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November 29, 2004

Saving the Best for Last

Most of the other contests were relatively "meaningless", except in terms of pride, so most teams used them as an opportunity to try out younger players and to prepare themselves for the Emperor's Cup campaign, which resumes in December. While the absolute skill level of these contests may have suffered, as a result, there was a good bit of excitement nevertheless, and viewers had a chance to see some of the young players who may earn their way into the starting lineups, next season

First of all, lets take a look at the scores of all J1 matches:

Date	Home	.	Visitor	Venue
28 Nov		1-0		Saitama Stadium
28 Nov		2-1		Ichihara Seaside
28 Nov		0-0		Ajinomoto Stadium
28 Nov		1-2		Niigata "Big Swan"
28 Nov		1-3		Nihondaira Stadium
28 Nov		0-2		Toyota Stadium
28 Nov		1-2		"Banpaku" Stadium
28 Nov		2-2		Oita Stadium

1 - 2

About the only thing that Cerezo had on their side was the fact that the team's star striker, Yoshito Okubo, was playing what may be his last match in a Cerezo uniform. Okubo will leave for Spain at the end of the month to join his new team, Mallorca, and there was never any question that he would be giving all he had to try to give his teammates a positive send-off. Though Okubo has been a bit flat, this season, scoring fewer goals than usual and earning a number of suspensions for losing his temper, anyone who thought he might be lacking in motivation was sadly mistaken.

Of course, Cerezo 's biggest problem this year has been the fact that the veterans who generated most of the offence in the past, such as Hiroaki Morishima and Akinori Nishizawa, are quickly approaching retirement, while their understudies, despite some flashes of apparent promise, are still too young and inexperienced to carry the burden of creating offence. To make matters worse, the team's defence has always been a weak link, and new coach Shinji Kobayashi has addressed the problem by adopting a strategy in which five players are essentially responsible for full-time defensive assignments. The result has been that Okubo, assisted somewhat by former JFL scoring champion Tatsuya Furuhashi, have had to create most of the offense on their own, often against four or five opposing players.

It is far too soon to know how much success Okubo may have in Spain, but his performance in this contest certainly demonstrated his abilty to produce goals, even when receiving very little support. Late in the first half, Okubo put Cerezo on the scoreboard with a header from a corner kick. As un-"dramatic" as the goal may have been, one has to keep in mind that the 168-cm Okubo was able to outmuscle and outleap two defenders who both have an advantage of nearly 20 centimeters and ten or more kilogrammes in physical stature. Okubo's goal allowed Cerezo to take a lead into the locker room, and with Reysol in a 1-1 deadlock with Trinita at the half of their match, Cerezo could sense the opportunity to salvage their season.

But shortly after the break, Edmilson pounced on a deflected ball that fell at his feet right on the edge of the penalty area, and drove a low shot through a crowd of defenders, levelling the score line.Try as they might, Cerezo could not produce a second goal. Several times in the second period, they managed to crack the Albirex defence and produce quality shots, but each time, the Niigata keeper Yosuke Nozawa bailed his team out with magnificent reaction saves. As time ticked away, things were looking bad indeed for the flaming pinks.

But with just five minutes left to play, Furuhashi penetrated the Albirex defence on the left side, and though an attempted shot was turned away, the ball fell to Okubo, at the edge of the box. With a surge of drive and determination, okubo surged across the top of the area, with four defenders in pursuit, seeking any opening whatsoever to penetrate. Once, then twice, Okubo tried to force his way through to no avail, then a third effort to turn the right corner was turned away by Kentaro Suzuki, with both players going to the ground on contact. In a flash, Okubo was back on his feet, as if the normal laws of gravity were unable to limit his impetus towards goal. Suzuki desperately tried to get back up and recover, to prevent a shot from just outside the right post. But Okubo had Suzuki beaten, and all the defender could do was throw himself desperately into the path of the ball. Okubo's shot hit Suzuki right in the forearm, with enough force to nearly rip his arm out of the shoulder socket. Eleven Cerezo players's arms immediately shot into the air, in appeal, and there was never a shadow of a doubt that the referee would award a spot kick. Foolishly, Suzuki tried to convince the referee otherwise, and succeeded only in earning his second yellow card of the afternoon. When Okubo drilled his shot into the left side netting, the contest was effectively over, and all Cerezo had to do was stall, and wait for the result from Oita Stadium.

2 - 2

But midway through the half, Sandro Chaves de Rosa (not to be confused with Sandro Cardosa dos Santos, of JEF United, who was arrested this week on suspicion of attempted rape) headed home a free kick and pulled Trinita back to even terms. The match remained in a 1-1 deadlock for the next 50 minutes, with Trinita playing a cautious, counterattacking strategy which held Reysol at bay despite ever more desperate efforts to produce a goal. With less than 20 minutes remaining in the contest, Reysol finally got their break. A long pass from the back line was headed on by Yuji Unozawa, sending Keiji Tamada into the left corner in full sprint. Tamada turned the corner into the box, and as the Trinita defence collapsed to try to cut him off, dropped the ball back to Unozawa who was slanting across the area, and was about a step to the left of the penalty spot. The drop pass was dead perfect, and all Unozawa had to do was side-foot his first touch into the back of the net.

Unfortunately, Reysol made the crucial mistake that often plagues young teams, and let their concentration lapse for just a moment, immediately after their goal. Just moments later, a long, high lob into the Reysol area was misplayed by a defender, allowing the speedy Magno Alves to race in, snatch the loose ball and tuck it into the net. This seemed to shatter the team's confidence, and though they made a game effort, Reysol could not produce another goal. As time expired in niigata, the final score of the Reysol match was flashed on the scoreboard and the Cerezo players went wild, rejoicing in their narrow escape. For Reysol, meanwhile, they could see the Albirex-Cerezo score on the big scoreboard as the final whistle sounded, and the Reysol players collapsed in heartbreak, overtaken at the final tape to finish the season dead last.

And so, Cerezo are safe for at least another season, whereas Reysol will have to play a home-and-away series against Avispa Fukuoka, on December 4 (in Fukuoka) and 11 (in Kashiwa), to see which team will join the J1 next season and which will be sent back to the J2.

Here are the final standings for the J.League second stage:

1 - 0

Sadly for the home crowd, it quickly became apparent that Montedio, despite their impressive run this season, were no match for Avispa Fukuoka in a "one-match, winner-takes-all" contest. As we have noted in the past, Yamagata has done a fine job of maintaining a high level of motivation throughout the season, and considering the marathon nature of the J2 season, steady quality over time can often take a team just as far as brilliant and talented inconsistency. The only problem is that when it comes down to a one- or two-match battle for high stakes, motivation levels no longer offer a team like Montedio an advantage. As we had expected, the superior footballing skills of Avispa Fukuoka won the day. In retrospect, perhaps this is for the best, since Montedio would have had no chance at all to overcome Kashiwa Reysol in a home-and-away promotion/relegation series. Montedio did themselves proud despite falling short, and perhaps this can provide them with a base to build on, next season.

Montedio certainly did not go down without a fight. Choosing to play with the wind at their backs in the first half, Montedio used long balls on the counter to produce a number of half-chances, and their tenacious defending kept Avispa at bay until half time. But the steady breeze from one end of the pitch to the other offered a clear advantage to the team attacking the eastern goal, and after Montedio failed to take advantage in the first half, they faced a severe headwind -- both figuratively and literally -- in the second half. After a few close calls, striker Ryota Arimitsu finally put Avispa in the lead in the 65 minute, taking a diagonal pass into the box from the right side and blasting a low-angle shot that hit the roof of the net before the keeper could react.

This goal spelled doom for Montedio, who came into the match a point adrift, and now needed two goals in order to overtake Avispa in the league table. Though they immediately began throwing more numbers at the Avispa goal, in order to do so, Montedio had to leave more space in their own defence. Ten minutes from full time, Avispa stole a pass near midfield and a rapid counterattack shredded the thin defensive line, with Arimitsu again finishing off the play with a low bounding shot into the left corner.

In the final minute of regular time, Alex de Melo Santos drove the final nail, collecting a deflected corner kick at the edge of the Montedio box and driving it into the low left corner. Though Montedio got a last-gasp consolation goal, late in injury time, it really did not matter to Avispa, who clinched third place and will not prepare for the promotion/relegation series with Reysol on December 4 and 11.

Following Avispa's victory, the promotion/relegation picture is complete. Kawasaki Frontale and Omiya Ardija will both advance automatically, as the J1 expands from 16 teams to 18, and the winner of the Avispa-Reysol series will join them in the J1. The final standings in the J2 look like this: