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November 11, 2002
Blown Away

. . . . but we are getting ahead of ourselves a bit. Lets start by reviewing the scores of all Saturday's matches

Date	Home	.	Visitor	Venue
Nov 9		0-2
Nov 9		3-2(ET)
Nov 9		102
Nov 9		1-0
Nov 9		1-0
Nov 9		1-1
Nov 10		1-2
Nov 10		3-2(ET)

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0 - 2

The Antlers came out in this match with a great deal of momentum, and controlled play for about the first 15 minutes. But from the 20 minute through the end of the first half, Gamba began to create the larger share of scoring opportunities, by throwing several men into the box and looking to cross in from one of the two wings. Up front, the team started the towering Magrao and U-21 star Satoshi Nakayama. This pair worked to find space in the box for crosses from the wings, which were supplied in good number by Takahiro Futagawa, Yasuhito Endo and Toru Araiba . But despite a number of close calls, the Antlers defence was in fine form. Yutaka Akita, in particular, had Magrao tied up and handcuffed throughout the match, despite giving away 12cm to the tall Brazilian.

Meanwhile, though Gamba seemed to be taking control of momentum, the Antlers had one or two breaks that suggested Gamba might be pushing a bit too far forward, and leaving themselved vulnerable to the counterattack. Although Gamba had far more touches in the vicinity of the penalty area, the Antlers actually had the edge in total shots on goal. As time ran down in the first half, sure enough, Kashima exploited Gamba's overstretched back line. In the 43 minute, right wing back Akira Narahashi lead a break from midfield with Masashi Motoyama and Atsushi Yanagisawa in front of him against two defenders. As these two players approached the box, Narahashi fired a sizzling yet smooth grounder from the right sideline that led Motoyama perfectly. Motoyama had a shot for the near post, but the keeper was covering the corner and both defenders were collapsing to limit his shot angle. Out of the corner of his eye, though, Motoyama saw Yanagisawa coming in at the far post, with the entire back side of the net yawning in front of him. Feigning a shot to freeze the keeper, Motoyama let the ball roll straight through, and Yanagisawa had only to side-foot a shot into the open side of the goal.

The late strike gave the Antlers a big boost at half time, and they came out in the second half with much more confidence, taking the edge in momentum away from Gamba. The home team continued to work the wings, looking for the change to provide a high cross to Magrao, but the Antlers defence stiffened, and with a goal edge, Hitoshi Sogahata began to roam his box more aggressively, pulling down most of the more dangerous high balls.

Twenty minutes into the second half, the Antlers put the finishing touches on their victory. The opportunity came as a Gamba defender failed to clear a long ball into the box effectively. Motoyama snagged the bounding ball and screened his defender as he looked around for help. The first Antlers player to respond was Euller , who sped into the box from the right side. Motoyama laid a soft pass in his path, and Euller drilled a shot over the outrushing keeper and into the top of the net. With just 25 minutes left, Gamba seemed to realise that they were finished. The Antlers are perhaps the best team in the league at preserving a lead and killing off time. With a two-goal edge, they showed no sign whatsoever of letting Osaka back in the match. After about 10 more minutes of desperate attacking, Gamba seemed to lose heart and the Antlers dribbled out the final minutes of the match.

Lineups:
Naoki Matsuyo, Satoshi Yamaguchi, Noritada Saneyoshi (Masashi Oguro 51), Masao Kiba, Toru Araiba, Hideo Hashimoto (Shigeru Morioka 80), Fabinho, Yasuhito Endo, Takahiro Futagawa (Masanobu Matsunami 76), Satoshi Nakayama, Magrao
Hitoshi Sogahata, Akira Narahashi, Yutaka Akita, Fabiano, Augusto, Naoto Honda, Koji Nakata (Junji Nishizawa 89), Mitsuo Ogasawara, Masashi Motoyama (Takeshi Aoki 77), Atsushi Yanagisawa, Euller

1 - 0

As a result, this match turned into a surprisingly defensive contest. The only goal of the match came before either team had settled down, as Naotake Hanyu got free for a shot in just the 2 minute and caught the defence and the goalkeeper napping. Thereafter, JEF played a very cautious and disciplined match, to prevent their opponents from getting the equaliser. The Reds had a clear edge in possession and scoring chances, but JEF was able to turn away every one of these opportunities, and they used their own chances efectively, keeping Keisuke Tsuboi and his fellow defenders on their toes with well-placed long balls and swift counters. In the end, the Reds simply couldnt create the goal they needed, and consequently they have tumbled out of the race for the second stage crown.

Lineups:
Ryo Kushino (Tomonori Tateishi 45), Takayuki Chano, Milinovic, Eisuke Nakanishi, Masataka Sakamoto, Yuki Abe, Shinichi Muto, Shinji Murai, Naotake Hanyu (Yuto Sato 84), Katsutomo Oshiba, Choi Yong-Soo
Nobuhiro Yamagishi, Masami Ihara (Ichiei Muroi 84), Tadaaki Tsuboi, Hideki Uchidate, Nobuhisa Yamada, Keita Suzuki,Tadaaki Hirakawa, Masahiro Fukuda (Tatsuya Ishii 73), Tuto, Yuichiro Nagai (Tatsuya Tanaka 72), Emerson

3-2(ET)

Edmundo got the scoring started for Verdy in the 26 minute, and defender Alexandre Lopez added a goal just before half time on a well-designed set play. But Consadole responded by bringing in youngsters Yushi Soda and Shinya Aikawa at half time, and they responded in a big way. Aikawa cut Verdy's lead just after the second half started, and midfielder Kohei Nishida , a recent Consadole acquisition, brought the team level ten minutes later.

But despite ther fine performance by Consadole's youngsters, it was a member of the Verdy yough contingent, Takumi Hayama , who got the game's final tally with his first J.League goal. In the second extra time period, Naoki Soma carried the ball up the left sideline and fed a pass to Hayama posting up on the left side of the penalty area. The youngter pivoted quickly and fired a shot, which surprised both his defender and the keeper, slipping inside the far post to lift Verdy to victory.

Lineups:
Yoshinari Takagi, Naoki Soma, Alexandre Lopez, Atsushi Yoneyama, Masayuki Yanagisawa, Takuya Yamada, Kentaro Hayashi, Daigo Kobayashi (Takumi Hayama 98), Naoto Sakurai( Hideki Nagai 72), Edmundo, Kazuki Hiramoto (Yuki Sano 75)
Yohei Sato, Jin Sato, Tsuyoshi Furukawa, Kensaku Omori (Ryuji Tabuchi 83), Yasuyuki Konno, Hitoshi Morishita, Keisuke Yoshikawa (Yushi Soda 45), Kohei Nishida, Tomohiro Wanami, Takafumi Ogura, Tomokazu Hirama

1 - 1

But Sanfrecce has been serioiusly self-destructive this season, and this match would be no different. Just before half time, Vissel midfielder Mitsunori Yabuta tried to collect a high lob into the box by screning off his defender, but Michel Pensee Billong was a bit too eager in his efforts to outjump the Vissel player, climbing over his back and knocking him to the turf. The referee decided that the play warranted a penalry kick, and Sidiclei slammed home the shot to even the score.

For the next 75 minutes, neiter team was able to find the net, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. This result will no doubt suit Vissel, who maintain their lead over Sanfrecce in the overall standings for the year, and thus may avoid the spectre of relegation.

Takashi Shimoda, Keisuke Yatsuda, Kenichi Uemura, Michel Pensee Billong, Yuichi Komano, Kazuyuki Morisaki (Hiroyoshi Kuwabara 89), Koji Morisaki, Kota Hattori, Chikara Fujimoto (Yutaka Takahashi 99), Susumu Oki (Kentaro Sawada 107), Tatsuhiko Kubo (Hiroto Mogi 69) Makoto Kakegawa, Tomo Sugawara, Yukio Tsuchiya, Kunie Kitamoto, Takeshi Hirano, Sidiclei, Shigeyoshi Mochizuki, Naoya Saeki (Yasutoshi Miura 100), Mitsunori Yabuta (Masayuki Okano 113), Ryuji Bando (Shoji Jo 95), Oseas

1 - 0

FC Tokyo and Nagoya Grampus have both been struggling to rise above mediocrity, this season. But based on their performances in this match, both have a longway yet to go. That is not to say that their match on Saturday was not entertaining. Several players put on good performances as individuals, particularly Tokyo's Amaral and Naohiro Ishikawa, and Nagoya's Naoki Hiraoka and Ryuta Hara. Furthermore, one must keep in mind that Nagoya, in particular, was playing youngsters like Hara and Atsushi Katagiri instead of its top veteralns

All in all, though, this match was somewhat low on quality. Both teams sent far too many balls astray, and by the middle of the second half, it resembled a volleyball game, with each side blasting long, meaningless passes deep inbto one another's territory, only to have it returned in another long lob pass.

The match was so even that reading the box score is like looking into a mirror. Each team had exactly the same number of shots, corner kicks, free kicks and yellow cards! In the end, though, it was the home team that prevailed. In the 88 minute, midfielder Naoshi Nakamura took a corner kick from the left side and dropped a looping cross directly in front of goal. Ryuta Hara somehow managed to get his head in front of the keeper's hands and deflect it into the net, and although Tokyo pleaded for the goal to be disallowed on keeper interference, the referee confirmed the goal and Nagoya captured a late win.

Lineups:
Seigo Narazaki, Keiji Kaimoto, Masahiro Koga, Andrej Panadic, Masayuki Omori (Takuya Okayama 82), Motohiro Yamaguchi (Tomoyuki Sakai 73), Kei Yamaguchi, Naoki Hiraoka (Kunihiko Takizawa 45), Naoshi Nakamura, Ryuta Hara, Atsushi Katagiri
Yoichi Doi, Teruaki Moniwa, Jean Carlo Witte, Ryuji Fujiyama, Takahiko Shimotaira, Satoru Asari, Masashi Miyazawa, Kelly, Naohiro Ishikawa (Yukihiko Sato 60), Mitsuhiuro Toda (Yuji Baba 72)

1 - 2

Sloppy as the match between Nagoya and Tokyo might have been, the contest between Shimizu S-Pulse and Yokohama Marinos was even worse. Part of the problem can be attributed to the furious gusts of wind that swept the field throughout the match. However, thad does not excute the players from both teams for some very disjointed play. Watching this match on tape, just moments after the Antlers-Gamba contest ended, was almost a painful experience.

Yokohama were the better of the two teams, both in the score line and in actual play. But that does not really say much. Having discarded Will just a few weeks ago, the Marinos are still looking for some cohesion up front, and although Tomoyuki Hirase and Nobuhisa Shimizu showed occasional flashes of quality, they wasted far too many good chances through missed communication or simple ball-hogging..

That criticism is nothing, however, compared with what S-Pulse deserve. It is hard to believe that nearly every player on this team has seen national team duty at some level. The quality of play and the players' ability to string passes together was only a shade better than what I saw at the Niirasaki H.S. vs Kofu Kogyo H.S. match, earlier in the week. S-Pulse did manage to take a first-half lead, as Masaaki Sawanobori launched a perfectly-timed ball for Alessandro Santos which beat the Marinos' offside trap and gave Santos an uncontested shot at a flat-footed keeper.

But S-Pulse managed to give away their lead within 10 minutes of the second-half kickoff. Inthe 49 minute, a drive into the area by Hirase was blocked by a thuggish tackle, and this gave Daisuke Oku the opportunity to convert from the penalty spot. Less than five minutes later, Naoki Matsuda found free space in front of the net on a corner kick, and headed home to give S-Pulse the win. Lineups:
Takaya Kurokawa, Daisuke Ichikawa, Shohei Ikeda, Toshihide Saito, Teruyoshi Ito, Jumpei Takaki (Kohei Hiramatsu 85), Kazuyuki Toda (Yasuhiro Yoshida 70), Jun Muramatsu, Masaaki Sawanobori (Baron 64), Alessandro Santos, , Ahn Jung-Hwan
Tatsuya Enomoto, Yasuhiro Hato, Yuji Nakazawa, Naoki Matsuda, Dutra (Kazuyoshi Mikami, Yoshiharu Ueno, Yasuhiro Endo, Kunio Nagayama, Daisuke Oku, Nobuhisa Shimizu (Daisuke Sakata 834), Tomoyuki Hirase

1 - 2

The match was played at a furious pace from start to finish, withboth teams dishing out their share of hard tackles and pushing forward on aggressive attacks. Though the Purple Sanga probably deserved to win this match, in truth it might have gone either way. Vegalta got the scoring started in the latter stages of the first half. After winning a free kick about three meters outside the top left corner of the penalty area, Teruoi Iwamoto sent a perfectly-placed shot into the high far corner of the net, just beyond the reach of the Kyoto keeper. Despite several close calls on both ends, this was the only score of the half.

Just after the restart, though, Purple Sanga levelled the ledger on a shot that virtually came out of nowhere. Midfielder Shingo Suzuki collected a pass about 30 meters out from goal, and began dribbling across the top of the box. Suddenly, he let loose a looping shot which caught Kiyomitsu Kobari completely unawares, slipping into the top left corner of the net before the Vegalta keeper could move a muscle. Even the TV announcers were caught off guard. It was only as Kobari began walking into his net to collect the ball that they finally shouted "Gooooooooaallll!"

Kyoto should have taken the lead just two minutes after their equaliser, as only some truly awful officiating denied them a score. On a swift counterattack, Park Ji-Sung, Teruaki Kurobe and Daisuke Matsui all surged towards the Vegalta goal. As Kurobe neared the box, a defender knocked the ball away from him and towards the end line, but Matsui, who was two steps ahead, pushed the ball back to Park. Immediately, a Vegalta defender hacked the Korean striker down from behind, but Kurobe was on hand to scoop the loose ball into the net. But the celebrations on the Kyoto bench were quickly cut short, as the referee pointed to the penalty spot, ignoring the fact that the ball was already in the net. Then, looking up, the ref noticed that his linesman had his flag up. After a brief consultation, he came back and dseclared the entire play offside, apparently forgetting that it was a defender, and not a Kyoto player, who had knocked the ball to Matsui at the start of the play.

But in the end, the Purple Sanga got their just victory. Midway through the second half, Kyoto won a free kick about 35 meters out, on the left side. Suzuki took the kick and sent a long lob for the far post. Racing in from the top of the box, Kurobe headed the ball just inside the right post to give his team the margin they needed for victory.

Lineups:
Kiyomitsu Kobari, Kenji Suzuki (Masahiro Ando 74), Ricardo Ribero, Norio Omura, Tatsuya Murata, Hajime Moriyasu (Takahiro Yamada 79), Toshiyuki Abe, Teruo Iwamoto, Silvinho, Nobuyuki Zaizen (Shinji Fujiyoshi 65), Yoshiteru Yamashita
Naohito Hirai, Shigeki Tsujimoto, Makoto Kakuda, Kazuhiro Suzuki, Shinya Tomita, Daisuke Saito (Makoto Atsuta 74), Daisuke Nakaharai, Shingo Suzuki, Park Ji-Sung (Yusuke Mori 89), Teruaki Kurobe, Daisuke Matsui

3-2(ET)

One of Reysol's youth brigade, Shinya Tanoue got the scoring started in the 15 minute to give his team an early lead. Although two first-half strikes by Naohiro Takahara put Jubilo back in front by half time, a late goal by Edilson sent the match into extra time.

But despite a fine effort by Reysol, Jubilo proved a bit too tough to handle. Norihiro Nishi struck in the 5 minute of extra time to give his team the win, and two points.

Lineups:
Hiromasa Yamamoto, Hideto Suzuki, Makoto Tanaka, Takahiro Yamanishi, Takahiro Kawamura, Takashi Fukunishi, Toshihiro Hattori, Toshiya Fujita, Hiroshi Nanami, Naohiro Takahara, MAsashi Nakayama
Yuta Minami, Takeshi Watanabe, Toru Nagata, Norihiro Satsukawa, Makoto Sunakawa, Cesar Sampaio, Shinya Tanoue, Ricardinho, Keiji Tamada, Edilson, Yuji Unozawa

And so, even though they were unable to win in regulation time, Jubilo forge ahead to a four-point lead over their closest rival, the Kashima Antlers. In fact, Jubilo can thank the Antlers for defeating Gamba Osaka, making the task of winning the second stage that much easier. Unless Jubilo stumbles badly in the final three weeks of the season, they are in line to clinch the 2002 league title without the need for a playoff, a prospect that will no doubt disturb the sponsors who hoped to run commercials during the two televised playoff matches. At any rate, here are the current standings:

Rumours and Rumblings

S-Pulse Slay South China

The man of the match for S-Pulse was Takayuki Yokoyama, who made his first start since recovering from a calf injury. Yokoyama scored the first and last goals of the match, and also supplied his strike partner, Baron, with an assist. Baron has been seeing little action in J.League matches of late, having lost his first string position when Ahn Jung-Hwan joined the club, but he looked to be in fine form this week with two goals of his own. S-Pulse will play the return leg at Nihondaira Stadium on November 27.

Maezono Resurfaces in Korea

There is no definitive story on what happened to Maezono after the Flugels' final season, but there are plenty of rumours and speculation. The most common story is that Maezono fell in with the "party crowd" at Verdy Kawasaki after joining the team in 1998, and swiftly developed a serious drinking problem. When Verdy fell on hard times, finishing 17th in 1998, Maezono was one of several big-name players who were cut loose by Kawasaki, and forced to seek opportunities elsewhere. Maezono was fortunate enough to have impressed some top Brazilian football officials with his performance in Japan's 1-0 win over Brazil in Atlanta. This, and the fact that Verdy was not seeking a large transfer fee, earned Maezono a stint at the famed Santos FC. But Maezono's demons, whatever they might be, followed him to Brazil, and within the year he had been consigned to a minor role at tiny second-division club, Goias. The former superstar was left with no choice but to slink back to Japan and beg a job at second-division Shonan Bellmare.

In 2000, Maezono was given one last chance to rebuild a J.League career, when the newly reorganised Tokyo Verdy called back all of their former stars in a bit to recapture past glory. But Maezono's star had already fallen. He started just five matches and scored but one goal in 2001. By the end of the season, he had been relegated to the reserves, and when Verdy cut him from the roster in January 2002, no other team in the league would even give him an interview.

Having followed Maezono's Greek tragedy of a career for almost a decade, the Rising Sun News wishes him the best of luck, and hopes that he can finally beat the demons that have haunted him for so long. But it seems like we have said that same thing far too many times in the past. Anyang may just be hoping to squeeze a little bit of publicity out of Maezono's name and reputation. Whatever the case, we will be watching to see what happens next in the long sad soap opera that has been his career.

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