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June 20, 2004

Turnabout is Fair Play

Here are the scores of this weekend's matches:

Date	Home	.	Visitor	Venue
19 Jun		1-0		Kashima Stadium
19 Jun		3-1		Nihondaira Stadium
19 Jun		2-2		Kobe Wing Stadium
19 Jun		1-1		Hiroshima Big Arch
19 Jun		1-2		Kashiwa-no-ha Std.
19 Jun		3-2		Ajinomoto Stadium
20 Jun		3-2		Okayama Stadium
20 Jun		2-3		Oita Stadium

1 - 0

Sure enough, the Antlers came out determined to prove a point against their long-time rivals. Though they may not be in a position to challenge for the title this season, the Antlers are still a seasoned team of champions who know how to raise their game to a higher level in crucial matches.The result was yet another brilliant chapter in the annals of fierce competition between these two teams. A match that may have been short on goals, and even on scoring opportunities, but certainly was not lacking in intensity.

As we have noted several times in recent weeks, despite the injuries that have plagued them, the Antlers might be a legitimate contender this season if they only had a forward who was capable of putting the ball in the net. Their defence is the stingiest in the league, having conceded only 13 goals in 14 matches, while their midfield is brimming with clever, technically precise players who can pick apart an opposing team with crisp short-range passing. Yet once again, this week, Tomoyuki Hirase and Takuya Nozawa managed to squander every chance that their teammates created for them. Hirase, in particular, was set up brilliantly on at least three occasions, and fired blanks every time.

Then again, Jubilo's defence is not too shabby either, ranking second only to Kashima in terms of the lowest number of goals allowed. Though Mitsuo Ogasawara and Masashi Motoyama both had extremely strong performances, pursuing the ball relentlessly and creating a lot of trouble for the opposing defence, Jubilo's back line, supported by excellent play in defensive midfield from Takashi Fukunishi, Hiroshi Nanami and Toshihiro Hattori, limited the number of truly dangerous shots to a handful.

But on offence, this simply was not Jubilo's day. Harried by midfield pressure all afternoon long, their passing game in the middle of the field was hesitant and frequently amiss, while the Antlers defenders always seemed to be in position to clear crosses from the wings. Although both Ryoichi Maeda and Rodrigo Gral made several attempts to con the referee by flopping to the pitch on the perimeter of the penalty area, this week the ref was having none of it. (A particularly obvious dive by Maeda, early in the first half, may have convinced Mr. Okano to ignore any and all Jubilo play-acting. Later in the match this came back to haunt them, as it looked like Maeda might have been jostled to the ground by the keeper, just to the left of the goal mouth. But the play was far from clear-cut, and given the number of times that Jubilo strikers had flopped to the turf in the first half. Mr. Okano was not interested in Maeda's protests).

Though the Antlers had the upper hand for most of the match, their atrocious finishing (and Hirase's habit of running AWAY from the ball, rather than toward it, whenever he was the target of a pass) limited shots to just a handful. Jubilo, meanwhile, fought diligently to create opportunities but were turned away time and again by the unshakeable defence. Hitoshi Sogahata was troubled only on two occasions -- once on a deflected through pass that Toshiya Fujita collected on the right side of the penalty area, but shanked wide of the net, and once late in the second half, on a high ball to the middle that he was unable to punch away. Fortunately, Fernando had retreated into the goal mouth, and was able to head the ball off the line.

As regulation time gdrew to a close, the Antlers continued to produce the superior chances, but their inability to finish made it look like the match would end in a scoreless draw. But a minute into injury time, the Antlers won a corner kick on the left side, and Ogasawara played a low line drive to the penalty spot. Daiki Iwamasa, a reserve defender brought on late in the match to man-mark Masashi Nakayama, dashed into the box and threw himself headlong at the ball, connecting perfectly and sending a thundering header between the keeper's legs, to give Kashima a last-second victory and send Jubilo home luckless once more.

Lineups:

Hitoshi Sogahata, Jun Uchida, Seiji Kaneko (Daiki Iwamasa 68), Go Oiwa, Toru Araiba, Koji Nakata, Fernando, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Masashi Motoyama, Takuya Nozawa (Takeshi Aoki 70), Tomoyuki Hirase (Masaki Fukai 70).

Yohei Sato, Hideto Suzuki, Makoto Tanaka, Takahiro Yamanishi, Nobuo Kawaguchi (Hitoshi Morishita 81), Takashi Fukunishi, Toshihiro Hattori, Toshiya Fujita (Sho Naruoka 75), Hiroshi Nanami, Rodrigo Gral (Masashi Nakayama 68), Ryoichi Maeda .

1 - 2

This contest is a case in point. Reysol struggled to cope with the Marinos attack throughout the first half, and despite some good effort from the individual players, were unable to create many scoring chances themselves. But in the second half, particularly after Takeshi Watanabe was sent off, intense effort and fierce ball-pressing allowed Reysol to give Yokohama a run for their money, even with a one-man disadvantage. Alas, despite the good effort, Reysol just didnt have the game plan needed to exploit Yokohama's weaknesses, and the result was yet another loss.

Looking at it from Yokohama's point of view, this was a good win, but a slightly disappointing one when you consider the fact that they were held to a 1-1 draw in the 30 minutes in which they enjoyed a man advantage. This could have serious reprecussions down the road, because Jubilo entered this week with a two-goal superiority in goal difference. If they could have won by three goals or more, a draw next week (coupled with a Jubilo win) might have been enough to give them the first stage title. As it is now, the Marinos have to win their clash next week against Kashima to be certain of claiming the title.

The star of this match, for the Marinos, was young Hayuma Tanaka, a player that we have touted highly, in the past, but who has not yet managed to make the breakout from a useful reserve role to a key starter. If he manages to put in a few more performances like this one, though, he should be able to claim a starting spot in the near future. Tanaka has excellent two-way skills, showing excellent instincts on defence, yet possessing skills in dribbling and shooting that rival those of many strikers his age. He has been called up a few times to the Olympic team, and generally performed well, but is hampered by the fact that olympic team coach Masakuni Yamamoto prefers a 3-5-2 formation, whereas Tanaka's ideal role is as a wing back. This week, Tanaka produced one absolutely brilliant goal and two near-misses, as well as providing numerous crosses from the wing that led to dangerous shots on goal.

The opening goal came 17 minutes into the match, and left the usually loquacious announcer Michel Miyazawa temporarily speechless. Midfielder Yoo Sang-Chul picked up a ball in midfield, about 40 meters away from goal, and spotted Tanaka on the right wing, preparing to make a dash into the box. Timing his pass perfectly, Yoo launched a soaring lob over the entire defence, on a trajectory to land about three meters to the right of the penalty spot. A Reysol defender spotted Tanaka as he made his run, and managed to close the gap, dashing right at Tanaka's shoulter and leaving him no space to settle the ball. Seeing that he would only have one swing at the ball, Tanaka took the high lob over his left shoulder and volleyed it out of the air, while in full sprint, sending a knee-level drive that ripped into the back of the net. before keeper Yuta Minami even saw it coming.

Shortly before the half, Tanaka again broke in from the right side to collect a through pass, turned his defender completely inside-out, and stepped forward to take a shot from about three meters outside the right post. But Minami had reacted well off the line, and took the blast square in the chest, frustrating Tanaka's hopes for a brace.

Though they failed to extend their lead, Yokohama continued to control play until just after half time, when Tanaka again make a key play, sending a perfect lead pass to Ahn Jung-Hwan sprinting through the middle. Ahn beat his defender, Takeshi Watanabe , to the ball and dashed into the box, only to be pushed head-over-heels to the pitch. The referee had a good view of the foul, and immediately pulled out a red card for Watanabe, but then inexplicably set the ball down just outside the box, rather than at the penalty spot. Though replays clearly show that the offence occurred inside the area, it seems that the official wanted to avoid a Marinos rout. Once again, this may just be a "coincidence", but if Jubilo Iwata should win the first stage on goal difference, a lot of people will be asking themselves "what if?"

Shortly after they gained the man advantage, the Marinos did double their lead. This time it was Daisuke Sakata who set up the play, driving past a defender on the left flank and carrying the ball all the way to the left post. His first attempt to get off a shot was smothered by the defender, but he managed to regain control, and try his luck a second time. This shot was on target, and Minami had to throw himself sideways to deflect it away from net. But the ball dropped right at the feet of Ahn, who calmly stuffed it into the right corner.

Just when it seemed that the Marinos were on a roll, the momentum suddenly shifted, and Reysol mounted a stirring comeback effort. As noted earlier, the high energy level and excellent individual skills of the Reysol players actually had the Marinos on the run for a period of about 15 minutes. It often seemed that Reysol were the ones with an extra man, since they were always the first to collect loose balls. This surge of energy finally was rewarded in the 78 minute, as a corner kick from the left side found Dudu Caerense at the far post, for a close-range header.

But that was as far as Reysol were able to claw back. The Marinos brought on some fresh players and soon had restored control of the tempo. eventually running out the clock and taking over the first-place spot in the league table.

Lineups:

Yuta Minami, Takeshi Watanabe, Mitsuru Nagata, Naoya Kondo, Yasuhiro Hato, Tomokazu Myojin, Dudu Caerense, Tomonori Hirayama, Ze Roberto (Takehito Shigehara 70) , Keiji Tamada, Yuji Unozawa (Tatsuya Tanizawa 54) .

Tatsuya Enomoto, Yuji Nakazawa, Naoki Matsuda, Daisuke Nasu, Hayuma Tanaka, Yasuhiro Endo, Yoo Sang-Chul (Yuzo Kurihara 89), Dutra, Yoshiharu Ueno, Masato Yamazaki (Daisuke Sakata 54), Ahn Jung-Hwan (Tatsuhiko Kubo 79), .

3 - 2

This was a contest of two very different halves. Nagoya generally dominated the first half, taking a one-goal lead at the half and extending it shortly after the break, only to see it slip away in dramatic fashion. Grampus had several opportunities in the first 45 minutes. However, poor finishing, which has plagued them frequently this season (though certainly not as much as Kashima Antlers) kept the match scoreless until just a few minutes before half time. But with the first half clock winding down, Marques led a break across midfield and fed Naoshi Nakamuraon the right edge of the box. The pass was a bit long, but Nakamura managed to get a boot on it and send a bounding ball across the face of goal. Veteran Tetsuya Okayama dashed for the left corner, lunging for the ball and managing to tip it just inside the post.

For the first few minutes after the break, it looked like Grampus would maintain the control over this match that they enjoyed in the first half. Five minutes after the restart, Grampus again launched a fast-break counterattack, with Ueslei carrying the ball for the top right corner of the box. A Tokyo defender challenged him just oustide the box, and managed to deflect the ball slightly, but it rolled right into the path of Marques, who was also in full sprint. He touched it on once as he entered the area, then tucked a shot underneath the keeper to double Nagoya's lead.

Things wer looking dim for Tokyo, but following the second Grampus goal, they began to press more diligently for a response, and their attacks showed signs of breaking through the Nagoya defence. On the stroke of the hour, Lucas Severino made the first of what would be a sparkling series of individual runs through the defence, seizing the momentum of the match and putting his team back in contention. He received a pass about 20 meters outside the box, juked to his right to beat one opponent, then set off on a dizzying run that left a clutter of Nagoya players strewn in his wake like cast-off cigarette butts outside Shinjuku station at rush hour. After dancing past the fifth Grampus defender that he had encountered on this amazing run, Lucas found himself in the clear, just beyond the penalty spot, and he had only to fire a low drive for the left corner to pull his team to within a goal.

Suddenly it was Tokyo that pressed forward again and again on the counterattack, shigting the contest into an even higher gear (if that were even possible) and leaving the Grampus players a bit more exhausted with each wild rush. In the 75 minute it was Yoshiro Abe's turn to dash into Grampus territory, taking the ball around the left flank and almost to the end line. When at last his path was cut off, Abe fired a grass-cutting pass across the face of goal and defender Teruaki Moniwa , who apparently didnt want to be left out of the sprinting contest, dashed forward to stab the ball home.

The home crowd was now in a frenzy of noise, cheering the Tokyo players on, and you could see that Grampus was staggering, just waiting for the knockout punch to land. In finally arrived in the 81 minute, and once again it was delivered by Lucas. The flet-footed Brazilian took a pass on the right flank, and once again decided to mow through the defence all on his own. This time he had only two players to beat, and left both of them slain, skinned, stuffed, mounted, and hung up over the mantlepiece like a prize buck in a Tohoku tourist hostel, finishing off with a gentle shot into the far side of the net.

Lineups:

Yoichi Doi, Shuhei Tokunaga, Teruaki Moniwa, Jean Carlo Witte, Jo Kanazawa, Yasuyuki Konno, Yuta Baba (Yoshiro Abe 59), Fumitake Miura (Masashi Miyazawa 71), Norio Suzuki, Mitsuhiro Toda (Yohei Kajiyama 55), Lucas Severino .

Eiji Kawashima, Makoto Kakuda, Yutaka Akita, Keiji Kaimoto, Kojiro Kaimoto, Kei Yamaguchi (Chong Yong-Dae 79), Yusuke Nakatani (Jorginho 85), Naoshi Nakamura, Tetsuya Okayama (Keiji Watanabe 79), Ueslei, Marques .

3 - 1

Much of the credit for this success must go to coach Antoninio Angelli, who has revived the intensity of veterans like Toshihide Saito, Teruyuoshi Ito and Hideaki Kitajima while fostering and developing the skills of previously unfancied youngsters such as Keisuke Ota, Takumi Wada and Tomomi Tsurumi. This week, although they were outplayed by Verdy over long stretches of the match, S-Pulse made excellent use of the opportunities that they did receive, and recorded a very convincing win.

S-Pulse started their run midway through the first half, after being pressured by Verdy for the first 20 minutes. On one of their few opportunities to respond, Ota Lobbed a long pass from the right sideline to Kitajima, about ten meters out and level with the right post. The keeper strayed off his line, perhaps thinking that he might have a chance to punch the ball away before it reached Kitajima, but the wayward striker headed a looping shot over the keepers head, which slipped in just under the bar and gave S-Pulse a halftime lead.

Moments after the restart, Kitajima turned provider, as Araujo carried a ball through midfield and dropped a pass to him near the top of the penalty arc, in a post-up position. Kitajima read his attentions beautifully, one-timing the ball back to Araujo as he dashed into the box. The return pass completely demolished Verdy's defence and Araujo was into the clear. Again, the Verdy keeper was a bit "too quick" off his line, and Araujo lobbed a soft looping shot over his head for the second goal.

On the stroke of the hour, the two strikers combined again, this time with both on a dash towards Verdy's goal. Again, Araujo fed Kitajima and again, Kitajima provided a return pass that put Araujo into the clear, for an easy, unchallenged shot into the low right corner.

Verdy, who had exhibited far greater contol over this match than the 0-3 scoreline suggested, finally produced a response, a minute after the third S-Pulse strike, as Patrick Mboma worked his way free on the riught side of the box and headed a long cross inside the post. But that was the only response that his team could muster, and S-Pulse hung on over the final 15 minutes to preserve a 3-1 victory.

Lineups:

Yohei Nishibe, Ryuzo Morioka, Toshihide Saito, Tomomi Tsurumi, Keisuke Ota, Teruyoshi Ito, Jun Muramatsu (Masaaki Sawanobori 72), Naoki Hiraoka, Araujo, Hideaki Kitajima (Kohei Hiramatsu 88), Yoshikiyo Kuboyama (Takumi Wada 63) .

Yoshinari Takagi, Takushi Yoneyama, Kenta Togawa, Lee Ko-Jun. Takuya Yamada, Kentaro Hayashi, Atsuhiro Miura, Daigo Kobayashi (Takeshi Hirano 52), Yoshiyuki Kobayashi, Kazuki Hiramoto, Takayuki Morimoto (Patrick Mboma 53).

1 - 1

The one player who might command both respect (for his abilities) and seniority (for his advanced age) is the 36-year-old Cesar Sampaio. But the seemingly ageless Brazilian --for both good and bad -- is one of the nicest and most laid-back individuals ever to ply his trade in the J.League. As a result, Sanfrecce simply dont display the intensity or focus that is required to win tough matches. This was the story again on Saturday, as Sanfrecce seemed to outplay their opponent enough to claim a victory, but still fell short.

After 75 minutes in which Sanfrecce had dominated, yet consistently failed to produce a payoff, Albirex won a corner kick on the right side, and Edmilson's kick found An Yeon-Ha at the near post for a header that flew across the face of goal and caught the inside of the far post, bounding into the net and giving Albirex the lead.

This goal seemed to provide that spark of intensity that Sanfrecce had been lacking all match long, and just one minute later, young Shunsuke Maeda fought his way through three defenders at the left edge of the box, fired a shot on goal and, when the ball was deflected clear, Koji Morisaki drilled the rebound into the open net.

But after this one flash of brilliance, Sanfrecce were unable to produce any more, and had to settle for a disappointing draw

Lineups:

Takashi Shimoda, Mitsuyuki Yoshihiro (Kosuke Yatsuda 87), Norio Omura, Megumu Yoshida, Yuichi Komano, Ri Han-Jae, Cesar Sampaio, Kota Hattori, Yuki Tamura (Genki Nakayama 45), Koji Morisaki, Susumu Oki (Shunsuke Maeda 65).

Yosuke Nozawa, Anderson Luis da Silva, Tadahiro Akiba, An Yeon-Ha, Osamu Umeyama (Yoshito Terakawa 69), Motohiro Yamaguchi (Kozo Funakoshi 83), Hiroyoshi Kuwabara, Shingo Suzuki, Edmilson (Keisuke Kurihara 74), Yusaku Ueno, Fabinho .

2 - 2

As one might "expect" in the J.League, where nothing ever turns out quite the way it is expected, This contest featured severe defensive miscues by Vissel coupled with some dazzling plays on offence, whereas Cerezo's strike force were relatively silent, and only mistakes by the Vissel defenders kept them level with their opponent.

The first goal came in the late stages of the first half, following a blunder by defender Masao Tsuchiya. Though usually a very dependable central defender with solid one-on-one marking skills, we have noted several times in the past that he has a habit of charging in behind opposing players, when they post up, and crashing into their back just as the ball arrives. He gets away with this play more often than not, partly because J.League referees are hesitant to call fouls on the fringe of the box unless there is clear leg-to-leg contact. On this particular occasion Takaaki Tokushige initially took up a post position on the edge of the box, but the pass from Yusuke Sato was a bit long, and Tokushige started to backpedal to try to keep the ball in front of him. Tsuchiya was moving too fast to stop his momentum in time, and he collided with the off-balance Tokushige two steps inside the box with a force that sent him sprawling. The referee immediately pointed to the spot, and Yoshito Okubo gave Cerezo a half time lead.

In the second half, though, Vissel came out and put on an impressive show of offensive pressure, sparked by Hiromi Kojima and Mitsutoshi Watada -- two forwards who were written off years ago by most of those who follow the J.League. Shortly after half time, Kojima sent Kazuhiro Mori indo the right corner with a nice overlap pass, and Mori's cross found Roger, dashing forward from his defensive position, for a running header from around the penalty spot.

Shortly thereafter, Kojima made the play of the afternoon, dribbling a wildly weaving path through the entire Cerezo defence as he carried the ball from just over midfield all the way to the end line. When he finally ran out of room on the playing field, he completed the razzle-dazzle play with a back heel to Watada, who had just come on in place of Kazu Miura and was getting his first touch of the match. Watada slammed the ball into the low right corner and Vissel were in the lead.

With time running down and Cerezo's offence misfiring, it looked like Vissel were on their way to victory. But in the final minute of regulation time, Ivan Radelic pressed forward from his defensive spot and collected a weak clearance about ten meters outside the box. He sent a blistering drive towards goal which might or might not have been saved by the keeper, but Tsuchiya tried to throw a boot in its path and ended up deflecting it right into his own net. Though Radelic probably deserved more credit than Tsuchiya, the official scorer called it an own goal, making Tsuchiya responsible for both of Cerezo's tallies, a performance he will not want to repeat very frequently.

Lineups:

Fumiya Iwamaru, Masao Tsuchiya, Kunie Kitamoto, Roger, Kazuhiro Mori, Shosuke Tsubouchi (Mitsunori Yabuta 45), Tatsuhiro Tanba, Chikara Fujimoto, Hiromi Kojima, Kazuyoshi Miura (Mitsutoshi Watada 63) .

Tomohiko Ito, Takahito Chiba, Ivan Radelic, Takanori Nunobe, Tomi Shimomura, Takeshi Hamada, Noriyuki Sakemoto (Sho Gokyo 59), Yusuke Sato (Yoshiki Nakai 74), Hiroaki Morishima, Takaaki Tokushige, Yoshito Okubo .

2 - 3

But shortly before half time, Shota Matsuhashi equalised with a nice dribbling run and shot. It looked like the two teams would go in at half time in a deadlock, but just before the final whistle, Naotake Hanyu collecterd a loose ball on the right sideline, dribbled towards the box, and then sent a line-drive pass to Maki as he dashed for goal. Maki's header snuck just inside the near post and JEF were on top once more.

Trinita came out in the second half with a burst of energy, and in less than three minutes, Taku Harada brought them level once more. For the next 30 minutes, Oita pressed again and again for the deciding tally, and with a large home crowd cheering them on, it looked like Trinita had the upper hand. JEF produced occasional counters, but it was Trinita who surged towards goal again and again, threatening to claim the win. But with time runnign doan, against the run of play, Masataka Sakamoto picked up an outlet pass and took off on a weaving run through midfield, all the way to the top right corner of the box. Cut off by the final line of defence, he looped a lateral pass into space, perhaps without even seeing whether or not a teammate wqas filling the gap. But the pass paid off as Satoru Yamagishi dashed in from behind the play, finding the open lane and cathing up with the ball in time to head it past the clutching fingers of the keeper and give JEF the victory.

Lineups:

Riki Takasaki, Takashi Miki, Sandro Chavez Rosa, Kazuyoshi Mikami, Koji Arimura, Haruki Seto (Yuichi Nemoto 45), Takashi Umeda, Taku Harada, Shota Matsuhashi (Ryosuke Kijima 63), Takayuki Yoshida, Magno Alves (Daiki Takamatsu 50) .

Ryo Kushino, Kozo Yuki, Zeljko Milinovic, Takayuki Chano, Masataka Sakamoto, Satoru Yamagishi, Shinji Murai, Naotake Hanyu, Takenori Hayashi (Takashi Rakuyama 64), Marquinhos (Kohei Kudo 87), Seiichiro Maki (Yuki Mizumoto 66) .

3 - 2

Lineups:

Naoki Matsuyo, Satoru Yamaguchi, Sidiclei, Toru Irie (Masanobu Matsunami 77), Mitsuteru Watanabe (Shigeru Morioka 62), Hideo Hashimoto, Yasuhito Endo, Arata Kodama (Satoshi Nakayama 62), Takahiro Futagawa, Fernandinho, Masashi Oguro.

Ryota Tsuzuki, Hideki Uchidate, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Keisuke Tsuboi, Nobuhisa Yamada, Makoto Hasebe, Tadaaki Hirakawa (Ichiei Muroi 84), Alex Santos (Tomoyuki Sakai 45), Koji Yamase,, Tatsuya Tanaka (Yuichiro Nagai 59), Emerson.

And so, as we approach the final week of the first stage, the Yokohama Marinos have finally overtaken Jubilo, who have led the race from the very first week of the season. Not that this will help the Marinos sleep any easier over the next few days. They know that they face a stern test against the Kashima Antlers, next Saturday, and given the fact that Jubilo"s goal difference is slightly superior, a draw probably will not be good enough to claim the crown. Once again, the J.League title goes down to the final week of the season, when experience has shown, just about anything can happen. Be sure to tune in next week for a full report on the grand finale.