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September 19, 2004

The Only Game in Town

At the risk of being accused of schadenfreude, it does seem that baseball's woes are presenting the J.League with a brilliant opportunity to win over some new fans. Though baseball tends to attract a slightly older crowd than the J.League, hard-core sports fans will recognise that the appeal of sporting contests is universal. With professional baseball out on strike (for weekend games only, but that is when the J.League plays its matches), sports addicts are already showing signs of withdrawal (on a morning sports news broadcast, today, this writer watched highlights of a Yamanashi prefecture women's softball contest. Talk about desperate . . . )

It will be interesting to see whether the J.League can use this window of opportunity to win over some new fans. Certainly, if teams continue to play the sort of exciting football that we saw this weekend, there will be at least a few baseball fans who stick around, even after the strike is over.

Date	Home	.	Visitor	Venue
18 Sep		4-4		Shizuoka Stadium
18 Sep		2-2		Hiroshima Big Arch
18 Sep		1-0		Oita Stadium
18 Sep		3-3		Kobe Wing Stadium
18 Sep		4-1		Saitama Stadium
18 Sep		3-1		Ajinomoto Stadium
19 Sep		1-1		Kashiwa-no-ha Std.
19 Sep		3-0		Nagai Stadium

4 - 4

This contest certainly lived up to its reputation in terms of intensity and excitement. Regardless of the difficulties that both teams are having this season, both are packed with players who know how to play football. And from the opening sequence, it was clear that this match was going to be a joy to watch. Just two minutes in, Fernando took a ball up the right sideline and, spotting an opening, released a quick cross into the box. Takayuki Suzuki had slipped away from coverage, as the Jubilo defence was still getting settled, and with a suden burst of speed he ran onto the cross for a wide-open header, about two steps in from the penalty spot. The ball ricocheted into the far side of the net and the drama commenced.

Though Kashima may have drawn first blood, Jubilo have been stewing in a sauce of self-reproach for at least the past two weeks, and for a team that is accustomed to winning, it was to be expected that the team's pride and determination would eventually surface. That pride began to appear as Jubilo picked themselves up from the first goal and began applying pressure of their own. But it was poor concentration and a loss of intensity on the Antlers side that gave Jubilo their first opportunity. After a drive into the box by Ryoichi Maeda was broken up, the Antlers defence haf four chances to clear, and all four players either missed the ball completely, or made too casual a touch, allowing Jubilo's scrambling offence to keep the ball in. Finally, Koji Nakata did manage to clear the ball to the edge of the box, but it fell right at the feet of Takashi Fukunishi , who fired a line-drive from the edge of the area which zipped into the nylon and leveled the score line.

As so often happens when a team loses their concentration, all the breaks suddenly started to go agains the Antlers, while Jubilo did a good job of making them pay for the mistakes. Three minutes after Fukunishi's goal, Toshiya Fujita Lobbed a high cross for the far (right) post, and as Fernando tried to retreat and cut off the intended recipient, the ball hit his hand. It seemed to be an accidental hand ball rather than a deliberate one, but that did not matter in terms of the outcome. Jubilo won a free kick and though the keeper, Hitoshi Sogahata, managed to parry Fujita's shot, the ball dribbled over the line bevore he could collect it, putting Jubilo in front.

As time ran down in the first half, Fujita played a very similar looping cross into the Antlers box, and this time it was veteran Masashi "Gon" Nakayama who headed the ball home. Things would only get worse as the Antlers dropped their heads and allowed Fujita to penetrate on the dribble, on the very next sequence of play. Seiji Kaneko made a sliding tackle, but appeared to get a piece of Fujita's leg as well. The veteran midfielder put on quite a show to ensure that the referee would not hesitate in making the call, and after Maeda hit the PK, Jubilo had a 4-1 lead to take into the dressing room.

It certainly looked like the match was over, at this point. But despite the trouble they are having on defence, lately, the Antlers have begun to score goals in bunches, particularly when their diminutive striker, Masaki Fukai, is on the pitch. Remarkably, after Fukai was instrumental in bringing the team back from a two-goal deficit last week, Toninho Cerezo left him on the bench until the 72 minute. One can only speculate on what might have happened if he had entered the match earlier, because the final 15 minutes would produce an Antlers stampede.

Jubilo had been reduced to 10 men, ten minutes before Fukai hit the pitch, after another inadvertent hand ball -- this time on the Jubilo side -- earned Maeda his second yellow card. But it wasnt until the 161cm dynamo arrived that Kashima began to explode. First, Fukai and Suzuki ran a near-post / far-post split as Toru Araiba crossed from the left sideline. Fukai drew two defenders, so he let the ball bounce through to Suzuki, who was pulled down from behind before he could poke the ball into a wide-open net. But he did hit nylon with his PK, and the Antlers were off on another comeback dash.

Five minutes later, Mitsuo Ogasawara took a corner kick from the left side and found Kaneko at the near post for a crushing header. The momentum was now completely on the Antlers side, and scoring chances were coming by the handful. With five minutes left to play, a long clearance from the Antlers zone was headed on by Baron, and Suzuki dashed behind the Jubilo defence, collected the ball, then pulled the ball back and watched two defenders go tumbling past. His right-footed shot was from a low angle, but he struck it well and curled it into the high, far corner to pull the match level.

For the final five minutes, the Antlers stormed the Jubilo goal looking for the winning tally, but Jubilo hung on desperately, and managed to salvage a point. After leading the match 4-1 at half time, though, it is unlikely that the team will take this as an encouraging result. As we have noted frequently in the past, Jubilo is in need of a major shake-up. If changes are not made soon, the prospects for the rest of this season are disturbing to even contemplate.

Lineups:

Yohei Sato, Hideto Suzuki, Makoto Tanaka (45), Takahiro Yamanishi, Takahiro Kawamura, Takashi Fukunishi (Naoya Kikuchi 61), Toshihiro Hattori, Hiroshi Nanami (Sho Naruoka 72), Toshiya Fujita, (Hitoshi Morishita 89), Ryoichi Maeda, Masashi Nakayama .

Hitoshi Sogahata, Jun Uchida, Seiji Kaneko, Go Oiwa, Tatsuya Ishikawa (Naoto Honda 52), Fernando (Marcelo "Baron" Polanczyck 72), Koji Nakata, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Toru Araiba, Takayuki Suzuki, Takuya Nozawa (Masaki Fukai 72) .

4 - 1

This week, Albirex Niigata were the victim, as Urawa dispensed yet another pummelling. And the 4-1 score line is hardly indcative of how completely the Reds dominated, since Albirex had to be rescued by a very unprofessional referee, who seemed to think it was his job to keep the match from turning into a blowout, even if that meant ignoring, rather than upholding, the rules of football.

Urawa have been slow out of the blocks, in most of their matches this uyear, scoring just one goal in the first 15 minutes of their matches compared with 34 goals over the subsequent 75 minutes. But after the usual warm-up period, the Reds scoring machine got down to business. In the 17 minute, Urawa won a corner kick on the left side, and Alex Santos sent a low line drive for the near post. Tatsuya Tanaka met the ball on the line marked by the three-yard box, and flicked it on for the far post. Fabio "Nene" de Brito made a nice run for the back post, and though the sinking ball presented him with an awkward target, he managed to push it into the net with the inside of his right thigh, tallying his first J.League goal.

The Reds continued to apply pressure, and in the 25 minute, the Albirex defence had to foul Emerson to prevent him from penetrating on the dribble. Santos took the kick from just a meter outside the left edge of the box. Again he opted for a line drive to the near post, and it ricocheted into the net from a pack of players. At first the goal was credited to Emerson, but later the official scorer decided that Yoshiaki Maruyama had made the most direct contact. As own goals go, this was a cheap one, since Emerson's head would surely have connected with the ball if Maruyama's had not been a few inches in front of it.

As the final minutes of the first half ticked down, Albirex scored a more conventional own-goal when defender Tadahiro Akiba tried to clear a cross from Keita Suzuki, over the end line, mis-hit the ball slightly and sent it into his own net.

Just after the restart, Emerson extended the lead with a bit of acrobatic dribbling and a sizzling shot from the top of the penalty arc. But the head referee, Hajime Matsuo, was doing his best to keep the match from turning into a runaway. His antics will surely be featured in our "fray of the day" section, later this week. Though he made a number of highly dubious calls in the first half, as well, it was not until the second stanza that he began to demonstrate almost total disregard for the rules of the game, as he tried to keep Niigata from getting blown off the pitch. In one sequence of just five minutes, he awarded a penalty kick to Albirex on a very innocuous challenge by Nobuhisa Yamada (the video evidence suggests that Edmilson was pulling on Yamada's jersey, rather then vice-versa), then ignored a far more serious foul in the penalty box on Koji Yamase, which was not only blatant, but was severe enough to cause Yamase serious injury.

We have said this several times in the past, and so far nothing has happened, but in this case it is essential that the league review the incident and take some sort of action against Mr. Matsuo. Yamase was seriously injured, and may miss the rest of the season, as a direct result of the referee's failure to punish Albirex players for obvious fouls. This was not the first such incident in the match, and by the time the foul on Yamase occurred, Albirex players had been given a clear message by the referee, that they could make dangerous tackles on Reds players and not be punished. When a referee's incompetence starts threatening player's careers, it is no longer an issue that can be shrugged off. Through these actions, Mr. Matsuo earns immediate promotion to the top of our list of the league's worst referees, and we would certainly hope that the League takes its finger out of its butt and takes action to discipline him as well. Things have simply gone too far, and unless something is done soon, it will no longer be possible to take the J.League seriously as a world-class sports organisation. The issue is not going to go away, gentlemen. Now what are you going to do about it?!?!

Lineups:

Ryota Tsuzuki, Ozalan Alpay (Hideki Uchidate 68), Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Nene, Takuya Yamada, Makoto Hasebe, Keita Suzuki, Koji Yamase (Tadaaki Hirakawa 72), Alex Santos, Tatsuya Tanaka (Yuichiro Nagai 75), Emerson.

Koichi Kidera, Yoshiaki Maruyama, Tadahiro Akiba, Naoto Matsuo, Isao Honma, Motohiro Yamaguchi (Hiroyoshi Kuwahara 85), An Yeon-Ha (Masahiro Fukazawa 74), Shingo Suzuki, Edmilson, Yusaku Ueno (Roberto 63), Fabinho .

3 - 3

The first goal was set up on a fine one-touch pass by Hiromi Kojima , who collected a long, soaring cross from the left corner and, with a delicate touch, dropped it right in front of Ryuji Bando , steaming towards the box from midfield. Bando met the ball at the edge of the penalty area, and drilled a shot into the low right corner, to give Vissel the early lead.

Gamba immediately set to work trying to level the score line, but Vissel held off the pressure until the stroke of half time, when Fernandinho made a nimble run across the face of goal, eluding three defenders and then, as the keeper dashed out to cut him off, looped a gentle chip shot back against the grain, which bounded softly into the net.

Shortly after half time, Kojima again provided the key pass, drifing around the left flank and then dropping a soft pass to Pavel Horvath , at the intersection of the penalty arc and box, for a left-footed drive into the nylon. This set the stage for a wild sequence which saw the two teams exchange three goals in the space of four minutes. Yasuhito Endo got things started in the 72 minute, on a free kick from the top of the penalty arc. His shot was perfectly placed, in the top left corner, and even though Seiji Honda read the shot correctly, the ball narrowly eluded his fingertips and restored parity on the scoreboard. Just moments later, Endo got a chance to take another shot from almost the exact same spot. This time Sidiclei drove towards the box in the center of the pitch, then dropped a soft ball back to Endo, trailing behind the play. Endo didnt even need to reset his targeting calibrations, as he drilled the ball into exactly the same spot, again just inches beyond Honda's diving grasp.

But moments after Gamba had taken the lead for the first time in this contest, Vissel won a free kick of their own, about 35 meters out, and level with the right edge of the penalty area. Horvath's shot was just a bit low, and one of the players in the defensive wall managed to get a head on the ball. But this only succeeded in mis-footing the keeper. Before he could retreat to collect it, the ball looped into the top left corner, allowing Kobe to rescue a point from the contest, and denying Gamba a much-needed victory. <

Lineups:

Seiji Honda, Shusuke Tsubouchi Kazumichiu Takagi, Yusuke Kawamoto, Roger, Park Kang-Jo, Pavel Horvath, Naoya Saeki (Tomo Sugawara 24), Hiromi Kojima (Mitsutoshi Watada 67), Patrick Mboma (Tomoyuki Hirase 19), Ryuji Bando .

Naoki Matsuyo, Satoru Yamaguchi, Sidiclei, Noritada Saneyoshi, Hideo Hashimoto, Yasuhito Endo, Shigeru Morioka (Satoshi Nakayama 55), Takahiro Futagawa, Fernandinho (Masanobu Matsunami 87), Akihiro Ienaga (Tsuneyasu Miyamoto 55), Masashi Oguro .

3 - 0

Fortunately for Hiroshima -- and for all those who appreciate seeing justice be done, the referee was Naotsugu Fuse, one of the better oficials in the League. When Matsuda turned around to accept what he thought would be a yellow card, Mr. Fuse was holding a red one. Considering how critical we are of poor officiating, it is only right that we commend this call. Given the nature of the foul, a red card was completely justfied. Matsuda made no effort to get the ball, and was obviously just infringing the rules in order to prevent an easy goal by the other team. Many refs would have chickened out, and just awarded a yellow, so Fuse deserves credit for a very gutsy yet totally correct decision.

Even though they had been reduced to ten men, the Marinos used their superior team coordination to generate scoring opportunities, and managed to get on the scoreboard first. In the 17 minute, Yokoha,ma won a free kick in the left corner. Daisuke Oku sent a ball for the far post, and Daisuke Sakata leapt high to head it inside the post.

But as the first half wore on, Sanfrecce began to take advantage of their numbers to create scoring opportunities. Five minutes after Sakata's goal, Sanfrecce worked the ball into the Marinos penalty area and following a wild scramble, the ball rolled out to Kota Hattori at the top left corner of the box. His drive hit the right post and bounded into the net, putting Sanfrecce back on level terms.

Just moments later, Sanfrecce took the lead on a corner kick from the left side. Hattori took the kick and sent a long ball to the opposite side of the three-yard box. Koji Morisaki headed the ball back in front of net, and veteran defender Norio Omura stuffed it home.

But Sanfrecce were unable to build on this lead, in part due to the lack of coordination in their play. As we have noted many times in the past, this team has a great deal of raw talent and potential, with half a dozen youngsters who are good enough to perhaps play for the full national team some day. But unless they get the proper coaching, to learn how to employ their skills correctly, these abilities may be wasted. Sanfrecce have already rewarded coach Takeshi Ono for guiding the team back to the J1. Now it is time to hire someone who can teach the young players the skills they need to become a truly competitive team at the J1 level.

After Sanfrecce had squandered their momentum, the match settled down to a stalemate until the middle of the second half, when coach Takeshi Okada began to bring in strategic substitutions aimed at producing the equaliser. In the 66 minute it finally came, as Sakata took a pass at the top right corner of the box, faked his way past one defender and then drilled a left-footed shot just inside the right post. Thereafter, the Marinos controlled the momentum but their disadvantage in numbers allowed Sanfrecce to prevent any further goals, and the match stagnated into a stalemate, which did not particularly satisfy either team.

Lineups:

Takashi Shimoda, Yogo Nishikawa, Norio Omura, (Mitsuyuki Yoshihiro 81), Megumu Yoshida, Yuichi Komano (Kosuke Yatsuda 83), Ri Han-Jae, (Daisuke Tonoike 45), Beto, Kota Hattori, Kazuyuki Morisaki (Shunsuke Maeda 73), Kohei Morita, Koji Morisaki .

Tatsuya Enomoto, Yuji Nakazawa, Naoki Matsuda, Daisuke Nasu, Hayuma Tanaka, Yasuhiro Endo (Tatsuhiko Kubo 59), Yoshiharu Ueno, Masahiro Ohashi (Yuzo Kurihara 35), Daisuke Oku, Ahn Jung-Hwan, Daisuke Sakata.

3 - 1

Verdy, or their part, have not produced very many wins this season, but they have looked a lot more competitive since trading away Patrick Mboma and restructuring around a core of younger, Japanese players. This might come as a bit of a surprise, at first, since Mboma is generally considered a classy, intelligent and charismatic player, and it is hard to understand how he could have been a detriment to the team's esprit de corps. Nevertheless, there were many clubhouse rumours about poor chemistry between Mboma and coach Oswaldo Ardilles . . . and some of the other players, as well. Since bidding farewell to the Cameroon international, Verdy has been relying on a small core of veterans in midfield -- Atsuhiro Miura, Takuya Yamada , Takeshi Hirano and Kentaro Hayashi -- while rotating four or five youngsters in and out of positions in the front line and on the wings. On the basis of their performance, this week, it looks like the strategy is beginning to achieve success.

In the early stages, this game seemed to be going Grampus' way, with most of the early opportunities created on quick thrusts by the Brazilian trio of Ueslei , Marques and Claiton. But in the 16 minute, very much against the run of play, Verdy drew first blood. Daigo Kobayashi took a corner kick from the left side and sent a low looping drive to Naoto Sakurai at the near post. Sakurai timed his run well and leapt between two defenders to head the ball home.

The score would remain unchanged until shortly after the second-half kickoff. After being dominated in possession by Grampus for most of the first half, Verdy came out with a surge of momentum after the restart, and in the 50 minute, extended their lead on a very well- executed play. Veterans Hirano and Yamada set up on the left side of the penalty box covered by three defenders. But a clever exchange of short passes and a sudden cut to the end line by Yamada produced an opening, and as Yamada turned the corner to face goal, Yoshiyuki Kobayashi dashed into the box in support. Yamada laid a soft drop pass to Kobayashi, about two steps to the left of the penalty spot, and Kobayashi drilled it home, putting Verdy in a commanding position.

Grampus responded with several substitutions, including veteran striker Tetsuya Okamoto, which essentially lined the team up in a 4-3-3 formation (with Claiton playing so far forward that it often seemed like a 4-2-4). This switch to all-out attack succeeded in producing one goal, about five minutes later. As Grampus throuh six players into the Verdy zone, Marques took an inlet pass at the left edge of the box, spun around and put a quick shot on net. Though the keeper managed to parry the shot, there were so many Nagoya players picking cherries in the Verdy orchard that one of them was certain to collect the rebound. Sure enough, as the ball rolled towards the far post, Okayama rushed in for for a sliding finish.

This goal produced a surge of enthusiasm on the Grampus side, and for the next ten minutes they mounted one attack after another, and very nearly equalised on two or three occasions including a Marques hook shot from the right side which came back off the crossbar. But with so many players committing forward to the attack, Grampus were leaving themselves wide open for a counterpunch. Sure enough, with five minutes left on the clock a long clearance from the Verdy zone sent Kazuki Hiramoto and Hugo awau opn a two-on-two dash. Hiramoto collected the ball about five meters outside the box, put on the brakes just as he crossed the line to allow a defender to rush past, and then toed the ball underneath the outrushing keeper to clinch victory for the home team.

Lineups:

Yoshinari Takagi, Takushi Yoneyama, Kenta Togawa (Daigo Kobayashi 68), Claudio Ubeda, Atsuhiro Miura, Takuya Yamada, Kentaro Hayashi, Yoshiyuki Kobayashi, Hugo (Takeshi Hirano 45), Naoto Sakurai, Kazuki Hiramoto (Takayuki Morimoto 59) .

Seigo Narazaki, Yusuke Igawa, Yutaka Akita (Kiyohiro Hirabayashi 60), Masahiro Koga, Kojiro Kaimoto, Keiji Yoshimura, Yusuke Nakatani (Makoto Kakuda 64), Naoshi Nakamura (Tetsuya Okayama 68), Ueslei, Marques .
Claiton, Kei Yamaguchi

1 - 0

Unfortunately, while they matched their average this week, allowing Trinita only one score, their offence failed to produce any results despite a multitude of opportunities. Trinita also squandered a number of chances, but they finally managed to produce the lone goal of this contest late in the second half. Teppei Nishiyama fed a ball into the corner for Takayuki Yoshida, then drifted towards goal as Yoshida set up for the cross. Yoshida played a line drive into the gap between the defenders and the keeper, which created enough hesitation in the S-Pulse back line for Nishiyama to surge forward and head the ball home.

Lineups:

Hayato Okanaka, Koji Yoshimura, Sandro Chavez Rosa, Patrick Zwaanswijk, Koji Arimura, Takashi Umeda, Taku Harada, Tomoaki Komorida, Takayuki Yoshida (Shota Matsuhashi 89), Daiki Takamatsu (Takashi Miki 84), Ryosuke Kijima (Teppei Nishiyama 70) .

Yohei Nishibe, Ryuzo Morioka, Toshihide Saito, Tomomi Tsurumi, Keisuke Ota, Yasuhiro Yoshida (Jun Muramatsu 81), Teruyoshi Ito, Jumpei Takaki, Masaaki Sawanobori (Hideaki Kitajima 80), Araujo (Kohei Hiramatsu 57), Cho Jae-Jin .

3 - 0

Though JEF United got off to a strong start in this stage, and entered the match just two points adrift of the leaders, the team has been less than convincing, relying heavily on Marquinhos for scoring, and giving away more goals than they did in the first stage. Over the first 20 minutes of this contest, play surged back and forth from end to end, with JEF producing the more dangerous of the scoring opportunities, but whie they did look effective going forward, JEF missed a few assignments on defence which might have produced danger if Cerezo had exploited them a bit better. But as coach Ivica Osim observed later, defensive lapses are something that you cannot afford when facing a player as deadly as Okubo.

On the stroke of the half hour, Hiroaki Morishima took a long pass into the right corner, turned towards the box and played a pass to Okybo, who was posting up in the high right corner. Though there were two defenders in the vicinity, both played Okubo loose, perhaps fearing a foul and a PK. However, since the defence was giving him space to turn, Okubo made a quick pirouette towards the middle, and ripped off a shot before the defenders could close the gap. The ball curled just inside the left post and Cerezo had the lead.

Just five minutes later, Okubo would double the lead on a corner kick from the right side. Once again Morishima provided the set-up, and Okubo dashed forward for a Jordanesque leap at the penalty spot. The 168cm Okubo surmounted the tall JEF defenders by a full head, and sent a thunderous drive into the nylon. Things only got worse for JEF as the match wore on. they clearly missed Zeljko Milinovic in the back line, and up front, Marquinhos and Sandro were off target, growing progressively less dangerous as time went on. Fifteen minutes into the second half, Okubo finished off his hat trick with the sort of finish that is a hallmark of world-class strikers. Taking a ball forward from midfield, Okubo faced down three defenders, using feints and intimidation to keep them backpedalling until he was two steps from the edge of the box, then suddenly ripping off a blast that slipped between the opposing defenders and caught the inside of the left post, ricocheteing into the nylon.

Though JEF brought on the reserves in an effort to create some late momentum, Cerezo sagged back to protect their three-goal cushion, and unlike last week, made no defensive errors which would give the opponent a chance to climb back into the contest. Apart from a few close calls in the dying moments, by Seiichiro Maki, JEF had no answer. Cerezo preserved their shutout, and climbed to the midpoint of the league table with their second win of the stage.

Lineups:

Tomohiko Ito, Tomi Shimomura, Kenichi Uemura, Takahito Chiba, Kensaku Omori, Takanori Nunobe, Kiyokazu Kudo (Takeshi Hamada 80), Hiroaki Morishima (Tadaaki Tokushige 78), Tatsuya Furuhashi, Akinori Nishizawa, Yoshito Okubo (Miodrag "Miki" Andrjelkovic 88) .

Ryo Kushino, Daisuke Saito, Yuki Abe, Takayuki Chano, Naotake Hanyu (Sozo Yuki 62), Yuto Sato, Koji Nakashima (Takenori Hayashi 45), Shinji Murai, Kohei Kudo, Marquinhos, Sandro Cardoza (Seiichiro Maki 64) .

1 - 1

But with time running down in regulation time, Keiji Tamada retreated into midfield to support a brakout, beat his man, and then drilled a lead pass that sliced the Tokyo defence wide open like a fresh Autumn horse-mackerel (sanma). Toshiaki Haji , a recent acquisition from Cerezo Osaka, dashed into the clear and toed the ball underneath the keeper to salvage a draw, and a point, for last-place Reysol.

Lineups:

Yuta Minami, Norihiro Satsukawa, Mitsuru Nagata, Naoya Kondo, Yasuhiro Hato, Hidekazu Otani (Yoshiteru Yamashita 80),, Tomokazu Myojin, Tadatoshi Masuda (Nozomu Kato 81), Harutaka Ono (Takahiro Shimotaira 81), Toshiaki Haji, Keiji Tamada, .

Yoichi Doi, Akira Kaji (Ryuji Fujiyama 45), Teruaki Moniwa, Jean Carlo Witte, Jo Kanazawa, Masamitsu Kobayashi (Yoshiro Abe 57), Yasuyuki Konno, Fumitake Miura (Masashi Miyazawa 83), Clesley "Kelly" Guimares, Yuta Baba, Yusuke Kondo .

And so, the Urawa Reds have now pulled away to consolidate their spot at the top of the league table, two points ahead of second-place Gamba Osaka. The Marinos and JEF both slipped further back, as well, and now lie five points adrift, followed by a large pack of teams on six or seven points. Though it is still early, and the Reds could still falter, they have the easiest stretch run of any team in the league, playing bottom-of-the table opponents in four of their last five matches. If teams like Gamba, JEF and Marinos hope to catch thm, they will have to make their move soon. Urawa plays head-to-head matches against all three teams in a crucial stretch of contests at the end of September and early October. If Urawa are still top of the table by October 15, a second-stage title should be theirs. Stay tuned, as the most crucial contests of the season are coming up in the next few weeks.

Rumours and Rumblings

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