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September 9, 2002
Boom Boom, Out Go the Lights

In a very unusual twist of fate, three of the matches played over the weekend were replays of the Nabisco Cup matches that had been played just a few days earlier. And in what may be a fitting demonstration of the league's parity, two of the three results were the exact opposite of what transpired on Wednesday night. That alone would the weekend a memorable one. But what happened at Nihondaira Stadium during the S-Pulse-JEF match made this weed in J.League history truly unforgettable. But before we get ahead of ourselves, here is a summary of the scores from this weekend's matches.

Date	Home	.	Visitor	Venue
Sep 7		1-2		Kashima Stadium
Sep 7		1-1		Kashiwa-no-ha
Sep 7		1-0		Tokyo Socccer Stad.
Sep 7		1-2		Yokohama Int'l
Sep 7		1-0		Nihondaira Stadium
Sep 7		1-0		Nishikyogoku Stadium
Sep 8		1-0(ET)		Komaba Stadium
Sep 8		0-2		Kobe Wing Stadium

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1 - 2

As happens so often when these two teams meet, the match was as much of a chess game as a football match. Both teams know one another so well, having battled for the league championship every year since 1996, that every single move of the opponent has been memorised and a countermove developed. The first half reflected this, as the two teams jabbed and parried at a brisk pace, but with little result. Both Kashima and Iwata have similar offensive strategies, seeking to develop the offence through slow buildup at midfield and short passes probing for an opening. However, it was on the counterattack that the best chances of the first half emerged. Jubilo had one or two early chances on the break, but were unable to get off a good shot on net. Then, about 15 minutes in, a poor clearance by Jubilo sent Antlers' striker Euller away on goal with only the keeper to beat. However, he rushed his shot and sent the ball off the crossbar, killing what was the best opportunity of the half.

Nevertheless, this play seemed to bring a shift in momentum, and for the remainder of the first half, most of the chances came from the Antlers. Mitsuo Ogasawara , in particular, had a fine day creating opportunities for his teammates with precision passes out of midfield. Akira Narahashi also was a standout for the Antlers, making countless runs down the right flank and centering the ball with precision. But Jubilo's defence has years of experience dealing with the Kashima press. Hayato Suzuki and Makoto Tanaka had to resort to some cynical fouling on a few occasions, but they did an excellent job of denying a clear shot, and when the Antlers did get an opportunity, they failed to convert. Furthermore, Jubilo's young goalkeeper Hiromasa Yamamoto, making his first ever J.League start, had a fine match, showing good movement off his line and excellent positioning to collect balls into the box and break up the Antlers' scoring chances.

On the other end, Jubilo's opportunities were fewer, though they tended to be more threatening since almost all of them came on counterattacks. The best opportunity of the half came on a drive and shot from the edge of the box by Naohiro Takahara, which Hitoshi Sogahata had to punch away from the high right corner of goal.

As the second half began, it looked like the Antlers were going to resume their control of possession, but two events in rapid-fire succession turned the momentum of the match around. In the 50 minute, Norihiro Nishi carried the ball out of midfield towards the top right corner of the box, in what seemed a relatively innocuous play. Nishi cut back and forth three or four times trying to get around youngster Tomohiko Ikeuchi , but the best he could manage was a slight opening towards the end line. Putting on a burst of speed, Nishi got one step clear of the defender and fired off a low-angle blast that might have actually been intended as a cross, rather than a shot. But fate intervened, as the ball spun through a crowd of defenders, hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced into the goal.

Having conceded a goal, the Antlers immediately threw themselves into attack hoping for a quick equaliser. And it nearly paid off, as Euller was released on a long pass towards the left post, which he chased into the box. But Yamamoto was quickly off his line, and got to the ball a half-step ahead of Euller, rolling into the striker and knocking him off his feet. Euller went down hard, and must have felt something twist or snap, since he immediately waved to the Antlers bench, calling for assistance. Euller had to be stretchered off the pitch, and the Antlers were forced to juggle their lineup to replace him.

The combination of Jubilo's goal and the loss of Euller took some of the sting out of the Antlers' attack, and Jubilo began to control a greater share of possession. Although Kashima tried to press for the equaliser, the canny Jubilo defence played for time, and the midfield began putting more pressure on the ball at midfield to try to disrupt the Antlers' attack. This strategy worked well at taking the Antlers' out of their rhythm, and Toninho Cerezo was soon forced to replace a defender with another offensive player to restore the attacking pressure.

At this point in the match, Naohiro Takahara demonstrated a less-than-admirable skill that he apparently learned while in Argentina. On one counterattack, Takahara managed to turn his defender, Jun Uchida , and cut back behind him. As Uchida passed in front of him, Takahara suddenly threw himself to the ground and began writhing in agony. The linesman, who was less than three meters away, frantically waved to indicate that the referee should NOT blow his whistle, and the referee, who also had a good view of the play, ignored the dive and let play continue. But Takahara continued to roll around in throes of feigned agony, and eventually the ref had to ask the Antlers to kick the ball out of play. After conferring with his linesman, the ref determined what was clear from the video replay. The defender had not even touched Takahara, and if indeed he did suffer any pain (a doubtful possibility), it would have been self-inflicted, as he threw himself to the turf. Unfortunately, the official did not have the guts to do what was called for in that situation, and award Takahara a card for his play-acting. However, we certainly hope that someone does punish this behaviour soon, and break the Jubilo striker of the habit. Since returning from Argentina, Takahara has emerged as Japan's pre-eminent striker, with a killer instinct and a nose for goal that no other Japanese player seems to possess. But if he pulls a "simulation" like this one in an international match, chances are it could cost Japan a match. Unlike J.League referees, many international refs would have had no second thoughts about giving the player a quick red ticket to the locker room.

Takahara did manage to redeem himself late in the match, however. As time ran down and the Antlers desperately threw themselves forward into attack, Jubilo got a three-on-two counterattack, and Takahara carried the ball towards the box, level with the left post. Feigning a pass to Toshiya Fujita, Takahara cut past his defender with a swift move, and fired a bullet over Sogahata and into the top of the net.

Though the second goal seemed to destroy any chance of an Antlers comeback, Kashima showed their determination by continuing to press for goal. With three minutes of extra time already expired, they finally were able to get on the scoreboard, on a corner kick from the left side. Koji Nakata took the kick, which was headed out fy a Jubilo defender byt fell right to Narahashi, who blasted the ball through the clutter of players in the box and into the low left corner. However, it was too little, too late, as the whistle blew just moments later, and Jubilo took a big step towards an uncontested league title.

Lineups:
Hitoshi Sogahata, Akira Narahashi, Yutaka Akita, Tomohiko Ikeuchi (Yoshiyuki Hasegawa 71), Augusto, Naoto Honda (Takeshi Aoki 70), Koji Nakata, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Masashi Motoyama, Atsushi Yanagisawa, Euller (Jun Uchida 54)
Hiromasa Yamamoto, Hideto Suzuki, Makoto Tanaka, Takahiro Yamanishi, Norihiro Nishi (Takahiro Kawamura 80), Takashi Fukunishi, Toshihiro Hattori, Toshiya Fujita (Jun Kanazawa 85), Hiroshi Nanami, Naohiro Takahara, Masashi Nakayama (Rodrigo Gral 89)

1 - 0

FC Tokyo continue to ride on the very broad shoulders of their spiritual leader, "Amaral , who is known to local supporters as "The King of Tokyo". But as Amaral nears the end of his career, the real driving force of the FC Tokyo offence has been provided by several impressive youngsters, such as striker Mitsuhiro Toda and midfielders Naohiro Ishikawa, Masashi Miyazawa and Clesley "Kelly" Guimares .

Until last night, Gamba have shown themselves to be perhaps the most dangerous offensive threat in the league, with both Magrao and Kota Yoshihara generating goals by the handful. But the FC Tokyo press disrupted their offence in this match, and Gamba were unable to create many chances. Indeed, their best opportunity of the entire match came on a play where defender Tsuneyasu Miyamoto slipped forward on attack and got his head on a cross from the right sideline. But his shot hit the post and Gamba were denied.

Surprisingly, FC Tokyo dominated possession in this match, and although the number of shots was about even, Tokyo's scoring opportunities were the more dangerous. Both Miyazawa and Toda narrowly missed shots in the first half, and Kelly had several good runs out of midfield. But in the end, it was the King of Tokyo who provided the winner. In the 66 minute, Miyazawa cut away from his defender towards the left corner, and as he approached the box, he chipped a pass over the defensive line. Amaral reacted perfectly to the lead pass, cutting into open space and leaping high above the penalty spot to head the ball home, and give FC Tokyo their margin of victory.

Lineups:
Yoichi Doi, Akira Kaji, Jean Carlo Witte, Tetsuya Ito, Teruyuki Moniwa, Takahiko Shimotaira (Kenji Fukuda 67), Masashi Miyazawa, Naohiro Ishikawa (Tetsuhiro Kina 89), Kelly, Mitsuhiro Toda (Ryuji Fujiyama 72), Amaral
Naoki Matsuyo, Satoshi Yamaguchi, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Masao Kiba, Toru Araiba, Shigeru Morioka (Masashi Oguro 53), Yasuhito Endo, Fabinho, Takahiro Futagawa, Kota Yoshihara (Masanobu Matsunami 72), Magrao

1 - 0

The Purple Sanga had a bounty of scoring opportunities in the first half. Perhaps the most dangerous chance came midway through the period, when Shingo Suzuki started a counterattack, and carried the ball for a 70-meter down the left side, always one step ahead of his defender. But Suzuki was a bit too impatient and may have pulled the trigger too soon, blasting a shot just wide of the post.

The second half was much like the first, with Kyoto making repeated thrusts and Consadole defending desperately. But try as they might, Sanga simply couldnt get the ball into the net. Then, just as it looked like the match was going into extra time, Kyoto got a break. Park Ji-Sung moved the ball up from midfield and tried to send a slant pass to Daisuke Matsui , who was accelerating down the left wing. But a Consadole defender stuck out a boot, and the pass was deflected high into the air. Two Sapporo defenders were under the ball, but they seemed to have difficulty deciding who would play it. Taking advantage of their indecision, Park dashed in just as the ball fell between the two, and managed to poke it free, towards goal. All three players dashed after the ball, but Park had a half-step lead. As they neared the box, one of the defenders lunged in a last-ditch attempt to clear the ball, but Park toed it forward, and the defender's desperate leg sweep took Park down instead. The referee decided that the collision came just inside the box, and pointed to the spot. With no time left on the clock, Park took the PK himself, and sent it low into the right corner, to give Kyoto a well-deserved victory.

Lineups:
Naoto Hirai, Makoto Kakuta, Kazuki Teshima, Kazuhiro Suzuki, Tadashi Nakamura, Daisuke Saito, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Shingo Suzuki, Park Ji-Sung, Teruaki Kurobe (Yusaku Ueno 70), Daisuke Matsui (Daisuke Nakaharai 78)
Yohei Sato, Tsuyoshi Furukawa, Jin Sato, Yasuyuki Konno, Kensaku Omori, Hitoshi Morishita, Yoshikiyo Nishida, Jadilson, Tomoaki Matsukawa (Tomokazu Hirama 88), Gakuya Horii, Takafumi Ogura

1 - 1

But if Nagoya has a few weaknesses that prevent them from reaching the pinnacle of J.League success, Reysol are a team in total disarray. Reysol have always had a reputation as a physical, almost thuggish team, but since falling onto hard times, their play has become downright dirty. The clash with Grampus highlighted this tendency, developing into a very ill-tempered match which the relatively inexperienced referee, Mr. Fuse, lost control of almost before it got started. The result was a sometimes farcical contest which saw four players sent off, including two immediate red cards.

The match actually started off with a crisp and impressive-looking play from Reysol. Harutaka Ono, who has had a dreadful season, showed flashes of his past form with a slicing drive down the left sideline in the 3 minute. Just before reaching the end line, Ono cut the ball back into the box, and the diminutive Edilson managed to outjump his defender to head the ball home.

Just ten minutes later, the match began to slide out of control, as Ueslei reacted to what he viewed as an unnecessarily strong challenge, and lashed out. The referee, seeing only the retalliation, produced a red card and sent Ueslei packing. Since Grampus were already without Vastic, who picked up a minor injury in last week's match, Grampus found themselves without either of their main offensive weapons. This lack proved to be daunting over the remainder of the match. Although Nagoya generally outplayed Reysol, even when they were a man down, they had only a few truly threatening shots on goal despite ample opportunities. The only goal Grampus were able to score came immediately after the half time break, while Reysol were still a bit unsettled. Immediately after the second half kickoff, Kei Yamaguchi made a dash down the right sideline and crossed the ball into the penalty area. The Reysol defence was caught napping, and reserve striker Ryuta Hara was able to cut into open space, hit the ball on the short hop and drive it past the keeper.

As the match wore on, play became increasingly ragged and fouls began to pile up on both sides. Reysol's young midfielder Keiji Tamada came on as a substitute midway through the second half, and in just 20 minutes managed to pick up two yellow cards, which restored the two teams to equality at ten men apiece. Just three minutes later, Edilson reacted to a strong challenge in much the same way that Ueslei had, at the start of the match. Mr. Fuse, who managed to be consistent in this match, even if he did lose control of it at times, produced an immediate red card, and Reysol were down to nine players. The deficit became even greater in the second overtime period, when Cesar Sampaio earned a second yellow and became the fourth player to be sent off. But Grampus were unable to press home their advantage, and the match ended in a 1-1 deadlock.

Lineups:
Yuta Minami, Takeshi Watanabe, Mitsuteru Watanabe (Shinya Tanoue 48), Keisuke Nebiki, Cesar Sampaio, Tomonori Hirayama, Tomokazu Myojin, Ricardinho (Nozomu Kato 64), Harutaka Ono (Norihiro Satsukawa 90), Hideaki Kitajima (Keiji Tamada 61), Edilson
Seigo Narazaki, Masahiro Koga, Andrej Panadic, Masayuki Omori, Tetsuya Okayama (Ryuta Hara 34), Tomoyuki Sakai (Keiji Kaimoto 119), Motohiro Yamaguchi, Kunihiko Takizawa (Keiji Yoshimura 108), Kei Yamaguchi (Naoki Hiraoka 97), Naoshi Nakamura, Ueslei

1 - 2

At the start of the match, the Marinos came out with good pressure and an aggressive strategy that was apparently aimed at keeping Sanfrecce on the back foot, and reducing the burden of the young defensive line. Will Robson Andrade and Tomoyuki Hirase had several early opportunities, including one point-blank shot by Hirase that glanced off the post and out of play. But after just a few minutes of play Sanfrecce's midfield shifted into a defensive posture, and the team began concentrating on counterattacks down the wings. This strategy soon shifted the momentum to Hiroshima's advantage, thanks in large part to the good midfield pressure applied by the Morisaki twins, Kazuyuki and Koji . Together with Naoya Umeda , they played in what looked, at times, like a triple-volante formation, bottling up the center of the pitch where Yokohama like to defelop their plays, and leaving the attacking duties mainly to Chikara Fujimoto and the two strikers.

Though they had a number of good scoring opportunities in the first half, Sanfrecce finally got on the board just before half time, on a fine individual effort by Fujimoto. Carrying the ball forward from the midfield stripe, Fujimoto dribbled all the way to the edge of the Marinos box. Though three defenders stood between him and goal, none of them advanced to challenge possession. As he reached the top of the semicircle above the penalty area, Fujimoto decided to have a go at goal. With a sudden burst of speed, he cut to his left and got a step clear of the nearest defender. His shot was well struck, but it might easily have been saved if the keeper had a clear look at it. Unfortunately, both retreating defenders were obstructing Tatsuya Enomoto's view, and by the time he saw the ball, it was too late to react. The ball slipped through his flailing arms and into the top of the net.

In the second half, the Marinos midfield began pushing further forward in an effort to equalise. But while this gave them a better share of possession and a few more scoring chances than they had in the first stanza, it also opened up their defence to counterattacks. In the 80 minute, after one such breakaway had to be cleared over the end line by a defender, Sanfrecce set up for a corner kick on the left side. Nesko "Milo" Milovinovic sent a long ball to the far side of the box, for Fujimoto, who opted to head the ball back in front of goal rather than try a shot himself. Koji "The Elder" Morisaki reacted to the ball, and reached it just ahead of his defender, heading it in from point-blank range.

As time ran down, Yokohama managed to get a goal back, with Yoshiharu Ueno collecting a centering pass at the top of the box and firing a long blast that beat the keeper's dive just inside the right post. But as they had done for most of the match, Sanfrecce packed the center of the pitch and prevented the Marinos from creating any further opportunities. Time ran out on Yokohama, and Sanfrecce ended a seven-game losing skid with a 2-1 victory

Lineups:
Takashi Shimoda, Yuichi Komano, Michel Pensee Billong, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Kota Hattori, Naoya Umeda (Milo 63), Kazuyuki Morisaki, Koji Morisaki (Kentaro Sawada 87), Chikara Fujimoto, Hiroto Mogi (Yutaka Takahashi 89), Genki Nakayama
Tatsuya Enomoto, Yuji Nakazawa, Daisuke Nasu, Masahiro Kazuma (Kunio Nagayama 70), Tatsunori Hisanaga (Daisuke Sakata 81), Yoshiharu Ueno, Dutra, Kazuyoshi Mikami, Daisuke Oku, Tomoyuki Hirase (Nobuhisa Shimizu 70), Will

1 - 0

The match was frequently affected by deluges of rain, which came and went for the entire evening. The weather provided what may have been the highlight of the evening. Just before the match started, a lightning strike caused the floodlights in the stadium to go out, delaying kickoff by 10 minutes. Then, in the 23 minute, as JEF was just moving the ball out of their end, the lights all went off for a second time, plunging the entire stadium into darkness. Both teams retreated to the benches, and the crowd hooted asnd howled in the blackness for about 20 minutes before power was restored and the match resumed.

Little else can be said about the contest. Neither team demonstrated any real sharpness, though Santos did provide some indication that he is beginning to get back into form, after a wretched slump immediately following the World Cup. Based on his performance this week, S-Pulse may decide to give Santos the playmaker role in the future, as well, though that will leave Zemunovic with a difficult decision on what to do with Sawanobori. The veteran midfielder is one of the few S-Pulse players who has been contributing to the offence on a regular basis, but he looked badly out of place at striker.

Lineups:
Masanori Sanada, Tomohiro Ikeda, Takuma Koga, Toshihide Saito, Daisuke Ichikawa, Teruyoshi Ito, Kazuyuki Toda, Yasuhiro Yoshida, Alessandro Santos, Masaaki Sawanobori, Kohei Hiramatsu (Yoshikiyo Kuboyama 81)
Kazuki Tateishi, Takayuki Chano, Zelko Milinovic, Daisuke Saito, Masataka Sakamoto, Yuki Abe, Yuto Sato (Mitsutoshi Watada 85), Shinji Murai (Naotake Hanyu 79), Shinichi Muto, Katsutomo Oshiba, Choi Yong-Soo

1-0 (ET)

Of course, there is a more optimistic way of looking at this match, as well. Despite the fact that it took them 112 minutes to finally get the ball into the net, for at least 100 of those 112 minutes, they were dominating Vegalta Sendai as thoroughly as the Japan national team usually does against opponents like Brunei and Guam. From the moment the ball was kicked off, the Reds made one thrust after another towards the Sendai goal. Urawa still lacks the sort of short-passing game that make Jubilo Iwata and Kashima Antlers such fine ball-control teams, but particularly in the first half, they still seemed to have almost complete control of possession. Until late in the first period, Vegalta managed to cross midfield only a handful of times.

The key to the Reds improvement this year lies in the emergence of a new generation of players, such as Tatsuya Tanaka , Keita Suzuki , Tadaaki Hirakawa and Keisuke Tsuboi . These youngsters, along with Urawa's Brazilian ace, Emerson, share several extremely valuable features. All have good speed, excellent dribbling skills, a fine sense of positioning on the field, and most importantly, a hunger for the ball. In this match, Hirakawa and Suzuki were particularly impressive, figuring into a high percentage of the team's opportunities.

On the other side of the ball, Vegalta were pressed back on the defensive for most of this match. They did manage to create some counterattacking opportunities, particularly later in the match, by working quick balls down the wings to Teruo Iwamoto and Takahiro Yamada , or launching long balls for Marcos. In general, however, they wilted under the Reds' fierce ball pressure, often giving it away before they reached midfield. When Vegalta did try to work the wings, Hirakawa, Tsuboi and Nobuhisa Yamada demonstrated that they have excellent one-on-one defending skills as well. About the only thing that the Reds seemed unable to do was put the ball into the net.

Usually, we would follow the above discussion with a description of some of the team's top scoring opportunities. But that is a near impossibility in this case, because there were simply so many. In the first half alone, Urawa outshot Sendai 16 to 1, and the number of shots taken increased later in the match! It seemed that the Reds found every possible combination of ways to miss, shooting the ball wide, over the bar or straight at the keeper; driving shots and crosses off a defender, or simply misplaying the last pass and leaving a wide-open teammate shaking their head in disgust in front of the goal mouth.

The Reds' inability to score was aided and abetted by some remarkably cynical defensive play by Vegalta, and the fact that the referee was unwilling to punish this tactic as severely as he might have done. Emerson, in particular, was beaten up badly by defenders. With his blazing speed and elusive moves, Emerson has become so widely feared by opposing defenders that he is far and away the most frequently fouled player in the J.League. By the end of the match, he was hobbling about with a thigh bruise and had a large ace bandage wrapped around a sprained wrist. Yet despite being the victim of at least two dozen "professional fouls" over the course of the match, he could only convince the referee to award three yellow cards.

After 112 minutes of impotent frustration, though, the Reds finally did prevail, and on a play that showed better team coordination and cooperation than any other in the entire match. As Vegalta broke up one Reds thrust and were trying to push the ball out of their end, Tsuboi made a sudden forward dash, and cut off the outlet pass. Wasting no time, he fired the ball forward to Tanaka, who was sprinting across the top of the box. Just as he passed the semicircle, Tanaka spotted Emerson on the left wing, and led him with a ball towards the left post. Emerson collected the pass and carried it to the end line with his defender in pursuit, made a feint back to the middle to create an opening, and then turned back to the end line, cutting the ball across the face of goal. Yuichiro Nagai was directly in front of goal, but facing the wrong way as the pass came at him. But at point-blang range, all he needed to do was make contact, and he managed to do this with the back of his heel, caroming the ball into the net to give Urawa the long-awaited victory.

Lineups:
Nobuhiro Yamagishi, Masami Ihara, Tadaaki Tsuboi, Ichiei Muroi, Nobuhisa Yamada, Hideki Uchidate, Keita Suzuki, Tadaaki Hirakawa, Masahiro Fukuda (Yuichiro Nagai 112), Emerson, Tatsuya Tanaka
Kiyomitsu Kobari, Kenji Suzuki, Ricardo, Norio Omura, Tatsuya Murata, Hitoshi Moriyasu (Naoki Chiba 79), Toshiyuki Abe, Nobuyuki Zaizen (Takahiro Yamada 65), Teruo Iwamoto, Yoshiteru Yamashita (Shinji Fujiyoshi 88), Marcos

0 - 2

As the match developed, Vissel's troubles were clearly evident. The team had a few good runs, but almost all of them were dependent on the support of Oseas, who is not yet integrated well enough with the team to get the most out of his abilities. Verdy, on the other hand, had numerous scoring opportunities. Most of these chances went through the team's ace, Edmundo, but there were essential contributions from several of Verdy's rapidly improving youngsters, such as Daigo Kobayashi, Kazuki Hiramoto and, above all, Hayuma Tanaka . The young wing back has been so impressive in the past two matches that one almost wonders if he should be promoted from the U-21 squad to the full national team.

Verdy got their first goal early in the second half, on a somewhat fortuitous call. Hiramoto was released into the box on a pass from Edmundo, and as he tried to screen the ball from defender Sidiclei, he was knocked to the ground. Sidiclei claimed that he had made a legal shoulder charge, but the referee had seen enough contact to award a penalty. Edmundo blasted the shot home, and Verdy were up 1-0.

Midway through the second half, Verdy added an insurance goal that put the match completely out of reach for a team as inept at scoring as Vissel. This time, the goal was created by a sparkling run forward by Tanaka, whose cross from the right wing to the left edge of the box was letter-perfect, and with the goalkeeper scrambling back from the opposite side of the goal mouth, Edmundo merely volleyed it on net to close out the scoring.

Lineups:
Yoshinari Takagi, Naoki Soma, Alexandre Lopez, Atsushi Yoneyama, Hayuma Tanaka, Takuya Yamada, Edmundo, Narita Takaki (Yasuyuki Kobayashi 79), Daigo Kobayashi (Atsuhiro Miura 87), Marquinhos (Naoto Sakurai 65), Kazuki Hiramoto
Makoto Kakegawa, Koji Yoshimura, Sidiclei, Yukio Tsuchiya, Kunie Kitamoto, Shigeyoshi Mochizuki, Harison, Masayuki Okano (Shoji Jo 79), Takeshi Hirano (Tomo Sugawara 68), Ryuji Bando (Kazu Miura 52), Oseas,

With this victory, Verdy maintain their position at the top of the league table, a location they have rarely seen since their glory days in the early 1990s. Although no one are yet giving them a chance to win the league crown, they will certainly try to enjoy the opportunity to be league leaders for as long as possible. By defeating Kashima, Jubilo Iwata remain level on points with Verdy, and more importantly, push one of their top challengers for the second-stage crown down to the middle of the table. FC Tokyo also remain perfect, with six points from two matches.

.	Team	Pts	GP	W (90/ET)	D	L	GDif	GF	GA
1	Tokyo Verdy	6	2	2 (2-0)	0	0	+7	7	0
2	Jubilo Iwata	6	2	2 (2-0)	0	0	+2	3	1
3	FC Tokyo	6	2	2 (2-0)	0	0	+2	2	0
4	Nagoya Grampus	4	2	1 (1-0)	1	0	+3	4	1
5	Urawa Reds	4	2	2 (0-2)	0	0	+2	3	1
6	Gamba Osaka	3	2	1 (1-0)	0	1	+2	4	2
7	Kashima Antlers	3	2	1 (1-0)	0	1	+0	3	3
7	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	3	2	1 (1-0)	0	1	+0	3	3
9	Shimizu S-Pulse	3	2	1 (1-0)	0	1	-2	1	3
10	Kyoto Purple Sanga	3	2	1 (1-0)	0	1	-4	1	5
11	Kashiwa Reysol	2	2	0 (0-0)	2	0	+0	3	3
12	Consadole Sapporo	1	2	0 (0-0)	1	1	-1	2	3
13	Vegalta Sendai	0	2	0 (0-0)	0	2	-2	1	3
14	JEF United Ichihara	0	2	0 (0-0)	0	2	-2	0	2
15	Vissel Kobe	0	2	0 (0-0)	0	2	-3	0	3
16	Yokohama Marinos	0	2	0 (0-0)	0	2	-4	2	6

J2 Update

Cerezo have been on a tear since the World Cup break, led by second-year midfielder Yoshito Okubo , who maintained his lead at the top of the list of J2 scoring leaders with a goal in each of the team's two victories this week. Okubo is gaining confidence with each match, and has already established himself as the dominant player on what is already a very talent-studded Cerezo club. Another youngster, Korean-Japanese midfielder Chung Young-Dae is starting to emerge as a key member of the team as well. Chung was acquired from Nagoya Grampus during the J1 midseason break, and has been starting at the volante spot in recent matches. Since he was born in Japan, Chung is allowed to participate as a "domestic player" even though he retains North Korean citizenship, allowing Cerezo to play him even when their other three foreign players are in the lineup. Okubo, Chung and Yuichi Nemoto are gaining a reputation as the "young guns" of Cerezo, taking over the responsibilities on offence of former national team members Hiroaki Morishima and Akihiro Nishizawa. Considering the team's depth, they have to be viewed as the leading candidate for promotion in 2003.

Oita Trinita, on the other hand, have been in a horrible slump since the World Cup break. After roaring out to a huge lead, with a 15-game unbeaten streak prior to the World Cup, Oita have struggled to a record of just five wins, four losses and six draws in their last 15 matches. Although the team got a boost from the return of ace striker Andradinha from an injury, they have beenb unable to create any goals in either of their past two matches. Indeed, they have been in a serious goal slump of late, which has thrown them out of first place. Unless they can recapture their early-season form, Trinita fans will be chalking up another near miss in their struggles for promotion, at the end of this season.

Albirex Niigata are enjoying some of the best fan support of any team in the J.League, outdrawing even most of the J1 clubs. In their home match at Niigata "Big Swan" Stadium on Saturday, the team drew an impressive 34,000 supporters. But the fan support can only carry them so far. Niigata are struggling on defence this season, and the offensive power that has carried them this far is beginning to wane, in part due to injuries to key offensive players. Against Avispa Fukuoka, on Saturday, the team took the lead twice, only to concede easy goals that allowed Avispa back into the match. Then, in an away match at Ventforet Kofu's Ose stadium, their defence collapsed in the second half to throw Niigata into third place, four points off the pace.

Lest anyone write off their chances, Kawasaki Frontale has been racking up impressive victories in their last few matches, and gaining ground on the top three. One goal apiece from the striking pair of Marlon and Bentinho carried Frontale to victory on Saturday night, and moved them to within seven points of the leaders, Cerezo Osaka. The team managed only a draw on Wednesday night, moving them back to nine points off the pace of Cerezo, but they made up a point on both of their other rivals. Kawasaki still has a good chance to win promotion if they can finish the season strong.

.	Team	Pts	GP	W	D	L	GDif	GF	GA
1	Cerezo Osaka	62	30	18	8	4	+26	61	35
2	Oita Trinita	59	30	17	8	5	+19	40	21
3	Albirex Niigata	58	30	17	7	6	+20	51	31
4	Kawasaki Frontale	53	30	15	8	7	+11	47	36
5	Omiya Ardija	41	30	10	11	9	+8	36	28
6	Shonan Bellmare	40	30	10	10	10	-5	30	35
7	Ventforet Kofu	38	30	10	8	12	-9	31	40
8	Avispa Fukuoka	36	30	9	9	12	+2	39	37
9	Mito Hollyhock	31	30	9	4	17	-12	34	46
10	Montedio Yamagata	25	30	5	10	15	-17	20	37
11	Sagan Tosu	25	30	5	10	15	-18	26	44
12	Yokohama FC	22	30	5	7	18	-25	27	52

Rumours and Rumblings

Lubo Calls it Quits

Mori Receives the Ultimate Red Card

Vegalta recently signed another midfielder, Toshiyuki Abe, on a transfer from Urawa Reds, and the team has just concluded an agreement to obtain veteran defender Masatoshi Ando from Gamba Osaka this week. Because of the league rule limiting teams to 25 players on their "varsity" roster, Vegalta would have had to demote one player to the taxi squad in any event. By releasing Mori, the team now needs to make no other adjustments in order to accomodate Ando.

S-Pulse Deal for Ahn is On

However, recent comments by both S-Pulse and Ahn suggest that Busan are beginning to get used to the idea that the World Cup star is no longer their property. Ahn told reporters on Sunday that "I have talked to people in the Busan front office, and the result was that they agreed to reach a settlement with S-Pulse soon." Meanwhile, an S-Pulse official suggested that Ahn could be available to play as early as September 18, when the team plays their important "Shizuoka Derby" match against Jubilo Iwata.

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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