September 9, 2002
A Cold Night in Red Hell
Cool weather settled over Japan this weekend, pushing the thermometer down to levels usually seen in late October. But the competition was blazinh hot in a week of wild matches and stunning upsets for some of the top contenders for the Second Stage title. Perhaps none was more shocking then the Urawa Reds' 2-1 triumph over Jubilo Iwata. Reds fans have been waiting for their team to break out of its stasis for what seems like an eternity, but based on their performances in the last three matches, there are signs that this just could be the year that Urawa becomes a true contender.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, here are the results of Saturday's matches
| Date | Home | . | Visitor | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14 |  | 1-2 |  | Iwata Stadium |
| Sep 14 |  | 1-0 |  | Sendai Stadium |
| Sep 14 |  | 0-1 |  | Kashiwa-ho-ha |
| Sep 14 |  | 3-1 |  | Mizuho Stadium |
| Sep 14 |  | 2-1(ET) |  | Ezpo '70 Stadium |
| Sep 14 |  | 2-1(ET) |  | Hiroshima Big Arch |
| Sep 15 |  | 1-2 |  | |
| Sep 15 |  | 2-3 |  |
1 - 2 
In a recent discussion of the Reds' improving talent and prospects for this season, one wit observed that "The Reds are the team of the future . . . . and always will be". That conventional wisdom may have taken a bit of a blow this week, as Urawa hustled and bustled to their third straight victory, over no less than the First Stage champions, Jubilo Iwata. Jubilo helped the Reds out considerably, by taking this match far too lightly. But that can take nothing away from Urawa, who put together a very impressive performance even in the absence of their two speedy strikers, Emerson and
Tuto, who both were sidelined with injuries
1 - 2 One of the keys to the Reds victory was a very unusual defensive strategy, which was implemented very effectively and managed to keep Jubilo off the scoreboard until the dying seconds of injury time. Rather than a standard 3-5-2, Urawa played an almost continuous one-on-one marking system in which Keisuke Tsuboi marked Jubilo's Naohiro Takahara no matter where he wend on the field, Ichiei Muroi drew a similar assignment on Masashi Nakayama, and Masami Ihara roamed the middle of the box as a completely "free" libero with Keita Suzuki , Tadaaki Hirakawa and Nobuhisa Yamada providing defensive support on Jubilo's midfielders.
This stratagy worked very well, as Jubilo had plenty of ball and a number of offensive thrusts, but only a handful of true "scoring opportunities". Takahara, in particular, gor free once early in the match, and once just before half time on a play where Muroi and Tsuboi briefly had to switch assignments. Apart from these two plays, however, Tsuboi blanketed the dangerous Jubilo striker throughout the match. As time went on, Takahara grew increasingly frustrated, and resorted to the disturbing streak of gamesmanship that he displayed briefly in last week's match. Twice within a spell of less than five minutes, he pushed the ball into the box and then ran deliberately head on into his defender, plunging to the turf and begging for a penalty. Fortunately, the referee would have none of this. Although Mr. Sakuhara gave Jubilo considerable leeway when they began getting "chippy" late in the match, he ignored all attempts to win a cheap PK except one, later in the match, which looked like a legitimate foul.
As the first half wound to its conclusion, the Reds were looking very solid. Jubilo had dominated ball possession, but created just a handful of scoring chances, and this had been nearly matched by the counterattacking thrusts created by young strikers Tatsuya Tanaka and Yuichiro Nagai . Despite being frustrated in the first 45 minutes, when the two teams emerged from the locker room Jubilo still looked decidedly complacent. This would prove fatal in just a short space of time.
On the very first play after the restart, Urawa pushed the kick-off back to their midfield, and raced into Jubilo territory. Before Jubilo had formed a solid setup in the defensive line, veteran midfielder Masahiro Fukuda fired a lob pass down the right sideline for Tanaka. The young striker collected the pass and made a feint as if to pull the ball back, but when his defender paused, Tanaka put on a burst of speed and raced into open space down the right flank. As he drew level with the box, he sent in a cross. With two Jubilo defenders back, the pass probably should have been cleared, but Makoto Tanaka reacted too slowly, and was only able to deflect the cross slightly. To his horror, he saw the ball bounce through to Nagai, straight out from the left post, in a wide-open position. Before the Jubilo defenders could scramble back, Nakai blasted a shot that hooked inside the left post and put the Reds in front.
This strike, and a thunderous cheer from the Saitama Red Army, who frequently drowned out the the far-more-numerous Jubilo supporters, provided a burst of energy for Urawa, and for the next fivme minutes or so, they had Jubilo completely on the run. After two consecurive runs into the Jubilo box, a cross from Fukuda to Nagai at the far post had to be pushed out of play by keeper Hiromasa Yamamoto, giving the Reds a corner kick on the right side. Yamada took the kick and chipped in to Nagai on the near side of goal. Nagai headed the ball on to the far post, where Tanaka was camped out, kept onside by Jubilo defender Hayato Suzuki, who failed to push out of the zone on the original kick. Despite his diminutive size, Tanaka managed to get better position on the ball, and beat Suzuki in the aerial battle, heading the ball into the high left corner for a 2-0 lead.
The second goal finally sounded the wake-up call for Jubilo, and for the rest of the match, they were in full-scale blitzkreig mode. But try as they might, they could not crack the Reds defence. It wasnt until the 65 minute that Jubilo finally got a real scoring opportunity, thanks to a miscue by Ihara. The veteran defender got turned around on a play at the edge of the penalty area, and as Toshiya Fujita broke past him, Ihara could only flail helplessly in an effort to recover. The contact knocked Fujita down, and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.
But this was not to be Jubilo's night. Fujita took the PK, and as he saw keeper Nobuhiro Yamagishi beginning a dive to one side, sent the ball straight down the middle. But Yamagishi managed to recover, swinging his legs up into the air to kick the ball over the bar.
The remainder of the match featured a constant barrage by Jubilo, trying desperately to crack the Reds defence, which sagged deeper and deeper into a shell as time went on. But try as they might, the team from Iwata couldnt batter down the red wall. It wasnt until the dying seconds of extra time that Jubilo won a free kick just outside the right side of the box. Hiroshi Nanami noticed that the keeper was cheating towards the pack of players in front of net, and sent a swerving shot straight on net. The ball curled into the net before Yamagishi could recover. But it was too little, too late. Before the Reds could even take the subsequent kickoff, the final whistle blew, and Urawa had a well-deserved victory.
Lineups:
Hiromasa Yamamoto, Hideto Suzuki, Makoto Tanaka, Takahiro Yamanishi, Norihiro Nishi, Takashi Fukunishi, Toshihiro Hattori, Toshiya Fujita (Jun Kanazawa 74), Hiroshi Nanami, Naohiro Takahara, Masashi Nakayama (Rodrigo Gral 78)
Nobuhiro Yamagishi, Masami Ihara, Tadaaki Tsuboi, Ichiei Muroi, Nobuhisa Yamada, Hideki Uchidate, Keita Suzuki, Tadaaki Hirakawa, Masahiro Fukuda, Yuichiro Nagai (Toru Chishima 72), Tatsuya Tanaka
1 - 0 
A cold air mass brought unseasonably chilly weather to most of the country over the weekend, and the temperature was a particularly brisk 18 degrees in Sendai, but the atmosphere inside beautiful Sendai Stadium was as torrid as usual, with throngs of Vegalta supporters packing the small park to the rafters. This hostile reception was the last thing that Yokohama Marinos needed to face. The team has stumbled out of the starting gate in the second stage, and in this week's matche the team were without Naoki Matsuda , Will Robson Andrade and Yoshiharu Ueno . Sendai have struggled since losing to Yokohama midway through the first stage -- a match which broke a sparkling early run by the recently promoted Vegalta, and turned them from upstarts into mid-table mediocrity. However, they would get a measure of revenge for that loss this week.
1 - 0 The Marinos have been firing on only two or three cylinders since Shunsuke Nakamura departed for Italy, following the World Cup. Without Will in the starting lineup, this defect became even more obvious. Yokohama were reduced to long, searching passes to the front line, or aimless diagonal passes that were more often than not cut off by Vegalta defenders. The team from Sendai, to the contrary, seemed bery fired up for this match. In the first half, they dominated possession and scoring opportunities, with a number of near misses. In the first half alone, Vegalta hit the post twice, and had several other hard shots on net blocked by keeper Tatsuya Enomoto . In the 31 minute, though, they finally got on the scoreboard, with a very pretty display of teamwork. Ace striker Marcos got the play started by stealing a ball in the Marinos end, with some nice back-checking. He flicked a pass to Silvinho on the right wing, before turning around to head for the goal. Silvino carried the ball deep into Marinos territory, and crossed for Yoshiteru Yamashita who was posting up at the top of the box. Yamashita saw Marcos speeding in towards the goal, and he played a back heel that caught the defence completely flat-footed and allowed Marcos to rush for goal with his defender a step behind. Marcos went to the right post, and as soon as he got the keeper to commit, he fired off a low-angle shot that found the top of the net, just inside the near post.
The momentum turned around in the second half, as the Marinos struggled to get back into the match. But despite a majority of possession, they were woefully incapable of creating good chances. By the 75 minute, Yokohama were reduced to taking 30-meter blasts in a desperate attempt to somehow put the ball on goal. This only played into Vegalta's hands, allowing the defence to sag back and wait out the clock. Thus, Yokohama plunged to their third straight loss of the second stage, and already look to be out of the running for a second stage title.
Lineups:
Kiyomitsu Kobari, Kenji Suzuki, Ricardo, Norio Omura, Tatsuya Murata, Hitoshi Moriyasu (Naoki Chiba 78), Toshiyuki Abe, Teruo Iwamoto, Silvinho, Yoshiteru Yamashita (Nobuyuki Zaizen 86), Marcos
Tatsuya Enomoto, Yuji Nakazawa, Yasuhiro Hato, Naza, Tatsunori Hisanaga, Yoshiharu Ueno, Daisuke Oku, Dutra, Hirotaka Iida (Daisuke Tonoike 71), Nobuhisa Shimizu, Daisuke Sakata (Tomoyuki Hirase 77)
1-2(ET) 
Gamba Osaka and Shimizu S-Pulse both are hoping to challenge for the second stage title, but both stumbled out of the starting gate, and were in need of a win this week to keep them on track as contenders for a title. As a result, this match was fiercely contested and turned into a real show of fireworks late in the match.
1-2(ET) Gamba got out to the early lead on a well-executed post play in the 15 minute. Midfielder Shigeru Morioka sent a long, high ball to the towering Magrao at the edge of the S-Pulse penalty area, and the big striker headed it down to Takahiro Futagawa, breaking into the box. Futagawa had a step on his defender, and was able to fir off a clear shot before the S-Pulse defence could cover up. Gamba were up 1-0/
The two teams battled from one end of the pitch to the other for the next 75 minutes, but neither one could add to the score line. It looked as if Gamba were going to get the 1-0 win. But with time running out in the second half, Alessandro Santos made a solo rush for the Osaka box, and as he crossed the line, he let loose a shot. The ball was not hit very well, but a Gamba defender deflected it inches from Santos' boot. The keeper was left stranded as the shot bounced softly into the low left corner, putting S-Pulse back on level terms.
But it took Gamba just one minute of golden-goal extra time to get the victory. Toru Araiba carried the ball down the left wing, and feinted for the end line before pulling the ball back for a cross into the box. Magrao used his height advantage to outjump the S-Pulse defence and head home the winner
Lineups:
Naoki Matsuyo, Satoshi Yamaguchi, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Masao Kiba, Toru Araiba, Shigeru Morioka (Hideo Hashimoto 53), Yasuhito Endo, Fabinho, Takahiro Futagawa (Masanobu Matsunami 86), Kota Yoshihara (Marcelinho 61), Magrao
Masanori Sanada, Tomohiro Ikeda, Takuma Koga (Kazumichi Takaki 45), Toshihide Saito, Daisuke Ichikawa, Teruyoshi Ito (Katsumi Oenoki 81), Kazuyuki Toda, Yasuhiro Yoshida, Alessandro Santos, Masaaki Sawanobori, Kohei Hiramatsu (Baron 57)
0 - 1
In their match against Kyoto Purple Sanga, this week,Kashiwa Reysol continued to flounder. The team has now gone eleven matches without a victory, and although draws in the first two weeks of the second stage helped their cause slightly, the team is perilously close to the relegation zone. The Purple Sanga have also hit a rough patch, dropping several recent matches and losing some of the shine that they had early in the year as one of 2002's big surpprises. This week, Park Ji-Sung and Daisuke Matsui were both sidelined with injuries, taking some of the fire out of Kyoto's attack. But against the increasingly pathetic Reysol, that hardly mattered.
0 - 1Kashiwa actually had several early chances to take the lead. the best of the lot came about midway through the first half, when a blast by young Taro Sugawara from the left side of the box forced keeper Naoto Hirai to make a desperate, diving save. But Kyoto had several chances of their own, including a breakaway started by Teruaki Kurobe which saw Daisuke Nakaharai race free for a one-on-one chance against the keeper. Unfortunately he drove his shot right into Yuta Minami's chest, and the chance went by the boards.
But on the stroke of half time, Kyoto finally did break the ice. This time Nakaharai was the provider. Pushing a slant pass to Shingo Suzuki just as he broke into the box. Suzuki bulled his way through the last two defenders and fired low into the right corner to give Kyoto the lead.
Although Reysol fought back and dominated possession for most of the second half, the team's finishing was dismal. Keiji Tamada and Hideaki Kitajima wasted at least a half-dozen chances with flubbed shots or blasts over the bar. In the end, one goal was all Kyoto would need to secure their first win of the second stage.
Lineups:
Naoto Hirai, Makoto Kakuta, Kazuki Teshima, Kazuhiro Suzuki, Tadashi Nakamura, Daisuke Saito, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Shingo Suzuki, Teruaki Kurobe, Shinya Tomita, Daisuke Nakaharai (Makoto Atsuta 78)
Yuta Minami, Shinya Tanoue, Takeshi Watanabe, Keisuke Nebiki, Tomonori Hirayama, Ricardinho, Tomokazu Myojin, Harutaka Ono (Norihiro Satsukawa 83), Nozomu Kato (Makoto Sunakawa 60), Taro Sugawara (Yuji Unozawa 74), Hideaki Kitajima,
3 - 1
Nagoya Grampus have slowly been improving their performances over the past six months or so, and although they still seem to lack some of the creativeness at attacking midfield that other top clubs match, they have no shortage of "go-to" players up front. This fact was clearly evident on Saturday evening, when the team had to play without star striker Ueslei . Yet substitute Ryuta Hara stepped in and put on a performance that made Ueslei's absence almost unnoticeable.
3 - 1Nagoya came out in the first half with some solid pressure up front, and quickly began creating goal opportunities. Just a few minutes into the match, Kunihiko Takizawa lobbed a long ball into the box that led Ivica Vastic perfectly, allowing the swift striker to get off a shot before his defender could close on him. Unfortunately, the shot was a bit wide. Though Grampus put on the heavier pressure, JEF looked dangerous as well, hanging back on defence and looking to counterattack with quick outlets to the wings, who fed long balls to Korean ace Choi Yong-Soo .
In the 21 minute, though, Nagoya got the first break of the match. Vastic chased a long pass down the right flank, and as his defender closed in, put on a burst of speed and won the footrace to the end line. Turning in towards goal, Vastic was confronted by two defenders collapsing back on him, but he also spied the young Hara making a move to the far post. Scooping underneath the ball, Vastic sent a lob that cleared both defenders and the keeper, giving Hara a completely uncontested shot on the wide-open back side of the goal. The 20-year old striker made no mistake, nodding the ball gently into the net.
Following the initial goal, JEF stepped up their play, looking for an equalizer, and Nagoya responded with some solid defensive checking. Unfortunately, the referee, Mr. Henmi, failed to respond quickly to the increase in physicality, and got himself stuck in an annoying cycle of "makeup calls". In the 28 minute, Katsutomo Oshiba got behind his defender on a lob into the box, and was bowled over by an elbow. The call probably should have been for a PK, but this time the referee let it go. However, his subsequent behaviour clearly indicated that he felt he had missed the call. About five minutes later, Choi drove into the box but let the ball squirt away as a defender came in to challenge. Choi threw himself to the ground in what looked like a clear "simulation", but having passed on the previous PK call, Mr. Henmi decided that this would be a good opportunity to make amends. Choi slotted the ball home to level the scores.
Five minutes later, a lob into the box on Nagoya's end put Hara in a very similar position. As two defenders boxed him in, he too decided to flop to the turf. Once again, Mr. Henmi seemed eager to repay Grampus for the bad call at the other end, and rewarded Hara's acting job with a PK. Vastic slammed in the shot to put Nagoya ahead for good. Now that he was fully in "makeup mode", the ref spent the rest of the match doing his best not to make any contreversial calls, and thus allowed play to get very rough. This attitude cost JEF the most. Not only were Grampus able to play fierce physical defence without being called for many fouls, but the rock-em sock-em play cost Ichihara a key player early in the second half. Midfielder Shinichi Muto went in for a routine challenge on Motohiro Yamaguchi and received an sharp elbow directly above the eye which opened a gash big enough to require stitches. The referee somehow managed to let the entire incident pass without even a foul call.
But regardless of the influence of shaky officiating, Grampus were the more dangerous team in this match. Vastic, in particular, caused the JEF defence fits whigh his speedy moves and acrobatic dribbling. Midway through the second half, Vastic put the result beyond doubt on a lovely breakaway. Grampus cleared a long ball over the JEF defence, which was pushing forward in search of an equaliser. Vastic was quickly away, chasing the ball ahead of any defenders. Although keeper Kazuki Tateishi tried to race off his line and clear the ball, Vastic reached it one step ahead of him, pushing the ball past Tateishi into the box, then chasing it down and tucking it away,
Lineups:
Seigo Narazaki, Masahiro Koga, Andrej Panadic, Masayuki Omori, Tetsuya Okayama, Tomoyuki Sakai (Kei Yamaguchi 62), Motohiro Yamaguchi, Kunihiko Takizawa Naoshi Nakamura, Ivica Vastic, Ryuta Hara (Atsushi Katagiri 80)
Kazuki Tateishi, Takayuki Chano, Zelko Milinovic, Eisuke Nakanishi, Masataka Sakamoto (Takenori Hayashi 75), Yuki Abe, Yuto Sato, Shinji Murai, Shinichi Muto (Tadayuki Masuda 60), Katsutomo Oshiba, Choi Yong-Soo
2-1(ET) 
Two of the youngest teams in the league went head to head at Hiroshima Big Arch, as FC Tokyo travelled to meet Sanfrecce Hiroshima. The average age of the two teams' starting lineups was just a shade over 22 years, and even that average was skewed upward to some extent by the 35-year old "King of Tokyo", Amaral . Though both teams still displayed some elements of inexperience, the intensity of this match was a good sign of the quality of players coming up through the J.League ranks. The youth contingent of both teams featured heavily in the action, including all three goals.
2-1(ET) Sanfrecce took the lead early on a splendid individual effort by Hiroto Mogi, an 18-year-old bundle of energy who has been providing a real spark of the bench in recent appearances, and was rewarded with one of his first J.League starts. Mogi collected a long ball from Chikara Fujimoto at midfield, and put on a spin move that twisted his defender into a double half hitch knot. Cutting straight for the net, Mogi fired with the outside of his boot and spun the ball past the keeper, into the right side of the net.
On Tokyo's end, Amaral had several fine scoring opportunities over the course of the match, but in an unusual display of profligacy, he squandered all of them. It was young midfield sensation Naohiro Ishikawa who finally got Tokyo back on level terms early in the second half. Clesley "Kelly" Guimares provided a long lead pass from midfield which Ishikawa collected just to the right of the box. Cutting back to the middle, Ishikawa got a step on his defender and fired a low, blistering shot that slipped under the keeper and into the low right corner.
Regulation time expired with the scores all even, and Sanfrecce brought on more firepower up front, which turned the match into a frenzied gallop from one end of the pitch to the other. Finally, in the 108 minute, Koji Morisaki blasted a 40-meter bass from just inside his own end that Tatsuhiko Kubo caught up with just outside the area. Kubo pulled the ball back on the right side of the penalty area, drawing the last two defenders as he waited for support. It arrived in the form of Croatian veteran Tomislav Erceg, making his first appearance for Hiroshima. Kubo's pass led Erceg perfectly, and he drove a first-touch blast inside the left post to give Sanfrecce the victory.
Lineups:
Yoichi Doi, Akira Kaji, Jean Carlo Witte, Tetsuya Ito (Ryuji Fujiyama 82), Teruyuki Moniwa, Takahiko Shimotaira, Masashi Miyazawa, Naohiro Ishikawa (Tetsuhiro Kina 89), Kelly, Mitsuhiro Toda (Kenji Fukuda 63), Amaral
Takashi Shimoda, Yuichi Komano, Michel Pensee Billong, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Kota Hattori, Kazuyuki Morisaki, Koji Morisaki , Yutaka Takahashi (Tatsuhiko Kubo, 81), Chikara Fujimoto (Yuki Matsushita 77), Hiroto Mogi (Kentaro Sawada 101), Genki Nakayama (Tomislav Erceg 67)
2 - 3
Though Tokyo Verdy struggled in the first half of the season, they have looked extremely impressive in the second stage, and entered their match against Kashima Antlers as the league leader. The Antlers, meanwhile, faced a must-win situation following their loss last week to Jubilo Iwata, and came into Tokyo's National Stadium determined to emerge with three points. The result perhaps the most exciting and fiercely contested matches of the weekend.
2 - 3Because of an injury suffered last week by ace striker Euller , the Antlers were forced to adopt a makeshift lineup, with midfielder Masashi Motoyama at forward and wing back Augusto playing midfield. This formation left something to be desired, as Kashima struggled for goals until they abandoned this set, later in the match. On the other hand, a great deal must be said for the fine defensive work of Verdy's youngsters, as well as for the pressure that they applied on offence.
Verdy caught a lucky break early in the match, when wing back Hayuma Tanaka , a rookie who seems to get more impressive with each passing week, broke through the Antlers defence and roared into the penalty box. Akira Narahashi made a lunging check that stripped him of the ball, but the referee felt that he got too much of Tanaka's leg as well. and pointed to the spot. Edmundo converted the PK and Verdy were up 1-0.
But as the Antlers threw themselves into attack seeking the equaliser, Tanaka went from hero to scapegoat in the blink of an eye. Five minutes before half time, a long ball from Mitsuo Ogasawara allowed Atsushi Yanagisawa to break through the Verdy back line and race free on goal with only the keeper to beat. Tanaka, in a play that showed his inexperience, tried to challenge Yanagisawa from behind, and cut him down at the edge of the box. The referee produced a red card, partly because Yanagisawa was on his way for a high-percentage shot, but also possibly as a makeup for the borderline call at the other end.
Even reduced to ten men, though, Verdy did a fine job of keeping the Antlers at bay in the opening stages of the second half. Though Kashima controlled the vast majority of possession, they simply couldnt get any good shots on goal. Nevertheless, there were signs that he relentless pressure would eventually wear down the Verdy players and produce an equaliser. But before that could happen, another Verdy youngster stepped up to show why this team has become a real challenger. Kazuki Hiramoto Picked up a ball about fourty meters from goal on a rare Verdy counterattack, and put on a sparkling display of solo dribbling. Hiramoto took the ball up the right side, cut between two Antlers defenders into the box, and then raced shoulder-to-shoulder with Yutaka Akita towards goal, looking for an opening. The veteran defender had him too well marked, though, and in the end Hiramoto's attempt was deflected out away from goal. But fortune smiled on Verdy as the deflection fell right to Edmundo, who was trailing the play, and he unleashed a howitzer blast from just inside the box giving Verdy a 2-0 advantage.
With a two goal deficit to repair and precious little time to repair it, Toninho Cerezo finally realised that he could not continue to rely solely on the strike pairing of Motoyama and Yanagisawa. With 25 minutes to play, he make two substitutions which proved to be an enormous boost. First, he lifted veteran midfielder Naoto Honda and brought in Koji Kumagai. The absence of Kumagai has produced a crippling handicap in the Antlers midfield for the past several months, and although he is not yet fully recovered, the difference between his play and that of the aging Honda was immediately obvious. In addition, Cerezo lifted Tomohiko Ikeuchi , who has been doing a reasonable job filling in for the injured Fabiano , but can offer no help on offence. In his place, he inserted veteran striker Yoshiyuki Hasegawa , allowing Motoyama and Augusto to move back to their more customary spots on the left side.
The changes had an immediate impact. With 20 minutes left to play, Koji Nakata found freedom on the left wing, and set up for an uncontested cross into the box. His lob found Motoyama in full stride, racing towards goal. Motoyama placed his header well, slipping it inside the far post before the keeper could scramble back into position. Though Verdy still held a one-goal lead, the momentum of the match had turned, and the Antlers were in full gallop.
Ten minutes of intense offensive pressure later, the undermanned Verdy defence cracked again. Ogasawara dribbled across the top of the box in what had become an endless series of probing attacks by the Antlers. This time he found an effective target, as Hasegawa cut past his man towards the right post. Ogasawara's cross was well placed, and Hasegawa slotted the ball home to put Kashima back on level terms at last.
This goal seemed to crush Verdy's spirits completely. With a man disadvantage and the Antlers on the rampage, the tiring defenders seemed to accept that defeat was simply a matter of time. Even if they could hold out through the end of regulation time, that would only condemn them to sith through the barrage for another 30 minutes of golden goal extra time. The difference in attitude showed up immediately in their play. Where Verdy had previously been scrambling for every ball in their defensive zone, now they seemed to chase the Antlers attackers only half-heartedly, as if accepting their predistined fate. Sure enough, in the 88 minute an Antlers corner kick was cleared only as far as the right edge of the box. Augusto chested the ball down and used Motoyama as as screen to dribble clear of his defender, like a basketball player driving around a pick in the high post. As soon as he had clear space in front of him, Augusto released a stinging shot that put Kashima in the lead at last, and allowed the Antlers to dribble out the clock for the final few minutes and claim a cliff-hanger victory.
Lineups:
Yoshinari Takagi, Naoki Soma, Alexandre Lopez, Atsushi Yoneyama, Hayuma Tanaka, Takuya Yamada, Edmundo, Narita Takaki, Daigo Kobayashi, Naoto Sakurai (Yasuyuki Kobayashi 71), Kazuki Hiramoto (Atsuhiro Miura 79)
Hitoshi Sogahata, Akira Narahashi, Yutaka Akita, Tomohiko Ikeuchi (Yoshiyuki Hasegawa 73), Jun Uchida, Naoto Honda (Koji Kumagai 63), Koji Nakata, Augusto (Takuya Ishikawa 89), Mitsuo Ogasawara, Masashi Motoyama, Atsushi Yanagisawa, Euller
1 - 2
In a match that may well spell the difference between relegation and survival at the end of this season, two struggling teams met in Sapporo to contest the bottom spot in the league table. The result showed that Vissel's recent player acquisitions are a step in the right direction, and could keep the team up in the top-flight division next year. Consadole, on the other hand, looked as flat as ever, and captured the pole position in the race for relegation.
1 - 2Vissel got both of its goals from recent acquisitions. The first tally of the match came in the 36 minute, on a free kick from about 30 meters out. The cross found Oseas, Vissel's new "go-to" man up front, for an easy header inside the far post. In the second half, Vissel doubled their lead when Ryuji Bando slid aball across the face of goal and it was stuffed in at the far post by former Urawa Reds midfielder Harison.
Consadole got a goal back late in the match, on a nice exchange between Srjdan Baljak and Yushi Soda, who collected his first-ever J.League goal. However, a late barrage by Sapporo failed to win them the equaliser, and Vissel emerged with the precious three points to move clear of the relegation zone, at least temporarily.
Lineups:
Yohei Sato, Jin Sato, Yasuyuki Konno, Kensaku Omori, Biju, Hitoshi Morishita, Yoshikiyo Nishida (Naoki Sakai 52), Jadilson, Gakuya Horii, Takafumi Ogura (Yushi Soda 64), Srjdan Baljak (Tomohiro Wanami 75), Tomoaki Matsukawa
Makoto Kakegawa, Koji Yoshimura, Sidiclei, Yukio Tsuchiya, Kunie Kitamoto, Takeshi Hirano, Sidiclei, Naoya Saeki (Shigeyoshi Mochizuki 83), Mitsunori Yabuta, Harison, Ryuji Bando (Masayuki Okano 83), Oseas
Verdy's loss to Kashima Antlers knocks them out of the top spot, and allows Nagoya Grampus to move into first place, on goal difference, over Urawa Reds. Five teams, including the Antlers and Jubilo, are level at six points, one adrift of the two leaders.
| . | Team | Pts | GP | W (90/ET) | D | L | GDif | GF | GA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nagoya Grampus | 7 | 3 | 2 (2-0) | 1 | 0 | +5 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2 | Urawa Reds | 7 | 3 | 3 (1-2) | 0 | 0 | +3 | 5 | 2 | |
| 3 | Tokyo Verdy | 6 | 3 | 2 (2-0) | 0 | 1 | +6 | 9 | 3 | |
| 4 | Kashima Antlers | 6 | 3 | 2 (2-0) | 0 | 1 | +1 | 6 | 5 | |
| 5 | Jubilo Iwata | 6 | 3 | 2 (2-0) | 0 | 1 | +1 | 4 | 3 | |
| 6 | FC Tokyo | 6 | 3 | 2 (2-0) | 0 | 1 | +1 | 3 | 2 | |
| 7 | Kyoto Purple Sanga | 6 | 3 | 2 (2-0) | 0 | 1 | -3 | 2 | 5 | |
| 8 | Gamba Osaka | 5 | 3 | 2 (1-1) | 0 | 1 | +3 | 6 | 3 | |
| 9 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 5 | 3 | 2 (1-1) | 0 | 1 | +1 | 5 | 4 | |
| 10 | Vegalta Sendai | 3 | 3 | 1 (1-0) | 0 | 2 | -1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 11 | Vissel Kobe | 3 | 3 | 1 (1-0) | 0 | 2 | -2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 12 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 3 | 3 | 1 (1-0) | 0 | 2 | -3 | 2 | 5 | |
| 13 | Kashiwa Reysol | 2 | 3 | 0 (0-0) | 2 | 1 | -1 | 3 | 4 | |
| 14 | Consadole Sapporo | 1 | 3 | 0 (0-0) | 1 | 2 | -2 | 3 | 5 | |
| 15 | JEF United Ichihara | 0 | 3 | 0 (0-0) | 0 | 3 | -4 | 1 | 5 | |
| 16 | Yokohama Marinos | 0 | 3 | 0 (0-0) | 0 | 3 | -5 | 2 | 7 |
Rumours and Rumblings
Ahn Finally Formalises Transfer
Korean attacking midfielder Ahn Jung-Hwan, best known for scoring Korea's winning goal against Italy at the World Cup, has formalised his transfer to Shimizu S-Pulse by signing a one-year full transfer agreement that will pay him around 5.5 million yen a year. Although the 26-year-old midfielder will not complete the J.League registration process in time to play in the S-Pulse vs Jubilo Iwata match on Wednesday, he will attend the match and join the team's practices the following day, hoping to be ready for his first match this coming Saturday, against Vegalta Sendai.
On September 15, Ahn's former team the Busan I.cons finally agreed to relinquish all claims on the player, opening the way for a formal deal with S-Pulse. Although Ahn has been without a team since the World Cup, as a clash between Perugia and Busan kept him in limbo, he has been practicing on his own in Korea, and hopes to be able to begin contributing to S-Pulse's matches at an early date
Ivancevic Steps Down as Consadole Coach
Radmilo Ivancevic announced that he was stepping down as coach of Consadole Sapporo following the team's loss to fellow relegation candidates Vissel Kobe, on Sunday. Consadole now stand dead last in the league table with just six points from 17 matches, and the prospects of relegation at the end of this season appear very high.
Ivancevic had a relatively short reign as the Consadole boss, taking over from Tetsuji Hashiratani midway through the first stage. Hashiratani stepped down for similar reasons, after the team got off to a winless start int heir first seven matches, but clearly a change of coaching staff is not sufficient to address the problems that the team faces. Considering the strong local support that the team enjoys, it is hard to understand why they do not take the obvious step of acquiring better personnel. Unless the team brings in new players, chances are that Ivancevic's successor will meet exactly the same fate as the last two coaches.
Maezono Mulls a Move to Korea
Masakiyo Maezono, whose career has been in almost continuous free-fall since he returned a hero from the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, has been searching for a home since being cut from the roster at Tokyo Verdy just after the start of the World Cup break. This week, he turned up in Korea, where he spent a few days practicing with Songnam Chunma. Although the trading deadline in the K.League has already passed, Maezono is hoping to make enough of an impression to win a chance to play for the Korean champions, perhaps early in 2003.
Maezono is perhaps the most renowned failure in Japanese football history. In 1996, he was briefly viewed as the most promising player in Japan, capturing even greater fame than another youngster at the Atlanta Olympics, Hidetoshi Nakata. But his career went to pieces soon afterwards, as his condition steadily deteriorated and he became incapable of finding the net. Rumours have long held that Maezono has a serious drinking problem which has debilitated both his ball skills and his fitness. Whether or not these rumours are correct, Maezono fell out of the Verdy roster by the end of 1997, spend a year in Brazil where he saw little or no action, and then returned to Japan with J2 club Shonan Bellmare. His career received a boost in 2001 when Verdy picked him up once again as part of the team's short-lived attempt to live in the past. But even under his old crony Yasutaro Matsuki, Maezono was unable to even win a spot on the bench. Earlier this year, new coach Rori Paulo Sandri finally cut Maezono loose, and he has been looking for a club ever since. One certainly would like to see the former "golden boy" recussitate his career in Korea, but unless he can overcome his problems with the bottle, that seems unlikely. It will be interesting to see whether Songnam decide to roll the dice and give Maezono a chance.
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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