November 24, 2002
Thats a Wrap!

With a week of matches left to play, the 2002 season is basically over, at least for those teams with their eyes on a title. Jubilo Iwata made history by winning both the first and second stages of this year's J.League calendar, and thus they capture the league championship without the need for a playoff. While this is no doubt a thrill for their fans, it creates some problems for promoters and advertisers, since there will now be no championship series to bring in additional revenues, television exposure and fan interest. Some commentators have been calling for the current league setup to be scrapped in favour of a single stage, but the mere thought of what we will be missing this year -- two exciting championship matches played on national TV, in prime time and in packed stadiums -- should make it clear that whatever advantages a single-stage format might have in terms of simplifying the league schedule would be more than offset in terms of lost excitement and opportunities to promote the league.

But then, that is another story. For the time being, lets take a look at the scores of Saturday's J1 matches

DateHome.Visitor
Nov 232-0
Nov 232-0
Nov 230-1
Nov 231-0(ET)
Nov 232-1(ET)a
Nov 232-0
Nov 24vs
Nov 24vs

1 - 0 (ET)

Jubilo entered the week with a five-point lead on their nearest rival, Gamba Osaka, and just two matches left to play. Thus, it was all but a mathematical certainty that they would be the league champions this season. Add to that the fact that they were playing the match at home, in front of a capacity crowd that was eagerly looking forward to celebrating the league championship, and one minght have expected this match to be little more than a coronation ceremony. But Tokyo Verdy made Jubilo fans squirm late into the afternoon, playing a nearly mistake-free, albeit rather sluggish match, and keeping Jubilo at bay for almost 120 minutes.

Jubilo looked as if they had begun celebrating a bit too early. At times it almost seemed as if they had been out at the bars a bit too late the previous evening, iwth some very un-Jubilolike performances, including passes to nowhere, ridiculously misdirected shots, and a general lethargy that the fans began to feel as well as the match neared full time. Verdy, for their part, were not quite the aggressive, attacking team that they have been on occasion during the 2002 season. They stood up well to the Jubilo pressure, but their own opportunities were limited, and generally squandered.

And thus, the match progressed into golden goal extra time with no score, and no result in sight. By the time the second extra time period began, Jubilo were aware that Gamba had also been taken to extra time, meaning that Jubilo could lose the match, as well as the next one, and still claim the league championship so long as they did not concede 5 or more goals relative to the winning margin claimed by Gamba (in other words, the fat lady was already drawing a deep breath and tightening her vocal chords).

Fortunately, Takashi Fukunishi spared both the team and the fans the possibility of a cheapened, back-door victory in the final minute of extra time. Though a draw would have been enough to earn them the trophy, in the dying minutes of the match Toshiya Fujita Pried a ball free from Verdy wing back Hayuma Tanaka on the left sideline and the ball squirted free to Fukunishi. The national team midfielder cut to the center of the field, and unleashed a shot from the edge of the box that found the top right corner and gave Jubilo a satisfying finish to their championship season.

Lineups:
Hiromasa Yamamoto, Hideto Suzuki, Makoto Tanaka, Takahiro Yamanishi, Takahiro Kawamura, Takashi Fukunishi, Toshihiro Hattori, Toshiya Fujita, Hiroshi Nanami (Jun Kanazawa 80), Naohiro Takahara, Masashi Nakayama (Norihiro Nishi 84)
Yoshinari Takagi, Takuya Yamada, Naoki Soma, Atsushi Yoneyama (Narita Takaki 64), Masayuki Yanagisawa, Kentaro Hayashi, Takuya Hayama, Yoshiyuki Kobayashi (Hiroyuki Takagi 57), Daigo Kobayashi, Edmundo, Yuya Sano (Kazuki Hiramoto 57)

2 - 1 (ET)

The only team that still had a chance to catch Jubilo at the start of the weekend's matches, Gamba Osaka, were also taken to extra time, and the team needes a second-half injection of energy from Marcelinho Carioca. to get past a feisty Purple Sanga team. Kyoto really had the better share of play during the first 45 minutes, keeping Osaka at bay on defence, and counterattacking with flair and determination. Kyoto nearly took the lead in the 15 minute when a cross by Shingo Suzuki found the head of Teruaki Kurobe directly in front of the net. Kurobe wisely headed the ball down to avoid the lunging keeper, but he connected a bit too hard, and the ball bounded just over the crossbar.

But five minutes later, the Purple Sanga did manage to get on the board, on a well-executed set play. After winning a free kick 35 meters out on the left sideline, Shinya Tomita launched a perfect cross for the near post, and defender Shigeki Tsujimoto raced in to head it home from just inches away.

In the second half, though, Gamba brought in playmaker Marcelinho, and he immediately began to breathe life into the attack. In the 50 minute, Marcelinho crept down the right sideline, danced the samba with his defender until his legs were completely askew, then slipped a pass to Yasuhito Endo near the top right corner of the box. Endo fired a first-time cross that went completely across the face of goal to Kota Yoshihara about ten meters out from the far post. Yoshihara's blast slipped inside the left post before teh keeper could recover, and the score was all even.

Neither team was able to add to their tally in regulation time, but just a minute after golden goal extra time began, Marcelinho again drew the defence to the right sideline and slipped a through pass towards the box, this time to Takahiro Futagawa. The speedy midfielder immediately lobbed the ball into the box for Satoshi Nakayama, and the U-21 striker finished off with a lovely lob over the outrushing keeper to give Gamba the late victory.

Lineups:
Naoki Matsuyo, Hiroshige Yanagimoto, Noritada Saneyoshi, Masao Kiba, Toru Araiba, Hideo Hashimoto (Satoshi Nakayama 59), Yasuhito Endo, Fabinho, Takahiro Futagawa, Kota Yoshihara (Marcelinho Carioca 79), Magrao
Naoto Hirai, Kazuhiro Suzuki, Takatoshi Matsumoto, Shigeki Tsujimoto, Tadashi Nakamura (Daisuke Saito 45), Daisuke Nakaharai (Yutaka Tahara 88), Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Shingo Suzuki, Shinya Tomita, Teruaki Kurobe, Daisuke Matsui (Makoto Atsuta 45)

2 - 0

Two weeks ago, Sanfrecce Hiroshima looked to be headed for relegation, but for the second straight weekend, the team put on a display of offence that must have left their fans wondering where this team has been all year. Sanfrecce dominated Kashiwa Reysol this week, even moreso than they did Kashima Antlers last week, and emerged with an identical 2-0 victory.

The win puts Sanfrecce at a slight advantage in the race to avoid relegation, as their cheif competitor for the dishonour of jopining Consadole Sapporo in the J2 next year, VIssel Kobe, lost their match this weekend, as we shall relate below

Lineups:
Takashi Shimoda, Yuichi Komano, Kenichi Uemura, Kosuke Yatsuda, Kentaro Sawada (Tulio Tanaka 73), Hiroshi Kuwahara, Koji Morisaki, Kota Hattori, Hiroto Mogi (Ri Han-Jae 86), Susumu Oki (Chikara Fujimoto 76), Tatsuhiko Kubo
Yuta Minami, Keisuke Nebiki, Toru Nagata, Norihiro Satsukawa, Tomokazu Myojin, Shinya Tanoue, Cesar Sampaio (Takeshi Watanabe 89), Tomonori Hirayama, Keiji Tamada (Nozomu Kato 86), Yuji Unozawa (Ricardinho 45), Edilson

2 - 0

Vissel Kobe managed to edge away from the relegation zone with consecutive wins over other relegation-threatened teams for the past two weeks, but their string of good fortune may be running out. JEF United, meanwhile, had a disappointing season this year, but have fnished off well, and collected their third consecutive win on Saturday. JEF were without their star striker, Choi Yong-soo, but they still seemed to be more than a match for the toothless offence of Vissel Kobe. After a scoreless first half in which JEF had the majority of possession, but both teams squandered their scoring chances, Zeljko Milinovic caught fire over a 20 minute stretch of the second half and put Kobe on ice.

In the 60 minute, Milinovic surged forward from his defensive spot, beat two Vissel players and slid a lead pass to Katsutomo Oshiba. The diminutive midfielder fought off the challenge of Vissel's powervul defender Yukio Tsuchiya, carrying the ball into the box and then slipping it past the keeper and inside the right post. About eight minutes later, JEF won a corner on the right side, and Shinichi Muto lobbed a long ball to the far side of the box. Once more, Minlinovic was forward in the attack, and he swung a roundhouse kick that blasted the ball into the top right corner to present Kobe with a daunting score line. Try as they might, Vissel could not climb back into the match, and consequently, they will go into next week's final match needing a win, and a slip-up by Hiroshima, to avoid relegation.

Lineups:
Tomonori Tateishi, Takayuki Chano, Milinovic, Eisuke Nakanishi, Masataka Sakamoto, Yuki Abe, Shinichi Muto, Katsutomo Oshiba, Naotake Hanyu (Daisuke Saito 89), Takenori Hayashi (Yuto Sato 83), Choi Yong-Soo
Makoto Kakegawa, Tomo Sugawara, Yukio Tsuchiya, Kunie Kitamoto, Takeshi Hirano, Sidiclei (Yasutoshi Miura 94), Naoya Saeki, Shigeyoshi Mochizuki, Mitsunori Yabuta (Masayuki Okano 84), Ryuji Bando, Oseas (Shoji Jo 113)

2-0

Vegalta Sendai made their own excape from the relegation menace with a solid, 2-0 victory over Consadole Sapporo. Consadole, who have already booked a berth in J2 for next season, looked lethargic and, apart from the play of striker Takafumi Ogura, played very much like the relegation bait that they are.

Vegalta, on the other hand, rode on a wave of support from their irrepressable fans, in the last home game of the season. Sendai's ace, Marcos , scored both goals, the first early in the first half on a long lead pass from Masahiro Ando, and the second late in the second half, heading home a perfect cross from Toshiyuki Abe after the former Reds midfielder blew past two defenders on the left wing and broke into the box uncontested. The victory was enough to ensure that Vegalta will remain in the top-flight division for another season, at least, though they will probably need to make some personnel changes if they hope to avoid relegation again next season.

Lineups:

Kiyomitsu Kobari, Masahiro Ando, Ricardo, Norio Omura, Tatsuya Murata (Tomohiro Katanosaka 90), Hitoshi Moriyasu, Toshiyuki Abe (Naoki Chiba 52), Teruo Iwamoto, Silvinho, Yoshiteru Yamashita, Marcos
Yohei Sato, Jin Sato, Biju, Kensaku Omori, Hitoshi Morishita, Yoshiyuki Konno Kohei Nishida, Tomohiro Wanami, Takafumi Ogura (Jadilson 87), Shinya Aikawa (Srjdan Baljak 75), Yushi Soda

1 - 0

Full report will be posted later

Lineups:
Seigo Narazaki, Keiji Kaimoto, Masahiro Koga, Andrej Panadic, Masayuki Omori Tetsuya Okayama 72), Kei Yamaguchi, Motohiro Yamaguchi (Tomoyuki Sakai 61), Kunihiko Takizawa, Naoshi Nakamura, Ivica Vastic, Ryuta Hara (Atsushi Katagiri 79)
Tatsuya Enomoto, Dutra, Yuji Nakazawa, Naoki Matsuda, Yasuhiro Hato, Yoshiharu Ueno, Kunio Nagayama, Yasuhiro Endo, Daisuke Oku, Tomoyuki Hirase (Yuichi Mori 88), Daisuke Sakata

4 - 1

Full report will be posted later.

Lineups:
Yoichi Doi, Akira Kaji, Jean Carlo Witte, Teruyuki Moniwa, Ryuji Fujiyama (Norio Suzuki 63), Satoru Asari, Masashi Miyazawa, Yukihiko Sato, Kelly, Yuji Baba (Kenji Fukuda 69), Amaral
Nobuhiro Yamagishi, Ned Zelic, Tadaaki Tsuboi, Ichiei Muroi, Hideki Uchidate, Nobuhisa Yamada, Tadaaki Hirakawa, Masahiro Fukuda, Keita Suzuki, Tuto, Emerson

1 - 2

Masashi Miyazawa

Baron

Lineups:

Hitoshi Sogahata, Akira Narahashi, Yutaka Akita, Fabiano (Tomohiko Ikeuchi 64), Augusto, Naoto Honda (Jun Uchida 64), Koji Nakata, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Masashi Motoyama, Atsushi Yanagisawa (Yoshiyuki Hasegawa 70), Euller
Keisuke Hada, Daisuke Ichikawa, Shohei Ikeda, Katsumi Oenoki, Peceli, Kohei Hiramatsu, Teruyoshi Ito, Yasuhiro Yoshida, Ahn Jung-Hwan, Alessandro Santos (Toshihide Saito 89), Baron




Rumours and Rumblings

Back Numbers

Send all questions, comments and queries to:






Site Meter