suspected for years -- Perryman simply doesnt have the qualities needed to be a successful coach in this league.
Nobuhiro Yamagishi, Tadaaki Tsuboi, Masami Ihara, Hideki Uchidate, Nobuhisa Yamada, Keita Suzuki, Harison, Tadaaki Hirakawa, Masahiro Fukuda, Tatsuya Tanaka, Tuto (Yuichiro Nagai 89)
Motohiro Yoshida, Kensuke Nebiki, Norihiro Satsukawa, Shigenori Hagimura, Mitsuteru Watanabe, Yuta Nagai (Makoto Sunakawa 69), Cesar Sampaio, Tomonori Hirayama, Harutaka Ono, Yoo San-Chul, Hideaki Kitajima (Tadamichi Machida 76)
2-3(ET) 
Yokohama Marinos have been sailing along smoothly this season, with their eyes on the first stage title, while Consadole Sapporo are struggling mightlily to avoid possible relegation. Thus, Wednesday night's match might have seemed like a cakewalk. But when coach Lazaroni commented before the match that "we need to take the opposition seriously, and not just relax", the very fact that he could entertain such thoughts was evidence that the Marinos were overconfident.
2-3(ET) From the opening tap, Consadole roared out with tremendous energy, boosted by the huge crowd at Sapporo Dome. Even in the first few minutes, lackadaisical play by the Marinos defence nearly created some dangerous opportunities. In the 12 minute, though, the errors began to pay. After a brief Yokohama surge towards the Consadole end, Jadilson carried the ball upfield, and the defence sauntered out to meet him, scarcely noticing that Srjdan Baljak had slipped in behind them. Jadilson released a crisp slant pass and Baljak suddenly was free on goal. He finished with a neat left-footed strike, and the home crowd went wild.
The noise level would rise even higher just five minutes later, as Koji Yamase took advantage of another slow retreat by the Marinos defence and raced down the left flank. A looping pass across the box found Naoki Sakai slanting in from the opposite wing, and his volley curled over the keeper's fingertips to give Consadole a stunning 2-0 lead.
Yokohama did their best to recover, but the momentum and pressure put on by Sapporo held them at bay until half time. Even in the early stages of the second half, Consadole were able to hold their own. But in the 55 minute, Yokohama got a huge break, when the referee spotted body contact on a high ball into the box, and decided to award a penalty kick to the Marinos. Will collected the gift, and the score line was now more manageable.
For the next 15 minutes, Yokohama pushed forward aggressively, and Consadole began to wilt. But just when it appeared that the tide was starting to turn Yokohama's way, a breakout by Consadole sent Jadilson racing down the wing, and Yasuhiro Hato bundled him over, receiving his second yellow card in the process. With the Marinos reduced to 10 men, this see-saw battle swung back in the direction of Consadole.
But as the final moments wound down and it looked like an upset was in the making, the momentum made one more dramatic reversal. As the Marinos surged upfield on a last-ditch attack, Naza collected the ball at the top of the box and whirled around looking for an open man. He spotted Will making for the far post, and cut a sharp pass back against his body. But his touch was a bit off and, instead of finding Will at the far post, the ball rolled just beyond the fingertips of the keeper and into the back of the net!
This equalizing goal clearly broke the spirit of the Consadole players, and although they still had a man advantage, as extra time began, the flow was entirely in favor of the Marinos. Six minutes into the extra stanza, Tomoyuki Hirase carried the ball down the left wing and crossed into the box. Oku dashed towards goal, launching himself full-length in the air to get a head on the ball and slam it into the far side of the net, for a truly dramatic finish.
Lineups:
Yohei Sato, Yasuyuki Konno, Tsuyoshi Furukawa, Kensaku Omori Hitoshi Morishita, Naoki Sakai, Koji Yamase, Tomohiro Wanami, Srjdan Baljak,Jadilson, Takafumi Ogura (Yushi Soda 84)
Tatsuya Enomoto, Yuji Nakazawa, Naoki Matsuda, Naza, Yasuhiro Hato, Yoshiharu Ueno, Daisuke Oku, Dutra, Akihiro Endo, Daisuke Sakata (Tomoyuki Hirase 59), Will
2-1(ET) 
After a slow start to the season, Kyoto Purple Sanga have been on a tear, recently, and they maintained their streak with a fine performance at home, Wednesday night before a stunningly large crowd of 18,000. Of course, half of the fans were Antlers supporters, but even so, it appears that the Purple Sanga are finally starting to generate some interest among their hometown fans.
2-1(ET) After some very intense midfield play, Kashima's Koji Nakata got the Antlers on the board first, with a 43 minute strike. But before the halftime whistle could sound, Kyoto had equalized on a goal from Shingo Suzuki. The 25-year-old midfielder has become one of the "experienced veterans" on this very youthful Kyoto team, and his interplay with strikers Park Ji-Sung and Daisuke Matsui has been a major force in pushing Kyoto towards the top of the table.
After a fiercely contested second half in which neither team was able to break the deadlock, the match went into golden goal extra time. The winner was provided nine minutes into the extra session, by journeyman midfielder Daisuke Nakaharai.
Lineups:
Naoto Tsuboi, Shigeki Tsujimoto , Kazuki Teshima, Kazuhiro Suzuki, Tadashi Nakamura, Daisuke Saito, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Shingo Suzuki, Park Ji-Sung (Makoto Atsuta, 90) , Yusaku Ueno (Shinya Tomita 79), Daisuke Matsui (Daisuke Nakaharai 75)
Hitoshi Sogahata, Fabiano (Naoto Honda 81), Yutaka Akita, Akira Narahashi, Augusto, Koji Nakata, Koji Kumagai , Mitsuo Ogasawara (Takuya Nozawa 93), Masashi Motoyama (Yoshiyuki Hasegawa 90), Atsushi Yanagisawa (Jun Uchida 83), Euller
2-3(ET) 
Even the packed house at Sendai Stadium was not enough to help Vegalta emerge from their recent skid. After rushing out to a strong start, the team has stumbled since the World Cup break, and now has registered three consecutive losses. This week's setback was not for lack of opportunities, though. Ace striker Marcos twice gave Vegalta the lead. But each time, JEF fought back to equalize.
2-3(ET) After the game went into extra time, reserve striker Takenori Hayashi broke the deadlock with a strike in the 111 minute, silencing the screaming mob of Sendai fans and lifting JEF to the middle of the table after a weak start to the season.
Lineups:
Norio Takahashi, Kenji Suzuki, Ricardo Ribeiro, Norio Omura, Tomohiro Katanosaka, Hitoshi Moriyasu, Silvinho, Nobuyuki Zaizen (Satoshi Otomo 64), Teruo Iwamoto (Kazuhiro Murakami 61), Yoshiteru Yamashita , Marcos
Ryo Kushino, Takayuki Chano, Zelko Milinovic, Eisuke Nakanishi (Daisuke Saito 56), Masataka Sakamoto, Shinichi Muto , Yuki Abe, Shinji Murai, Naotake Hanyu (Takenori Hayashi 77), Katsutomo Oshiba, Mitsutoshi Watada
1-2 
Despite the reversals and comebacks that took place in other matches on Wednesday evening, perhaps the most dramatic finish pf all came at Hiroshima Big Arch, where Gamba Osaka carried a 1-0 lead through much of the match, thanks to a goal by Marcelinho Carioca, only to see Kentaro Sawada equalize in the final minute of regulation time. But as the Hiroshima crowd celebrated, and the two teams played out the dying seconds of injury time, Magrao scored on a remarkable last-second strike to give Gamba the victory.
1-2
Lineups:
Takashi Shimoda, Yuichi Komano, Michel Pensee Billong, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Kota Hattori, Kazuyuki Morisaki, Kentaro Sawada Shinya Kawashima, Yuki Matsushita (Yoshiro Nakamura 70), Chikara Fujimoto, Susumu Oki (Yutaka Takahashi 61), Tatsuhiko Kubo (Hiroto Mogi 79)
Ryota Tsuzuki, Satoshi Yamaguchi, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Masao Kiba, Toru Araiba (Takahiro Futagawa 59), Shigeru Morioka (Masayuki Matsunami 69), Yasuhito Endo, Fabinho, Marcelinho Carioca, Kota Yoshihara (Hiroshige Yanagimoto 88), Magrao
4-1 
Elsewhere, Nagoya found it easy going as they cruised to a 4-1 victory over a sluggish Vissel Kobe team that looks like it may be on the road to relegation.
4-1
Lineups:
Lineups:
Seigo Narazaki, Masahiro Koga, Andrej Panadic, Masayuki Omori, Tetsuya Okayama, Tomoyuki Sakai (Kei Yamaguchi 89), Motohiro Yamaguchi, Yusuke Nakatani (Kunihiko Takizawa 66), Naoshi Nakamura, Ivica Vastic (Ryuta Hara 76), Ueslei
Makoto Kakegawa, Koji Maeda (Daniel 42), Yukio Tsuchiya, Takeshi Hirano, Koji Yoshimura, Naoya Saeki, Masayuki Okano (Shoji Jo 82), Shigeyoshi Mochizuki, Masaya Nishitani (Mitsunori Yabuta 64), Kazu Miura, Ryuji Bando,
| . | Team | Pts | GP | W (90/ET) | D | L | GDif | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yokohama Marinos | 26 | 10 | 9 (7-2) | 1 | 0 | +14 | 20 | 6 |
| 2 | Jubilo Iwata | 25 | 10 | 9 (7-2) | 0 | 1 | +15 | 24 | 9 |
| 3 | Gamba Osaka | 21 | 10 | 7 (6-1) | 1 | 2 | +13 | 24 | 11 |
| 4 | Vegalta Sendai | 17 | 10 | 6 (5-1) | 0 | 4 | +5 | 17 | 12 |
| 5 | Kyoto Purple Sanga | 15 | 10 | 6 (3-3) | 0 | 4 | +4 | 17 | 13 |
| 6 | Kashima Antlers | 15 | 10 | 5 (5-0) | 0 | 5 | -1 | 13 | 14 |
| 7 | Nagoya Grampus | 14 | 10 | 5 (4-1) | 0 | 5 | +3 | 17 | 14 |
| 8 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 14 | 10 | 5 (2-3) | 2 | 3 | -4 | 10 | 14 |
| 9 | Urawa Reds | 11 | 10 | 4 (2-2) | 1 | 5 | +1 | 16 | 15 |
| 10 | FC Tokyo | 11 | 10 | 3 (3-0) | 2 | 5 | -4 | 14 | 18 |
| 11 | Kashiwa Reysol | 11 | 10 | 4 (3-1) | 0 | 6 | -4 | 13 | 17 |
| 12 | SanfrecceHiroshima | 10 | 10 | 3 (3-0) | 1 | 6 | -6 | 11 | 17 |
| 13 | JEF United Ichihara | 10 | 10 | 3 (2-1) | 2 | 5 | -7 | 11 | 18 |
| 14 | Vissel Kobe | 7 | 10 | 2 (2-0) | 1 | 7 | -6 | 8 | 14 |
| 15 | Tokyo Verdy | 6 | 10 | 2 (1-1) | 1 | 7 | -8 | 9 | 17 |
| 16 | Consadole Sapporo | 3 | 10 | 1 (1-0) | 0 | 9 | -15 | 10 | 25 |
Rumours and Rumblings
Kawakatsu Flees the Sinking Vissel
Vissel Kobe head coach Ryouichi Kawakatsu announced that he was stepping down from his position, on Friday. Kawakatsu had been feeling the heat after a preseason buying spree loaded the team with lots of well-known names, but failed to add anyone capable of scoring a goal. According to rumour, even his players were apparently sharpening the knives and waiting for the unpopular boss to turn his back. Thus, the news of his departure came as no surprise; the only newsworthy point was that Kawakatsu left the team of his own volition, before being thrown out.
Vissel Kobe actually have a considerable pool of talent, and one often wonders why they cannot perform with a bit more quality. But then again, Kawakatsu's player selection this season has been highly questionable. Despite acquiring Ryuji Bando, who scored almost two dozen goals for Consadole Sapporo last season, Kawakatsu has benched the young striker in recent week while starting Kazu Miura, who has scored only one goal in recent memory, and that one a late strike in a match that was already out of reach. The preseason transfer to JEF United of striker Mitsutoshi Watada, a promising youngster with two good feet and a great deal of enthusiasm, was another example of a player move which has hurt Kobe, and may have led to Kawakatsu's downfall. In any event, Vissel has named the former assistant coach, Hiroshi Matsuda, as the team's new boss. Matsuda is a former J.League player, at both Kobe and Hiroshima, and thus becomes the first former J.Leaguer to take over a J1 club.
Video Highlights Posted
The Rising Sun News is adding a new feature to the individual player pages. In addition to our regular, twice-yearly update of the player statistics and background information, we have posted links to the video clips showing each player's most impressive goals and assists. Now, with just a few clicks, you can watch the highlights of your favorite player's career . . . and this information will be updated regularly, when we do our twice-a-year update of the player profiles.
At the moment, we have finished updating the information for six clubs -- in addition to Kashima Antlers, Consadole Sapporo and Gamba Osaka, we have now added highlights for Nagoya Grampus, JEF United Ichihara and Jubilo Iwata. As we continue to update the player profiles for each club, over the next week or two, more video clips will become available. So check back regularly to see the videos of your favourite teams and players.
Links to some of the player pages for members of the Antlers, Consadole, Gamba, Grampus, JEF and Jubilo are provided below.
| Pos. | No. | Name | Date of Birth | Ht | Wt | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DF | 2 | Akira NARAHASHI | 26-Nov-1971 | 170 | 72 | |
| DF | 3 | Yutaka AKITA | 06-Aug-1970 | 180 | 78 | |
| DF | 4 | FABIANO Cezar Viegas | 04-Aug-1975 | 179 | 74 | |
| MF | 5 | Koji NAKATA | 09-Jul-1979 | 182 | 74 | |
| MF | 8 | Mitsuo OGASAWARA | 05-Apr-1979 | 173 | 68 | |
| MF | 10 | Masashi MOTOYAMA | 20-Jun-1979 | 175 | 64 | |
| FW | 11 | Yoshiyuki HASEGAWA | 11-Feb-1969 | 179 | 70 | |
| FW | 13 | Atsushi YANAGISAWA | 27-May-1977 | 177 | 75 | |
| DF | 14 | Kenji HANEDA | 01-Dec-1981 | 180 | 72 | |
| DF | 15 | Seiji KANEKO | 27-May-1980 | 180 | 74 | |
| DF | 16 | AUGUSTO de Sousa | 05-Nov-1968 | 179 | 73 | |
| DF | 17 | Jun UCHIDA | 14-Oct-1977 | 175 | 65 | |
| MF | 18 | Koji KUMAGAI | 23-Oct-1975 | 177 | 68 | |
| GK | 21 | Hitoshi SOGAHATA | 02-Aug-1979 | 186 | 78 | |
| FW | 36 | EULLER Elias de Carvalho | 15-Mar-1971 | 171 | 66 |
| Pos. | No. | Name | Date of Birth | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DF | 6 | Kensaku OMORI | 21-Nov-1975 | 177 | 69 |
| MF | 7 | Naoki SAKAI | 02-Aug-1975 | 175 | 63 |
| MF | 8 | BIJU | 17-Sep-1974 | 174 | 70 |
| MF | 10 | Koji YAMASE | 22-Sep-1981 | 173 | 70 |
| FW | 11 | Hiromi KOJIMA | 12-Dec-1977 | 177 | 70 |
| MF | 15 | Hitoshi MORISHITA | 21-Sep-1972 | 172 | 64 |
| FW | 16 | Gakuya HORII | 03-Jul-1975 | 175 | 68 |
| FW | 17 | Takafumi OGURA | 06-Jul-1973 | 182 | 75 |
| MF | 20 | Tomohiro WANAMI | 27-Apr-1980 | 175 | 72 |
| FW | 25 | Tatsunori ARAI | 22-Dec-1983 | 170 | 63 |
| Pos. | No. | Name | Date of Birth | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DF | 5 | Satoshi YAMAGUCHI | 17-Apr-1978 | 179 | 73 |
| MF | 7 | Marcelo Pereira (MARCELINHO) | 01-Feb-1971 | 170 | 64 |
| MF | 8 | Takahiro FUTAGAWA | 27-Jun-1980 | 168 | 62 |
| FW | 9 | Giuliano Tadeo Aranda(MAGRAO) | 21-Feb-1974 | 192 | 84 |
| FW | 11 | Masanobu MATSUNAMI | 21-Nov-1974 | 180 | 76 |
| MF | 13 | Shigeru MORIOKA | 12-Aug-1973 | 174 | 70 |
| MF | 16 | Masashi OGURO | 04-May-1980 | 177 | 67 |
| MF | 17 | Toru ARAIBA | 12-Jul-1979 | 181 | 72 |
| FW | 18 | Kota YOSHIHARA | 02-Feb-1978 | 170 | 66 |
| DF | 24 | Toshihiro MATSUSHITA | 17-Oct-1983 | 174 | 70 |
| MF | 30 | Yasuhito ENDO | 28-Jan-1980 | 177 | 65 |
| Pos. | No. | Name | Date of Birth | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DF | 3 | Yasunari HIRAOKA | 13-Mar-1972 | 185 | 72 |
| MF | 4 | Masayuki OMORI | 09-Nov-1976 | 176 | 73 |
| DF | 5 | Masahiro KOGA | 08-Sep-1978 | 185 | 79 |
| MF | 6 | Motohiro YAMAGUCHI | 29-Jan-1969 | 177 | 72 |
| MF | 7 | Tarik OULIDA | 19-Jan-1974 | 176 | 71 |
| MF | 8 | Tomoyuki SAKAI | 29-Jun-1979 | 170 | 62 |
| FW | 10 | UESLEI | 19-Apr-1972 | 177 | 79 |
| MF | 11 | Naoki HIRAOKA | 24-May-1973 | 173 | 68 |
| MF | 14 | Naoshi NAKAMURA | 27-Jan-1979 | 175 | 70 |
| FW | 15 | Yasuyuki MORIYAMA | 01-May-1969 | 171 | 71 |
| DF | 17 | Yusuke NAKATANI | 22-Sep-1978 | 177 | 64 |
| MF | 20 | Ryuta HARA | 19-Apr-1981 | 171 | 65 |
| MF | 21 | Tetsuya OKAYAMA | 27-Aug-1973 | 173 | 69 |
| Pos. | No. | Name | Date of Birth | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DF | 2 | Eisuke NAKANISHI | 23-Jun-1973 | 174 | 76 |
| DF | 3 | Megumu YOSHIDA | 13-Apr-1973 | 176 | 67 |
| DF | 4 | Takayuki CHANO | 23-Nov-1976 | 177 | 75 |
| DF | 5 | Zeljko MILINOVIC | 12-Oct-1969 | 188 | 85 |
| MF | 6 | Yuki ABE | 06-Sep-1981 | 176 | 78 |
| MF | 7 | Shinichi MUTO | 02-Apr-1973 | 168 | 61 |
| MF | 8 | Shigetoshi HASEBE | 23-Apr-1971 | 173 | 68 |
| FW | 9 | Katsutomo OSHIBA | 10-May-1973 | 172 | 69 |
| FW | 10 | CHOI Yong Soo | 10-Sep-1973 | 184 | 79 |
| FW | 13 | Mitsutoshi WATADA | 26-Mar-1976 | 181 | 80 |
| MF | 14 | Yuto SATO | 12-Mar-1982 | 169 | 64 |
| MF | 15 | Tadatoshi MASUDA | 25-Dec-1973 | 171 | 68 |
| FW | 16 | Takenori HAYASHI | 14-Oct-1980 | 167 | 66 |
| MF | 19 | Shinji MURAI | 01-Dec-1979 | 175 | 71 |
| MF | 23 | Masataka SAKAMOTO | 24-Feb-1978 | 171 | 70 |
| Pos. | No. | Name | Date of Birth | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DF | 2 | Hideto SUZUKI | 07-Oct-1974 | 180 | 68 |
| DF | 3 | Go OIWA | 23-Jun-1972 | 180 | 75 |
| DF | 5 | Makoto TANAKA | 08-Aug-1975 | 178 | 71 |
| MF | 6 | Toshihiro HATTORI | 23-Sep-1973 | 178 | 73 |
| MF | 7 | Hiroshi NANAMI | 28-Nov-1972 | 177 | 68 |
| FW | 9 | Masashi NAKAYAMA | 23-Sep-1967 | 178 | 72 |
| MF | 10 | Toshiya FUJITA | 04-Oct-1971 | 174 | 65 |
| MF | 11 | Norihiro NISHI | 09-May-1980 | 175 | 66 |
| FW | 13 | Nobuo KAWAGUCHI | 10-Apr-1975 | 178 | 72 |
| DF | 14 | Takahiro YAMANISHI | 02-Apr-1976 | 173 | 67 |
| MF | 15 | Aleksandar ZIVKOVIC | 28-Jul-1977 | 180 | 67 |
| MF | 18 | Ryoichi MAEDA | 09-Oct-1981 | 181 | 70 |
| MF | 20 | Jo KANAZAWA | 09-Jul-1976 | 173 | 69 |
| MF | 23 | Takashi FUKUNISHI | 01-Sep-1976 | 181 | 75 |
| FW | 35 | Naohiro Takahara | 4-Jun-1979 | 181 | 75 |
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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