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July 1, 2004

Catching Up

For the past two seasons, tournament commitments have created a rather muddled league schedule, and this has also created some confusion in the personnel situation for J.League clubs. Prior to 2002, there was always a fairly extensive summer break between the First Stage and the Second Stage. During this period, which generally ran from late June to mid-August, National team matches were scheduled, teams would often hold training camps in overseas locations such as the US, Australia or Europe, and an extensive though leisurely round of player transfers and contract negotiations would generally take place. In 2002, however, FIFA wanted to hold the World Cup in early June, to avoid the peak of Japan's "rainy season", and asked the J.League to rearrange its schedule accordingly. This meant that the First Stage was interrupted for over two months, resuming after the World Cup was over. When the First Stage was concluded, teams had a ten-day rest and then immediately resumed play with the start of the Second Stage. As a result, the "mid-season" period of training, team development and player transfers was thrown into turmoil. Teams did not really have time to sit down and examine their rosters carefully, bring players in or release them, try out new strategies, and most importantly, rest and recuperate in preparation for the second stage. Instead, "midseason" transfers were pursued in a ratehr ad hoc fashion over a period of almost three months. This period was best described, as we noted at the time, as "organised chaos".

In 2003, Japan again was asked to adjust its schedule in order to take part in the Confederations Cup, in France. Once again, the tournament was scheduled for early June, so rather than spend a lot of time carefully thinking through the timing of events and trying to create a new schedule from scratch, the J.League decided to simply adopt the same schedule that they had used in 2002, with only minor changes. This made planning fairly simple, but it once again created a chaotic situationsuring the summer months, with the First Stage broken into two sections, and no real mid-season break for team organisation and player transfers.

This year, The League has returned to the "traditional" schedule with a long summer break between the First Stage and the Second Stage. Though the midseason activities have not really begun in earnest, we suspect that this year will see a considerable volume of player exchanges, as well as a lot of exhibition match activity, training camps for various clubs (as well as the national teams), and other fan-oriented events. This week we plan to discuss some of the events that have been scheduled, and also discuss a few of the early player moves that have been either confirmed or at least discussed, in recent weeks.

Hall of Fame Receives a Touch of Class

Carlos Cesar Sampaio Campos, one of the finest Brazilian wing backs in his generation, enjoyed World Cup glory with the star-studded Brazil team of 1994, but just a year after reaching the pinnacle of success, and while at the height of his playing career, Sampaio joined the Yokohama Flugels. At a time when many of the overseas stars coming to Japan were aging veterans looking to play out their careers, Sampaio was at the peak of his abilities, and his contributions both to the Flugels and to Japanese football in general are hard to overestimate. Sampaio was both the heart and the brains of the Yokohama Flugels teams throughout the 1990s, and is probably more closely associated with the "Flugels image" than any of the Japanese players who were his teammates for the five seasons through 1998. In over 120 matches he not only provided the steel for the team's defence, but also was the essential link with attack, scoring 13 goals himself and leading the team in assists for several of the seasons that he was with the club.

But the collapse of the Flugels after the 1998 season convinced Sampaio to return to Brazil, at least temporarily. It was only in 2002, as he began to near the end of his long career, that he was lured back by Kashiwa Reysol. After a year with Reysol he moved to Sanfrecce Hiroshima, where he would play the remainder of his career. Throughout his professional and international career, and particularly in his eight seasons in the J.League, Cesar Sampaio was one of the most amiable and well-liked players around. His easy-going nature often obscured his intense competitive drive, but he was always a good example and a role model for teammates, and a man who was always willing to spend time with the younger players trying to sharpen their skills. Sampaio earned his coaching license earlier this year, and he plans to return to Brazil to begin a coaching career. Even if it were not for his impressive statistics, Sampaio would demand inclusion in our J.League Hall of Fame as one of the finest gentlement ever to grace the pitch.

Yasuyuki Moriyama is another player who will be remembered as much for his fine quality as a person as he will for his footballing skills. Moriyama will always be most closely associated with Nagoya Grampus, though he spend seasons at several other clubs during the latter half of his career. As a starting striker with Grampus from the team's inception, in 1992, Moriyama emerged as one of the most recognisable faces on the team in its early years. Though usually content to perform the set-up work for talented teammates like and Gary Lineker and Dragan Stojkovic, Moriyama nevertheless racked up over 50 goals in his first five years, and even earned a few calls to the national team (though he made only one match appearance).

In 1999, Moriyama earned a breif invitation to play in Europe, at Hit Gorcia, a team in Slovenia, but within a year he was back in Japan, joining Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Thereafter, Moriyama bounced around to a number of teams, as his skills gradually faded and the improving skill level in the league forced him into a "journeyman" role. At the end of 2003, having made just five appearances at J2 club Consadole Sapporo, it looked like Moriyama's career was over. He managed to convince Grampus to invite him back for one last spell, allowing him to end his career where it started, but after the first stage of 2004, having made no appearances in either a league or a cup match, he finally decided to hang up the cleats.

Speaking Ill of Ilhan

With everyone looking to find someone to blame, it is not surprising that a lot of the press regarding this situation has been negative. However, a careful consideration suggests that there is no shortage of candidates to share the blame. Perhaps this was just one of those deals that really WAS too good to be true. Unfortunately, it took six months for everyone to figure that out, and now all parties concerned seem more interested in covering their own @ss than trying to analyze what went wrong, and figuring out how to avoid such problems in the future.

There have been some intimations from rumour mongering sports publications in Europe that perhaps Vissel Kobe and the Crimson Group WERE taken for a ride. If this turns out to be the case, then maybe more of the blame can be shifted away from the team. However, even under the best of scenarios, one gets the sense that a clueless rich guy with little knowledge of football came in and tried to buy success, only to discover that things are a bit more complicated than that (gee, it seems Ive heard that scenario somewhere else. . . .).

The rumours of possible shady doings relate to the possibility that Ilhan may have hidden a substandard health condition. In the year prior to Kobe's acquisition, Ilhan injured his knee seriously, and there was some initial concern that it might end his career. However, when Vissel signed the Turkish striker, they apparently gave him a physical check and decided that he was fit. But after just three appearances, Ilhan's knee went out again, and he missed most of the remainder of the First Stage. After returning to Japan from Germany, where he went to recuperate, doctors said that he was fit once again. But that does not explain why he failed to make more than a token appearance in Kobe's 14th match of the stage, then jumped on a plane back to Germany before the team's final match.

The Turkish sports tabloid Sabah printed an article recently which claimed that Vissel Kobe is planning to take legal action against both Ilhan and his former club, Besiktas. This article suggested that Besiktas knew that Ilhan was carrying a serious injury and concealed the fact. This story is a bit hard to credit, since legal action is the sort of thing that a Japanese company or football club would consider only as a last resort, and even then, the social stigma in Japan of bringing a lawsuit is severae enough that even in a worst-case scenario,we would expect the team to seek a settlement (ie compensation) in a quiet and non-public way. The Crimson Group is certainly not hurting for money, and would probably place public image above money if it came to that.

However, if a Turkish paper is reporting this story, you get the sense that something is not entirely right. While Vissel may have no case against Besiktas (and probably would be hesitant to pursue it even if they had one), the status of Ilhan is another story. Kobe own his contract, and will want to recoup their investment somehow. Past precedent suggests that Japanese clubs are not inclined to let a player who is their "property" just walk away. Particularly since Ilhan returned to Germany without permission, he is sure to be docked pay, at the very least.

One of the most interesting claims in the Sabah story is that Ilhan hired a lawyer soon after he arrived back in Germany. If this is true, it is a very bad sign, because the tremendously negative impression this would have on the Japanese public (particularly Vissel fans) would ensure that he is finished in the J.League. Fans, the media, and the Japanese public in general simply would not accept a player who not only walked out on his employer without any explanation , but then went out and hired a (*gasp*) LAWYER

Since Ilhan remains under contract to Vissel Kobe, even if he does return to health, he cant play football again without reaching terms with the club. Past instances like this (for example, the case of Ariel Ortega and Fenerbahce) show that FIFA will not permit a player to play for any other club, or for his national team for that matter, until he clears up the trouble with Vissel. Obviously, this story is far from over. One can only hope that all parties involved can find a way to minimise their losses and settle the matter out of the public eye. If not, this could turn into a very messy situation indeed.

Suzuki Coming Home, Yanagi Still Messin'a'Round

As we reported a few weeks ago, both Takayuki Suzuki and Atsushi Yanagisawa were released at the end of their one-year rental contracts by their European clubs (Heusden-Zolder and Sampdoria, respectively). Though neither one made a particularly strong impact last season, both showed enough competence and promis to attract a number of queries from other clubs in the countries where they had played. Suzuki was rumoured to be talking to Genk, the club that he played for in the 2002-03 season, while Yanagisawa was targeted by several Italian clubs that had either just been promotied to Serie A (Palermo, Messina) or were hoping to win promotion next season with a little help from a Japanese player (Livorno).

The Antlers, meanwhile, know that they need to address their problems up front if they hope to be competitive in the second stage. Tomoyuki Hirase has clearly lost whatever scoring touch he might have had in the past (and even that isnt saying much), while Fabio Junior was released, without having scored a single goal for Kashima, after doctors said it would take another six months or more for him to recuperate from a knee injury. Based on this information, we indicated a few weeks ago that we thought Yanagisawa would soon be back in Japan, while Suzuki would probably remain in Belgium. Though neither Yanagisawa nor Suzuki is what you would consider a "true" striker, Yanagi has the better scoring touch, as well as superior creative abilities. Suzuki, though he is quite effective in a specific role -- playing in the high post with his back to goal, shaking up the opposing defence with physical pressure, collecting high balls to the post and feeding a teammate on the cut -- does not really resolve the Antlers' lack of a scorer. We presumed that Genk would have a clearer idea of what they were getting, and thus would make the more serious bid, whereas the Italian clubs -- who seemed to be just looking for "someone Japanese" -- would not be serious enough to talk the Antlers into parting with Yanagisawa.

As it turned out, we had the presumptions reverse. On June 30, Messina formally announced that they would acquire Yanagisawa on a one-year loan, whereas negotiations with Genk eventually bogged down, and Suzuki decided to return to the Antlers from July 1. As we noted when Yanagi first went to Italy, the question of whether or not he succeeds depends mainly on whether or not the club knows what they are getting. Although he has actually tallied a lot more goals than his detractors give him credit for (69 goals in 170 J.League appearances and 12 goals in 39 outings for the national team), Yanagisawa has never been a great finisher. His greatest skills lie in clever movement off the ball, deceptively quick acceleration, fine passing skills and good vision. In Europe, Yanagisawa probably will never be sufficiently good at finishing to win a spot as a striker. However, he probably could make a useful contribution as a midfield wing, or as the set-up player in a "odd-numbered" formation such as a 3-4-3 or a 4-5-1. Only time will tell whether Messina plan to use him in such a role. If they try to play him as a traditional striker, though, there is a strong likelihood that he will be back in Japan before long.

Suzuki's prospects are similarly unclear, though perhaps better in terms of his chances of playing time. Failing to reclaim Yanagisawa, the Antlers may decide to look for another Brazilian striker to replace Fabio Junior. If so, they will probably try to get a skilled finisher. Thus, Suzuki would be the better choice to balance the "number one" striker than either Hirase or the diminutive Masaki Fukai. On the other hand, if Kashima opts to stick with the current lineup and save their money (a real concern for the club, now that attendances are starting to drop off), Suzuki and Fukai actually have the *potential* to be a fairly good combination up front. Fukai has demonstrated laudable dribbling skills, excellent movement off the ball, and tremendous speed and acceleration, not to mention the ability to find the net. However, because of his vertical dimensions (Fukai was officially measured at 161cm, but that was probably while wearing his "long-stud" cleats), the Antlers felt that they could not afford to start him up front with either of the most likely candidates as a strike partner (Masashi Motoyama and Takuya Nozawa, though they both tower over Fukai, are not exactly giants at 175cm each). With a big bruiser like Suzuki alongside him, however, Fukai might emerge as a fine striker in his own right.

The Ins and Outs of Coaching

The most recent coaching change in the J.League -- and the one we have been waiting for since virtually the start of the season, came on July 1, when Kashiwa Reysol's Tomoyoahi Ikeya finally took the hint that 15th place was not the position that most Reysol fans expected to find themselves in, at the start of the season, and agreed to step down. As we have noted in several of our match reports, Reysol seem to have a lot of exciting young talent in their roster, and there is no other logical explanation for why they are not performing more effectively. They just seem to lack a plan, and often play with a disspirited desperation which tells you that their coaching staff is not doing a very good job of motivating them.

Perhaps the best indication of Ikeya's incompetence was his ability to make budding Brazilian star Dudu virtually invisible for six months. By the end of the first stage, he had even Dudu believing that he "was not well suited to playing in the J.League." While back in Brazil, to play for the national team in World Cup qualification matches, Dudu declared that he "probably would not be going back to Japan", because he is receiving numerous offers from other clubs. Of course, this overlooks the fact that Reysol own his contract, and may not be ready to sell just yet. Hopefully when Dudu finds out about the change in management he can be convined to return for the second stage.

While Ikeya's departure is certainly no surprise, his replacement is not someone who most people would have considered a probable candidate. Hiroshi Hayano, though he has past coaching experience with both Yokohama Marinos and Gamba Osaka, is best known as one of the most knowledgeable and skillful football announcers in the NHK stable. Since leaving Gamba to return to the broadcasting booth, in 2001, it seemed that he had turned away from the coaching profession to something that seemed a more perfect match for his talents. He is widely viewed as the most effective "colour man" around. While Reysol will certainly consider it their gain to obtain such a fine football mind, it will be a loss to NHK viewers throughout the country, who will definitely miss his skillful analysis of matches and team tactics. Surely he can do no worse than Ikeya, and if he is even able to impart to his players even a tiny fraction of the tactical vision he showed in the announcing booth, it wil be good news for Reysol in the second stage.

The first coach to face the axe, in the past few weeks, was the head coach of Kyoto Purple Sanga, Akihiro Nishimura. Since the J2 season does not have as long a summer break, and there is no clear division of the season, Kyoto apparently felt free to release the guillotine a bit earlier than theJ1 clubs. However, it was certainly no surprise to see Mr. Nishiumura make an exit. Following Kyoto's relegation, last year, the team made a concerted effort to hang on to its top players, and even surprised fans and foes alike by dropping a large pile of banknotes to acquire Korean striker Choi Yong-Soo from JEF United, on a one-year loan. At the start of the campaign, we thought it was a near certainty that Purple Sanga would be near the front of the J2 pack this season, and a return to the J1 in 2005 seemed to be just a matter of course.

But the team has demonstrated conclusively, this year, that talent on paper is no substitute for performance on the pitch. Kyoto have looked listless, disspirited and disorganised from the very start of the campaign, and thogh they still are lingering in the group of 6-7 clubs that still have a legitimate shot at promotion, nobody could have predicted that by June they would already be 20 points adrift of league-leaders Kawasaki Frontale. Team management finally gave Nishimura his walking papers in mid-June, and made what might turn out to be a very clever move by selecting Koichi Hashiratani as their new coach.

Hashiratani, a former national team defender and breifly the coach of Montedio Yamagata, has a reputation for no-nonsense discipline, and for pushing his players to the limit of their endurance. He was raised in an era when players were expected to spill their blood and sweat on the pitch and keep on fighting until they dropped unconscious. Though this approach eventually went a bit too far, at Montedio, clearly it is what the spoiled prima-donnas of Purple Sanga need most, right about now. The only problem is that the initial reaction of a lazy pinup boy to discipline can often be negative. It might be too late for Hashiratani to whip the team into shape, and still manage to win promotion this year. Nevertheless, one has to view this as a step in the right direction. Last week, we received news from an unnamable source that Daisuke Matsui -- surely the spoildest, most pampered pinup boy of them all -- was desperately begging his agent to find him a new club. From our standpoint, this is definitely a positive sign . . .

The second coach to bid farewell to the J.League was a bit of a surprise. Benedicto Antoninio Angelli took over at Shimizu S-Pulse this season to find a club in total disarray, bereft of all its star players, and seemingly headed for the bottom of the league table -- if not lower. Though the team certainly struggled at first, Antoninio eventually managed to forge a relatively well-organised unit, made up mainly of youngsters and just a few journeyman veterans mixed in to provide solidity. By the end of the stage, S-Pulse were moving towards the middle of the table and looking like a well-drilled unit that might provide a few surprises in the latter half of the year.

Unfortunately, the strain of rebuilding the team from the ground up proved to be a bit too much for the 65-year-old Brazilian. After the final match of the stage, Antoninio announced that the stress had left him exhausted, and he was stepping down to return to Brazil and look after his ailing father. There had been some pressure for a change of coaching personnel earlier in the year, but we have every reason to take this explanation at face value. Antoninio really did everything that one could have expected with this team, and his tenure must be viewed as a success, by the standards disarray that have characterised S-Pulse over the past few years. Head Coach Nobuhiro Ishizaki was promoted to the top position, which should provide at least some degree of continuity. It will be interesting to see if he can continue the positive work that Antoninio started.

Though final confirmation has not yet emerged, it seems almost certain that Cerezo Osaka coach Albert Pobor will be replaced within the next few weeks, after Cerezo closed out the first stage by being humiliated in a 5-1 collapse against fellow strugglers Kashiwa Reysol, and thus finished dead last in the league table. Cerezo are another team in disarray, at least in terms of team management. Whoever replaces "Coach Albert" will become Cerezo's fourth coach this year. The team actually has a wealth of exciting young players on the roster, and should be doing a lot better than they have this season. We will be waiting eagerly to see who takes over the reins, but one thing is for certain -- the team has nowhere to go but up . . .

The Rooster Returns to the Roost

The high profile that he attained in WC2002, coupled with some backroom lever-pulling by former coach Steve Perryman earned Toda an invitation to Tottenham Hotspur for the 2002-03 season, but when the Spurs learned the true extent of Toda's abilities, he quickly found himself on the reserve squad, and left England at the end of the season without ever having appeared in a Premiership match.

In summer 2003, Toda found himself adrift, without a club, but he seemed determined to stay overseas. It may be that he thought the best way to win back his spot in the national team was by succeeding in Europe. but the facts are quite different. Zico's brand of football simply can not accomodate a player whose main value is as an "enforcer" in deep midfield. Toda did seem to learn some useful lessons while at Tottenham, since one of the first things he did was to mend fences with the S-Pulse organisation (which went through some fairly major changes in his absence), and convince them to take him back nominally as their property, in order to give him bargaining leverage with European clubs. This move was successful in winning Toda a one-year loan to ADO Den Haag, in the Netherlands.

Unfortunately, though Toda made a marginally acceptable contribution in 2003-04, Den Haag were relegated at the end of the season and could no longer afford to keep him on the roster. One again, Toda found himself without a home, and by late May, he seems resigned to return to S-Pulse. The question at this point is, will Toda even be able to regain a spot in his former J.League club? This is not just an idle question. Though it would be wrong to belittle Toda's skills TOO much, the fact is that he was and apparently remains a rather one-dimensional player. He has a strong physical presence in deep midfield (at least by J.League standards), and can provide fairly good outlet passes, but he really does not have much to offer in terms of support for the attack. Since Antoninio Angelli took over the team, he has developed a fairly effective strategy based on a flat-four midfield. Youngsters like Tomoyoshi Tsurumi and Keisuke Ota, as well as veteran Teruyoshi Ito, have performed very well as two-way midfielders in the center of this formation. Wil Toda be able to crack this lineup? And more importantly, has the rabid rooster overcome his fits of foul temper, which caused problems in the past? At this point, with S-Pulse finally starting to come back together as a harmonious team, the last thing they need is an element of conflict and dissatisfaction in the clubhouse.

Whatever the case, we will be watching Toda closely to see how well he can reintegrate himself with his former club. One thing is for certain, where Toda is concerned -- his actions both on and off the field will never be dull.

JOMO Senior Citizen's Welfare Match

This may explain why several of the better players who actually WERE selected decided to bow out and get a bit of extra rest. The East All-Stars were particularly depleted as the number two, three and five selections for striker -- Emerson, Tatsuhiko Kubo and Takayuki Morimoto all complained of injury and decided not to participate. As a result, the sixth most popular striker, Niigata's own Yusaku Ueno, will be one of the participants.

The West's coach, Akira Nishino, probably wished that he had similar luck. For some reason that only twelve-year-old girls from Kansai could possibly understand, the West "fans" selected Masashi "Gon" Nakayama and Kazuyoshi "Kazu" Miura as two of their top three picks for striker. Nishino fortunately had the right to name five players of his own choosing, and wisely decided to tap Ueslei as a backup striker. Not surprisingly, Nishino's game plan called for an effort to stall play and keep the score down in the first half, until he was able to get those two geezers off the pitch and into the broadcast booth, where they were able to make some truly valuable contributions.

With "Gon & Kazu" starting up front for the West, it is no surprise that the East got off to a quick start. Just six minutes after the kickoff, Atsuhiro Miura played a perfectly timed looping pass over the defence that allowed right wing Naohiro Ishikawa to dash forward on a slanting run across the box and completely outpace the back line. Ishikawa made a nice first touch, carrying the ball with him towards the left post and leaving the keeper clutching at air. He calmly pulled the ball back at a sharp angle to hit the net and give the east the lead.

Just a short time later, Ishikawa again showed his skills, firing a long drive from the right top corner of the box that the keeper just barely was able to deflect. Tatsuya Tanaka headed the rebound home, and the East were quickly up 2-0.

But following the second goal, the East"s attackers seemed to get greedy for the new car that would accrue to the Most Valuable Player, and they spent most of the next 60 minutes trying to make dramatic individual plays by themselves, to enhance their bid for the MVP award, when a simple pass might have produced another goal or three. As a result, the West was able to stall until half time, going into the locker room with the score still 2-0.

Just after the second half kickoff, an event occurred which hopefully will rub the League's face in its atrocious officiating problems. The official calling this match was none other than Toshimitsu Yoshida, currently featured in our "Fray of the Day" section. Perhaps the league wanted to give him a chance to redeem himself after utterly bollixing up the final match of the First Stage. And certainly, here was a venue in which a fool like Yoshida could shine. The exhibitiion nature of the contest ensured that all he had todo was run around the pitch for 90 minutes, keep his whistle in his pocket, and everyone would be happy.

Unfortunately for all concerned, it is simply not in Yoshida's nature to avoid controversy. Early in the second half, Daiki Takamatsu chasedafter a long ball into the box, attempted to shoulder his defender off the ball and, when the defender cleverly pulled back from the attempted shoulder charge, lost his footing and fell to the ground. To the shock of all 22 players on the pitch and all 56,000 fans in the stands, Mr. Yoshida blew his whistle and began walking towards the penalty spot.

Whether for good or for ill, fate intervened and forced the entire announcing team (and hopefully the league, as well) to confront the sheer incompetence of Mr. Yoshida. Because as part of their heavily hyped broadcast, TV Asahi had just turned over the microphone to announcer Yasutaro Matsuki and his two special guests, Gon Nakayama and Kazu Miura. The entire broadcast team were exchanging friendly jokes when the play in the East penalty boxunfolded. Predictably, all of the professional broadcasters fell deathly silent, ready to sweep the event under the carpet. But the irrepressable Gon was not playing along. "What is that?!" He demanded. "That isnt a PK! The ref must be joking!" Once the tension had been broken, Matsuki agreed, softly, that it probably was a bad call. But Gon was not to be restrained. Turning to Miura he declared "Hey Kazu, go ask Nishino to put you back in. Im sure you can score from the penalty spot. Too bad the ref wasnt giving away free PKs (in the first half)."

By this time, Nakamura's slightly clownish antics had loosened up the announcers and they were able to agree, after watching the replay, that the PK had been a hideously bad call. But even then, Gon was not ready to shut up. Perhaps this was his way of taking revenge on Yoshida for the calls he made on the final weekend of the First Stage, but whatever the case, he was not about to let up. Moments later another West player chased a ball into the box, but it was cleared by and East defender. "HEY!" Gon declared, "the ref should call that a PK too." Matsuki, who has a fair amount of training in the supposed "rules of decorum" in the announcing booth, tried to quiet him down, saying "come on, that wasnt even close to a foul". "SO WHAT?" Gon joked, "neither was the previous one. He gave a PK on that play, why not this one?"

Needless to say, this farcical event changed the character of the match completely, and what had seemed like a light-hearted romp in the first half suddenly became a very unfriendly and ill-tempered match. Later in the second half, both teams were even resorting to professional fouls and other tactics that one would never imagine seeing in the all-star game.

Unfortunately, this detracted from what was becoming a very exciting contest. After the West had taken one goal back from the PK, Shimizu S-Pulse's Tomoyoshi Tsurumi made a lovely finish of a Ueslei cross to level the scores, and then Ueslei himself put the West in front after a brilliant one-two exchange with Daiki Takamatsu, on the edge of the box. With timer running down, the east fought back and won a free kick about 30 meters out. The cannon-footed Yuki Abe and placement wizard Mitsuo Ogasawara lined up over the ball, and this clearly affected the goalkeeper's calculations. But the kick was taken by Atsuhiro Miura, who hit a remarkable knuckleball drive with his right foot that looped over the wall and hooked in the opposite direction from a normal right-footed drive. The keeper anticipated the hook that never came, and was caught leaning to his right as the ball slipped into the corner to his left.

The match ended in a 3-3 draw, and as the announcers discussed who would win the MVP award, lead announcer Sergio Echigo commented that Ueslei, with two goals, was clearly the favourite. But Matsuki -- apparently infected by Gon Nakayama's irreverent attitude -- retorted that Ueslei only had one goal. After all, "the PK shouldnt count". Apparently, the selection committee agreed, giving the MVP award to Ishikawa, who had a goal and an assist inthe first half. Ueslei had to settle for the "fighting spirit award", while Miura"s free kick won him the "Most Impressive Player" award. Sadly, the organizers had not planned ahead, so there was no "Most Incompetent Referee" award to distribute. But rest assured, Mr. Yoshida definitely deserved to win it.

Below are the full rosters for both teams;

J.East
Pos.	Name	Age	Team	Votes
GK	Yosuke Nozawa	24	Albirex Niigata	348,552
GK	Hitoshi Sogahata	24	Kashima Antlers	Coach selection
DF	Marcus Tulio Tanaka	23	Urawa Reds	235,886
DF	Daisuke Nasu	22	Yokohama Marinos	216,702
DF	Takayuki Chano	27	JEF United	216,058
DF	Go Oiwa	32	Kashima Antlers	Coach selection
DF	Atsuhiro Miura	29	Tokyo Verdy	Coach selection
MF	Yuki Abe	22	JEF United	408,421
MF	Naohiro Ishikawa	23	FC Tokyo	300,216
MF	Motohiro Yamaguchi	35	Albirex Niigata	290,965
MF	Mitsuo Ogasawara	25	Kashima Antlers	262,273
MF	Yasuyuki Konno	21	FC Tokyo	Coach selection
FW	Tatsuya Tanaka	21	Urawa Reds	389,642
FW	Keiji Tamada	24	Kashiwa Reysol	195,942
FW	Yusaku Ueno	30	Albirex Niigata	194,314
FW	Takenori Hayashi	23	JEF United	Coach selection
J.West
Pos.	Name	Age	Team	Votes
GK	Yohei Sato	31	Jubilo Iwata	114,310
GK	Naoki Matsuyo	30	Gamba Osaka	Coach selection
DF	Tsuneyasu Miyamoto	27	Gamba Osaka	400,579
DF	Yutaka Akita	33	Nagoya Grampus	183,335
DF	Yuichi Nemoto	22	Oita Trinita	166,374
DF	Sidiclei De Souza	32	Gamba Osaka	Coach selection
DF	Yuichi Komano	22	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Coach selection
MF	Koji Morisaki	23	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	344,277
MF	Toshiya Fujita	32	Jubilo Iwata	309,048
MF	Haruki Seto	26	Oita Trinita	125,608
MF	Tomoyoshi Tsurumi	24	Shimizu S-Pulse	Coach selection
FW	Yoshito Okubo	22	Cerezo Osaka	327,638
FW	Masashi Nakayama	36	Jubilo Iwata	309,924
FW	Kazuyoshi Miura	37	Vissel Kobe	239,453
FW	Daiki Takamatsu	22	Oita Trinita	171,950
FW	Ueslei	32	Nagoya Grampus	Coach selection

Tour Japan Month, for European Clubs

This year, close to a dozen such matches are likely to take place. Some have not been finalised yet, but a recent check of the ticket offers on club web sites shows that there are already five SOLD OUT matches between J.League clubs and touring clubs from Europe. Considering the venues where these events will be held, that represents over a quarter million people who will attend an exhibition event this summer, and the number is sure to rise further. Believe it or not, there is even a match between the 1994 Japan national team and the 1994 Brazil national team. You heard me right. Players such as Carlos Dunga, Maurio Silva, Leonardo, Jorginho and Cesar Sampaio will be coming to Japan to play an "old boys" match against members of the Japan national team which narrowly missed a chance to take part in WorldCup1994 due to the famous "Agony at Doha". It is probably a bit late for Ooft Japan to be looking for revenge, but I guess the philosophy is: "if people are willing to pay money to see it, why not?"

As one would expect, these events are mainly for show -- a nice outing for the fans and a chance to see European stars in the flesh. Nevertheless, as many touring clubs have found out to their peril in past years, the J.League clubs take these events seriously. It offers them a chance to pit their skills against the best in Europe, and not surprisingly, they play to win (and often DO). Thus, it is probably inaccurate to dismiss these events as just some publicity stunt with no real football value. In the majority of cases, in the past, such exhibitions have turned out to be very entertaining affairs, and those who plan to be in Japan this summer should definitely try to attend one of these events (if you can stil manage to get tickets)

Below is a partial list of some of the events that will be taking place this summer:

Date	J. Team	Visitor	Venue
Jul 27	Urawa Reds	Inter Milan	Saitama Stadium
Jul 27	Albirex Niigata	Boca Juniors	Niigata "Big Swan"
Jul 29	JEF United	Real Madrid	National Stadium
Aug 1	Kashima Antlers	Barcelona	National Stadium
Aug 1	Tokyo Verdy	Real Madrid	Ajinomoto Stadium
Aug 3	Urawa Reds	Boca Juniors	Manchester, Eng.
Aug 5	Urawa Reds	Manchester Utd.	Manchester, Eng.
Aug 5	Nagoya Grampus	Reggina	Toyota Stadium
Aug 8	FC Tokyo	AS Roma	Ajinomoto Stadium
Aug 15	1994 Japan	1994 Brazil	National Stadium