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March 13, 2005

Delightful (?) Deadlocks

On Saturday afternoon, a disputed offside call in the contest between the Yokohama Marinos and Cerezo Osaka was the only thing that stood in the way of a complete slate of drawn matches. In every other contest, both teams involved had to settle for a share of the spoils, and though the contests were by no means dull, the results are a good indication of the high degree of parity that exists in the league, this year.

Sadly, the week also included another mind-blowing performance by referee Masayoshi Okada. For the second week in a row, a horrendously bad call by this clueless nincompoop helped determine the outcome of a match. It is simply beyond our comprehension how the League can continue to let Okada officiate J.League matches when he demonstrates, week in and week out, a level of incompetence that would make the Three Stooges look like highly skiled professionals

But we will save the rest of this rant for later. For now, here are the scores from Saturday's matches:

Date	Home	.	Visitor	Venue
Mar 12		1-1		Saitama Stadium
Mar 12		0-0		Ajinomoto Stadium
Mar 12		2-2		Kashima Stadium
Mar 12		3-3		Todoroki Stadium
Mar 12		2-3		Nagai Stadium
Mar 12		0-0		Hiroshima Big Arch
Mar 12		2-2		Ichihara Seaside St. Stadium
Mar 13		2-1		Niigata "Big Swan"
Mar 13		0-3		Iwata "Yamaha" Stadium

2 - 2

Both the Antlers and Gamba must be viewed as "dark horse" candidates to win the league title. Though each has an element of weakness that convinced us to pass them over when picking the favourites to win a title, both teams exhibit a high degree of technical precision and consistency, which makes a match between the two an object lesson in how to play "smart" football. Quick movement and precision passing, as well as rapid movement of the ball from one side of the field to the other had the large crowd at Kashima Stadium roaring with appreciation or trepidation, throughout the contest. However, as often happens when two highly disciplined teams play one another, all but a handful of opportunities were broken up or turned away before they could produce any serious danger for the goalkeeper.

Just when it seemed that the two teams would be content with scoreless parity at the halftime break, Takahiro Futagawa collected a pass on the right wing and, with impeccable timing and placement, looped a pass just over the heads of the Antlers defence. Araujo timed his run perfectly, accelerating past the defenders and meeting the ball in full sprint with a right-footed volley, and banking it into the nylon.

With the home growd urgint them on, the Antlers came out in the second half and applied steady pressure against the Gamba defence. There were a few close calls, but the Gamba defence held up reasonably well for the first 20 minutes, hanging back in numbers, but launching occasional flying counteratacks which came close to extending the lead further. But the Antlers were clearly prepared to take that risk, and shortly after the stroke of the hour, Toninho Cerezo brought in the fleet-footed midfielder Takuya Nozawa at right wingback, to intensify the pressure on the wings. Sure enough, this move paid off less than five minutes later, as a quick exchange of passes on the right wing between Nozawa and Masashi Motoyama provided an opening, and Motoyama lobbed a pass for the penalty spot. Alex Mineiro, who will have to bear much of the scoring burden for the Antlers this season, slipped free from his defender and collected his first J.League goal with a perfectly placed header to the high right corner.

Gamba responded immediately, not even giving the Antlers a moment to savour their goal. Just a minute later, a quick give-and-go exchange at the top left corner of the penalty box between Fernandinho and Masashi Oguro allowed Oguro to slip behind the defence. The Antlers players all stopped chasing the ball (the announcers were baffled to explain it, but we clearly heard the sound of a whistle, which can be heard on the match tape as well. No doubt it came from the crowd, but the result was a deadly moment of hesitation). Oguro returned the ball to a completely unmarked Fernandinho, who stuffed it home, and restored Gamba's lead.

The Antlers went back to work, patiently working the ball around at the fringes of the Gamba defence and looking for an opening. Though Gamba did a good job of turning away the probing attacks, and very nearly produced an insurance goal on one counterattack, at last the steady pressure from Kashima paid off. In the 79 minute, Alex Mineiro tried to penetrate the right flank, and when the Gamba defensive wall turned him back, he dropped a pass to Fernando, about three meters above the top of the penalty arc. With no defenders to pressure the shot, the Antlers midfielder wound up and drilled a low bullet that streaked through the forest of defenders in the penalty area and caught the low right corner, giving the Antlers a share of the points.

Date: 13 Mar, 2005		Location: Kashima Stadium
2	0 1H 1 2 2H 1	2
Alex Mineiro (68') Fernando (79')	Scoring	Araldho (42') Fernandinho (70')
Mitsuo Ogasawara	Cautions	Fernandinho Kota Yoshihara
Lineups: Hitoshi Sogahata, Jun Uchida (Takuya Nozawa 67), Daiki Iwase, Go Oiwa, Toru Araiba, Takeshi Aoki, Fernando, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Masashi Motoyama (Masaki Fukai 77), Alex Mineiro, Takayuki Suzuki.
Naoki Matsuyo, Satoru Yamaguchi (Ryota Aoki 85), Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Noritada Saneyoshi, Hideo Hashimoto, Sidiclei, Yasuhito Endo, Takahiro Futagawa, Fernandinho (Arata Kodama 71), Masashi Oguro (Kota Yoshihara 82), Araujo .

2 - 2

This week he was at it again, awarding a PK to a player who PULLED HIS OPPONENT's uniform as they battled for a loose ball. At least in baseball, they send you back to the bench after youve taken three strikes. How many more blunders will the J.League permit Mr. Okada to make -- how many matches will he be permitte to ruin -- before they take away his whistle? Rhetorical question, I know. But we intend to keep asking it until something is done to deal with the problem.

The saddest thing of all about this incident is that the Chiba Derby match between JEF United and Kashiwa Reysol was a very hard-fought, entertaining and (though a bit sloppy) a generally well-played match by both teams. The actions of the players on the pitch are what should dominate our report, not the actions of one man with a whistle! Though the contest may have been marred by the officiating, the play by both Chiba teams was encouraging. Reysol, in particular, struggled a great deal last season due to foolish errors. This is not that surprising in a young team like Reysol, but it is good to see that they are beginning to play with greater skill and composure this season.

Reysol did struggle for most of the first half, when they were facing into the wind. A stiff breeze blowing in across Tokyo Bay was a significant factor in this contest, favouring the team that faced the southeast end of Ichihara Seaside Stadium. In the first half, JEF United had the wind advantage, and they dominated field position throughout the opening 45 minutes. JEF had a number of early chances, and in the 17 minute, they finally struck paydirt. Yuki Abe made a steal just on the Reysol side of midfield, and surged forward towards the box. As he reached the top left corner of the penalty area, he fired a diagonal pass into the box, and Seiichiro Maki dashed in from the opposite wing to collect it and fire a shot just inside the right post. However, replays show that Maki may have been a half-step offside, and though this would be a mistake to blame on the linesman, rather than Mr. Okada, it was a disconcerting omen of what would come later in the contest.

JEF continued to dominate possession and field position for the remainder of the first half, but after the initial goal, Reysol's defending tightened up and the number of dangerous shots limited to a handful. This is a very encouraging sign for Reusol fans, since the team's prospects this season will depend greatly on how soon the back line of Sota Nakazawa (22), Mitsuru Nagata (21) and Naoya Kondo (21) develops the maturity and stability required to limit opposition goals. Yukio Tsuchiya has been a huge addition to the team, in this regard. Though coach Hiroshi Hayano has opted to play him on the right wing, in nominally a midfielder's position, Tsuchiya has run very hard in the first two matches this season, lending assistance on defence when needed. The Reysol defence managed to withstand almost continuous JEF pressure over the next 25 minutes without conceding any further goals. Then, just a minute before the break, and completely against the run of play, Reysol's ace striker Keiji Tamada carried a ball up the right sideline in what looked like an innocuous attempt to probe the flank. When he was about 30 meters our from goal, he made eye contact with Cleber Santana, who was dashing forward in the center of the pitch without any defenders in tow. As Cleber accelerated, Tamada looped a soft pass into the box and caught the JEF defence with trousers around their ankles. Cleber was completely unharried as he slowed to meet the cross, nodding it in a soft arc over the fingertips of the keeper and into the top right corner of goal.

JEF were clearly disheartened to have dominated play so thoroughly in the first half, and still be on level terms at the break. But things would get even worse. Just moments after the restart, as Reysol made their first foray on goal, Tomonori Hirayama penetrated down the left flank and lobbed a high, soaring cross into the box, hoping to take advantage of the favourable wind. Sure enough, the ball swerved in flight, confusing Masataka Sakamoto as he tried to backpedal into defensive coverage. It looked like he was trying to head the ball back to his keeper, but the ball instead soared over Ryo Kushino's head and into the left side of the net.

With the wind in their favour for the second half, Reysol rode the surge of confidence provided by this own goal asnd began to establish control of the contest, dictating the tempo and maintaining a majority of possession. Fortunately for JEF United, even though the wind was no longer in their favour, they could still hope to benefit from another "environmental factor" . . . . the referee, Mr. Okada. In the 57 minute, JEF played a long ball into the box, and as Seiichiro Maki and Naoya Kondo chased after it, the two got tangled up, with Maki falling to the turf.

A close look at the replay shows that Maki was the one who lost his balance, and as he began to go down, he grabbed the front collar of Kondo's uniform and pulled Kondo down on top of him. Dont believe me? OK, see for yourself! But the fact of the matter is, the ball would have been impossible for Maki to reach ANYWAY; Yuta Minami collected it on the first bounce, while Maki and Kondo were still some distance away. Any competent referee -- even if he had been unable to see Maki's blatant tug of Kondo's uniform -- would have simply waved play on under such circumstances. But then, who ever claimed that Mr. Okada was competent? You guessed it . . . he awarded a penalty kick to JEF United, and thus allowed them to score the equalizer goal. Neither team was able to add to this tally, and the match ended in a draw

Lets consider this situation for just a moment. Here we have a referee who has a long history of making highly controversial calls, and who was actually criticised BY NAME by then-League Chairman Saburo Kawabuchi, following the incident in which Jubilo's Nakayama ran down the Kashima Antlers keeper, in 2001 (incidentally, this is the only case that we know of in which a referee's call was ever explicitly criticised by the J.League). Just one week ago, the same fellow turns a blind eye when a player less than ten meters away pushes a ball into the net with his hand. You would think that a referee in that position would take extra care not to make potentially controversial calls (particularly if they are INCORRECT calls). So what does Mr. Okada do? He goes out and ruins yet ANOTHER match by making an officiating that determines the outcome.

HOW MANY MORE TIMES IS THE J.LEAGUE GOING TO LET THIS IDIOT RUIN MATCHES WITH HIS UTTERLY INCOMPETENT OFFICIATING???? UPSET? YOU BET IM UPSET!!! OKADA IS A DISGRACE TO THE J.LEAGUE! WHICH IS PRETTY DAMN DISGRACEFUL ALREADY!

Whew. Glad I got that out of my system. Tune in next week, when chances are we will be able to show you yet another example of referee incompetence of the highest order.

Date: 13 Mar, 2005		Location: Ichihara Stadium
2	1 1H 1 1 2H 1	2
Seiichiro Maki (17') Yuki Abe- PK (58')	Scoring	Cleber (42') Own Goal (46')
Yuki Mizumoto Mario Haas	Cautions	Sota Nakazawa Naoya Kondo
Lineups: Ryo Kushino, Yuki Mizumoto, Ilyan Stoyanov, Daisuke Saito, Naotake Hanyu (Takenori Hayashi 79), Yuki Abe, Yuto Sato, Masataka Sakamoto, Kohei Kudo, Mario Haas, Seiichiro Maki .
Yuta Minami, Sota Nakazawa (Tatsuya Yazawa 45), Mitsuru Nagata, Naoya Kondo, Yukio Tsuchiya, Harutaka Ono, Tomokazu Myojin, Tomonori Hirayama, Cleber, Tadatoshi Masuda (Yoshiteru Yamashita 45), Keiji Tamada .

3 - 3

After an extremely physical and largely defensive match last week, the Urawa Reds went into Kawasaki's Todoroki Stadium on Saturday with their sights set on creating some offence. Unfortunately for Reds fans, their opponent, Kawasaki Frontale, has a few offensive weapons of its own. Less than five minutes into the contest Kawasaki made a steal at midfield, and Marcus played a quick ball behind the Reds' defensive line. His Brazilian compatriot Juninhho Timed his run perfectly, accelerating past three Reds players to collect the ball at the edge of the box. Keisuke Tsuboi, who got the start in place of the suspended Ozalan Alpay, clearly has not recovered fully from a serious hamstring tear which sidelined him for most of last season, Tsuboi used to be one of the fastest players in the J.League, but on this play, Juninho left him choking on dust as he raced into the box. Keeper Ryota Tsuzuki was out quickly, and dove at the ball just as Juninho reached it, but the Kawasaki speedster cleverly pushed the ball off to the side with his firts touch, and then went tumbling over top of Tsuzuki to win the penalty kick.

Tsuzuki almost bailed his team out, a moment later, guessing correctly and blocking Juninho's PK attempt as he dove to his left. But the ball bounded right back to Juninho, who hit the nylon with his second attempt. Just five minutes into the contest, and already the Reds were in a hole. However, after the Reds' limp offensive performance last week, Tatsuya Tanaka won the start up front, alongside Emerson, and this produced significantly more punch in the attack (though still not as much as the team displayed last season, with a three-striker lineup). After several near-misses, the Reds finally got back on level terms in the 23 minute. Tanaka collected a cross from the right corner and fired a quick shot which was blocked by the Frontale defence, but Tomoyuki Sakai pounced on the rebound and drilled a shot from the edge of the box with the outside of his right foot, which curled into the right corner of goal.

The Reds dominated on the offensive end for the remainder of the half, and as they prepared to take the pitch for the second act, things were looking good for the boys from Saitama. But despite the positive offensive developments, the defence would let them down again in the early stages of the second half. Just ten minutes after the break, a long cross from the left wing to the right edge of the box was settled by Tomoaki Kuno and fed in to Kazuki Ganaha, directly in front of goal. Ganaha made a nice pirouette , spinning to face goal and firing off a shot all in one fluid movement. The shot hit the back of the net before anyone in the Reds defence could react, and Frontale were on top once more.

Things would get even bleaker for the visitors midway through the second half, as Augusto blasted a perfect free kick from about 30 meters out which squeezed into the top right corner, just milimeters above Tsuzuki's flailing fingertips. At this point, coach Guido Buchwald went to his bench, bringing on two strikers and shifting to a 3-4-3 formation. Regular readers are aware that we have been arguing, for about the past 3 years, that this is the ideal formation for Urawa. Their surge to a second-stage title last season corresponded with the shift to a 3-4-3, when an injury to Koji Yamase left the midfield undermanned. The success that accompanies the change to a three-attacker set in this contest also illustrates the point, and we hope that Buchwald will recognise this as well.

Just a few minutes after making the shift, the two substitute strikers teamed up for the goal that pulled the Reds back into contention. Masayuki Okano made a curling run into the box, making a one-two exchange of passes with Takyua Yokoyama as he did so. Yokoyama's return pass gave Okano a wide-open look at goal, and his shot from a step inside the box curled into the low right corner.

With time running down in the match, the Reds threw everyone forward for a last-ditch effort, and Alex Santos managed to penetrate the left side for a drive on goal. The keeper parried the shot, but as Santos headed the rebound back towards goal Marcus Tulio Tanaka slipped in from the back side to head the ball home and give the Reds their first point of the season.

Date: 13 Mar, 2005		Location: Todoroki Stadium
3	1 1H 1 2 2H 2	3
Juninho (5') Kazuki Ganaha (52') Augusto (74')	Scoring	Tomoyuki Sakai (23') Masayuki Okano (80') Marcus Tulio Tanaka (89')
Iwao Yamane Tomoaki Kuno	Cautions	Ryota Tsuzuki Tulio Tanaka
Lineups: Seigo Shimokawa, Yoshinobu Minowa, Shuhei Terada, Tomoaki Kuno, Iwao Yamane, Yasuhiro Nagahashi, Augusto de Souza, Marcus de Morais (Makoto Kimura 85), Juninho, Kazuki Ganaha (Kazunori Iio 88) .
Ryota Tsuzuki, Keisuke Tsuboi, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Nene de Brito (Hideki Uchidate 54), Tadaaki Hirakawa, Makoto Hasebe, Nobuhisa Yamada, Tomoyuki Sakai (Masayuki Okano 73), Alessandro Santos, Tatsuya Tanaka (Takuya Yokoyama 73), Emerson .

2 - 3

The Marinos responded quickly, when just five minutes later, Hayuma Tanaka surged down the left sideline and sliced into the box for a low-angle shot. His initial drive was blocked by the defence, but he managed to push the rebound towards the middle, where Hideo Oshima was on hand to fire a left-footed drive past the diving goalkeeper. But Cerezo restored their advantage just before the break, as Teruaki Kurobe settled a long lob into the Marinos penalty area, chested it down and sent a spinning left-footed drive into the low left corner.

Yokohama returned from the locker room in a rush, and just two minutes after the restart, Dutra surged down the right wing and sent a lead pass into the box for Masahiro Ohashi. It appeared that Ohashi might have been a half-step offside, but the flag stayed down as Ohashi quickly back-heeled the ball to Oshima, who was trailing the play. The Cerezo keeper had dashed out of net to cut down the angle on Ohashi, so Oshima had a wide-open net to target. The recent Marinos acquisition made no mistake, senting a right-footed drive into the back of the net.

Ten minutes later, Oshima finished off his hat trick in style, diving to meet a Norihisa Shimizu cross from the left corner, and heading it inside the near post.

Though Oshima's impressive hat trick stunned the home crowd, Cerezo refused to lie down and die. Bringing in the offensive reserves, the flaming pinks dominatd the final stages of the contest, and nearly equalised on two or three occasions down the stretch. But Yokohama managed to cling to their narrow lead, and outlasted the counteroffensive to claim their first win of the season.

Date: 13 Mar, 2005		Location: Nagai Stadium
2	2 1H 1 0 2H 2	3
Tatsuya Furuhashi (13') Teruaki Kurobe (42')	Scoring	Hideo Oshima (18') Hideo Oshima (47') Hideo Oshima (60')
Fabinho Hideaki Morishima Takeshi Hamada	Cautions	Yuzo Kurihara
Lineups: Motohiro Yoshida, Kenjiro Ezoe, Bruno Cuadros, Tetsuya Yamazaki, Fabinho, Takanori Nunobe (Takeshi Hamada 74), Kiyokazu Kudo (Nozomu Hiroyama 63), Ze Carlos, Tatsuya Furuhashi, Hiroaki Morishima, Teruaki Kurobe (Akinori Nishizawa 63) .
Tetsuya Enomoto, Yuzo Kurihara, Eisuke Nakanishi, Yuji Nakazawa, Hayuma Tanaka, Yasuhiro Endo (Yoshiharu Ueno 61), Daisuke Nasu, Dutra, Masahiro Ohashi, Daisuke Oku (Norihisa Shimizu 45), Hideo Oshima .

1 - 1

After claiming a momentum-building win in their first J1 match ever, Omiya Ardija returned home to a disappointing crowd of less than 10,000 at Saitama Stadium, as they hosted Vissel Kobe. For those who are used to seeing Saitama Stadium packed to the rafters with Urawa Reds supporters, this was rather disappointing, though if Omiya can continue to pile up the points, the crowds may begin to swell.

The Saitama Squirrels seemed determined to prove that their opening-day win over Gamba Osaka was no fluke, and they certainly did put on a good show in this contest. But while Ardija dominated possession and produced the majority of the scoring opportunities, VIssel took advantage of an early laspe by the Ardija defence to claim the first goal. In the 22 minute, Mitsunori Yabuta fed a lead pass into the box for Ryuji Bando, and the Vissel striker fought through two defenders to win the ball and flick it in front of goal. Kazu Miura had only to tap the ball home from close range and Vissel were in the lead.

Omiya fought back furiously, but dogged defending by the visitors allowed them to preserve their until late in the second half. Ardija received a crucial setback midway through the second half when Naoto Sakurai lost his footing in the box and fell to the turf. It certainly did not look like a "dive", since Sakurai bounded immediately to his feet to chase after the ball, but inexplicably, Mr. Anazawa decided to show Sakurai a yellow card -- his second of the contest. Reduced to ten men, things were looking dim for Ardija. But with less than ten minutes remaining in the contest, Koji Morita went down in the VIssel box, on a play that did not look any more like a PK offence than the one which got Sakurai sent off. Typically, Mr. Anazawa chose to award a PK, in what was obviously a "make-up call" to offset the earlier card on Sakurai. Chikara Fujimoto buried the PK to give Ardijja a share of the spoils, but once again, we had the sense that the referee, and not the players, was the one who got to determine the outcome of this match.

The Rising Sun News does not know if Leslie Mottram, the head of the committe that oversees the performance of referees, ever reads our reports, but if he does, we have a few words especially for him:

Hey Les . . . is this REALLY the sort of thing that you want to see continue? Shouldnt it be the PLAYERS who decide the outcome of football matches, and not the "men in black"?
Just asking . . . .

Date: 13 Mar, 2005		Location: Saitama Stadium
1	0 1H 1 1 2H 0	1
Chikara Fujimoto (83')	Scoring	Kazuyoshi Miura (22')
Jun Marques Davidson Naoto Sakurai Naoto Sakurai	Cautions	Patrick Mboma Pavel Horvath
Naoto Sakurai (2Y)	Sent Off
Lineups: Hiroki Aratani, Takuro Nishimura, Toninho, Seiichiro Okano, Daisuke Tomita (Koji Morita 54), Jun Marques Davidson, Jin Kanazawa (Yusuke Shimada 74), Tatsunori Hisanaga, Chikara Fujimoto, Livonir "Tuto" Ruschel (Christian Dionisio 79), Naoto Sakurai .
Makoto Kakegawa, Kunie Kitamoto, Ichiei Muroi, Roger, Tomo Sugawara, Pavel Horvath, Park Kang-Jo (Naoto Matsuo 89), Atsuhiro Miura, Mitsunori Yabuta, Ryuji Bando (Kazutaka Murase 70), Kazuyoshi Miura (Patrick Mboma 59) .

0 - 0

. . . unfortunately, S-Pulse still lacks a true scoring threat, and after the strike pair of Cho Jae-Jin and Choi Dae-Uk squandered some golden opportunities in the second half, S-Puse had to settle for a scoreless draw. Nevertheless, it is an encouraging sign that S-Pulse were able to hold off what is clearly one of the league's more potent offences, in Tokyo Verdy. If they can sustain this sort of performance on defence, S-Pulse's hopes of avoiding relegation this year will improve considerably.

Date: 13 Mar, 2005		Location: Ajinomoto Stadium
0	0 1H 0 0 2H 0	0
	Scoring
	Cautions	Toshihide Saito Kota Sugiyama Keisuke Ota
Lineups: Yoshinari Takagi, Lee Kang-Ji, Kentaro Hayashi, Takushi Yoneyama, Takuya Yamada, Daigo Kobayashi, Yoshiyuki Kobayashi (Kenta Togawa 45), Takeshi Hirano, Takahito Soma, Kazuki Hiramoto (Kazuyuki Morimoto 83), Washington.
Yohei Nishibe, Daisuke Ichikawa, Toshihide Saito, Ryuzo Morioka, Takahiro Yamanishi, Keiosuke Ota, Kazumichi Takagi, Teruyoshi Ito, Kota Sugiyama (Masaaki Sawanobori 61), Cho Jae-Jin, Choi Dae-Uk .

0 - 0

Sanfrecce Hiroshima and FC Tokyo also battled to a scoreless draw, on a cold, snow-swept day in Hiroshima. Both teams had their opportunities, but defence was the main story of this match, given the weather conditions. Neither team was able to capitalize on the few opportunities that they did create, and the match ended without a tally from either side.

Date: 13 Mar, 2005		Location: Hiroshima "Big Arch"
0	0 1H 0 0 2H 0	0
	Scoring
Yuichi Komano Yuichi Komano	Cautions	Jean Carlo Witte
Yuichi Komano (2Y)	Sent Off
Lineups: Takashi Shimoda, Yuichi Komano, Dininho, Shohei Ikeda, Kota Hattori, Takehito Shigehara, Joubert "Beto" Martins, Kazuyuki Morisaki, Susumu Oki (Hiroto Mogi 75), Galvao, Hayato Sato (Kohei Morita 83) .
Yoichi Doi, Akira Kaji, Jean Carlo Witte, Teruaki Moniwa, Jo Kanazawa, Yasuyuki Konno, Masashi Miyazawa (Satoru Asari 74), Yuichi Kurisawa, Naohiro Ishikawa, Mitsuhiro Toda (Norio Suzuki 77), Lucas Severino.

1 - 2

The intensity of feeling demonstrated by the fans was matched down on the pitch, as both Albirex and Trinita played at a furious pace, which was truly exhausting just to watch. Both teams are known for their speed on the countreattack, though not necessarily for their skill in protecting the ballat midfield. The result was a sometimces chaotic but highly enjoyable roller-coaster ride of thrust and counter-thrust, with the ball moving from one end of the pitch to the other with the velocity of a championship ping-pong match.

Niigata midfielder Shingo Suzuki very nearly put hs team in front just moments after the opening kick, after a counterattacking rush and snap shot by the speedy Edmilson was parried by the keeper but fell to Suzuki about three steps to the left of the far post. Suzuki had only a very narrow shooting angle, but the net was at his mercy if he had been able to produce a quality shot. Unfortunately, he rushed the effort and it merely floated across the face of goal and was cleared by a retreating defender. At the half hour mark, however, he got a nearly identical opportunity and this time made sure that his hsot was on target. Again, Edmilson made a surging run down the right side, and crossed to the near post for his strike partner, Yusaku Ueno. The keeper, Riki Takasaki, did a good job of getting out and blocking any chance that Ueno might have had to put a shot on net. However, the ball bounded through to Suzuki at the far post, and this time he carefully stroked the ball into the open goal mouth.

Just when it looked like Albirex would take the lead in at the half, a remarkable individual play by Magno Alves changed the face of the contest completely. The shot came out of nowhere, with no warning whatsoever. One moment Magno was dribbling along the top of the box, well-covered by Motohiro Yamaguchi, and the next instant the ball was rocketing into the roof of the net. The keeper was too stunned to even move, and the Albirex defence stood around shaking their heads in disbelief as the halftime whistle sounded.

This late goal gave Trinita a boost going into the locker room, and they came out with one of their most threatening surges of the contest. But Albirex weathered the early storm and by the 55 minue they were once again counterattacking in speed and numbers. After several close calls on both ends, Albirex won a corner kick on the left side and threw all their big players forward for the kick. The initial kick bounded through without anyone making solid contact, but Edmilson collected it beyond the far post and sent it back in front of net. As the ball ricocheted through a pack of players, Keiji Kaimoto reacted quickly enough to get a boot on it and deflect it into the net.

With time running down and the snow beginning to fly in a blinding sheet, Ryosuke Kijima came on as a substiture to try to break down the Albirex defence on the dribble. In the 78 minute he finally succeeded in turning his defender, whose desperate attempt to recover knocked Kijima to the ground and conceded a penalty kick. As Magno Alves lined up to take the kick, a thunderous call went up from the crowd, urging on keeper r Yosuke Nozawa. Magno's kick was low and hard, but Nozawa guessed correctly and dove to his right, parrying the shot and preserving Albirex's narrow advantage.

Date: 14 Mar, 2005		Location: Niigata "Big Swan"
1	1 1H 1 0 2H 0	1
Shingo Suzuki (29') Keiji Kaimoto (68')	Scoring	Magno Alves (45')
Edmilson	Cautions	Patrick Zwaanswijk Ryosuke Kimura Taikai Uemoto
Lineups: Yosuke Nozawa, Keiji Kaimoto, Anderson Lima (Osamu Umeyama 56), Yoshiaki Maruyama, Kentaro Suzuki, Yoshito Terakawa, Shigenori Hagimura, Motohiro Yamaguchi, Edmilson (Isao Honma 89), Yusaku Ueno, Shingo Suzuki .
Riki Takasaki, Patrick Zwaaswijk, Tomoki Fukaya, Taikai Uemoto (Koji Yoshimura 86), Yoshiro Abe, Takashi Umeda, Takayuki Yoshida, Yuichi Nemoto (Taku Harada 56), Magno Alves, Lucas "Dodo" Ricardo (Ryosuke Kijima 60),, Daiki Takamatsu .

0 - 3

While Mr. Osada and his linesmen deserve credit for calling a very good match, they were helped out greatly by the Nagoya Grampus players, who did not try to milk any advantage from the officials even when some fairly disturbing chippiness and fakery by Jubilo created situations where, if Grampus had responded in kind, tempers might easily have gotten out of control. This was particularly impressive when you consider that Grampus have suddenly become a very young team. At the start of the year we were a bit pessimistic about the team's prospects, but that was before we had a look at the lineup that coach Nelsinho has decided to field. Part of this is out of necessity, since a serious injury to Masayuki Omori put the veteran central defender out of commission, possibly for the rest of the year. In response, Nelsinho has opted to field a four-man back line with young speedsters Makoto Kakuda and Keiji Watanabe as the wing backs. They were joined, this week, by rookies Keisuke Honda at midfield and Keita Sugimoto up front. The result was a very energetic, speedy and surprisingly well disciplined unit which outplayed Jubilo in nearly every aspect of the game. The only real sirprise was that it took them as long to score as it did, though you might blame "rookie jitters" for a few squandered opportunities in the first half.

Jubilo, as we noted at the start of the season, is not only old, but also worn and jaded. They still have a big bag of tricks to draw upon, but their physical abilities are clearly fading and their "cute" tactics of professional fouling, diving ariound the edges of the box and trying to manipulate referees had worn out their welcome over a year ago. The team does have a number of quality young players, and we had some hope at the start of the year that coach Yamamoto might give them more playing time this year. So far that has not been the case, and when Yamamoto pulled teenage striker Robert Cullen at half time and inserted the grizzled old dinosaur Toshihiro Hattori, we could sense that this was not going to be Jubilo's day.

The quick attacking runs by Grampus, and the hail of crosses from the wings (particularly Kakuda and Honda, on the right wing) eventually took their toll of the Jubilo defence. Nine minutes after the break, Kakuda found space at the right edge of the box, searched around for a target, and then fired a hard roller for Marques at the far post. Keeper Yohei Sato dove at Marques' feet and managed to block his shot, but the rookie Sugimoto surged in from the left to collect the rebound and fire it into the roof of the net from point-blank range.

This gave Grampus a huge boost of confidence, and for the next fifteen minutes they dominated play more fully than at any other time in the match. This offensive surge peaked in the 63 minute, after Grampus won a corner kick from the right side. Midfielder Naoshi Nakamura sent a curling line drive towards the penalty spot where Masahiro Koga rose above the defence to head the ball on into the far side netting, giving Grampus a comfortable lead. Five minutes later, Grampus capped off their second-half surge on another speedy attack down the wings. Nakamura sliced into open space on the right, then sent a long cross to Sugimoto racing in from the opposite side of the box. The young striker did not have a good angle on net, and his header came back off the crossbar, dropping between the keeper and an onrushing Marques. Marques could not manage to get off a shot, but he did jostle the ball loose and as it rolled off to the left of the goal mouth, Claiton swooped in to finish off the play with a blast into the far corner.

With a three-goal lead, Nelsinho pulled the rookie, Sugimoto for a defensive substitute and Grampus pulled back to wait out the clock. Jubilo went into their usual antics trying to win a cheap goal or two from the referee, but Mr. Osada was not buying any of it. Indeed, Rodrigo Gral was very fortunate not to receive a card for one particularly blatant dive in the box. Mr Osada marched towards him as if he had half a thought about booking the ponytailed diving champion, but settled for a finger-wagging lecture. Grampus held off the late Jubilo rush and managed to keep their side of the score sheet clean, walking off with a convincing 3-0 victory.

Date: 14 Mar, 2005		Location: Iwata Stadium
0	0 1H 0 0 2H 3	3
	Scoring	Keita Sugimoto (54') Masahiro Koga (63') Claiton (73')
Ryoichi Maeda Toshihiro Hattori Kim Sung-ji Takashi Fukunishi	Cautions	Keiji Watanabe Claiton Masahiro Koga Kei Yamaguchi
Lineups: Yohei Sato, Kim Sung-ji, Makoto Tanaka, Takayuki Chano, Norihiro Nishi, Takashi Fukunishi (Naoya Kikuchi 80), Hiroshi Nanami (Nobuo Kawaguchi 67), Toshiya Fujita, Ryoichi Maeda, Robert Cullen (Toshihiro Hattori 45), Rodrigo Gral .
Seigo Narazaki, Makoto Kakuda, Masahiro Koga, Takahiro Masukawa, Keiji Watanabe, Naoshi Nakamura, Claiton, An Yeon-Ha, Keisuke Honda, Keita Sugimoto (Kei Yamaguchi 74), Marques .

And so, with just two weeks gone in the season, there is not a single team left with a perfect record. We had expected the league to be closely contested this season, but we had no idea that the degree of parity would be so quickly evident. Six teams are level on points, with only goal difference separating them. Another three teams have one win and one loss, meaning that half the teams in the league are within a point of first place! Naturally it is still VERY early in the race, but as the league takes a break for World Cup qualification matches, players and coaches will have a great deal to think about, as they try to plot their strategy for the next few months.

Rumours and Rumblings

Jubilo Redeem Themselves In Second ACL Test

A number of things about this match will give Jubilo fans cause for optimism, after a rather disappointing start to the season. First, though it is clear that the ex-JEF United trio of Choi Yong-Soo, Shinji Murai and Takayuki Chano are still not fully integrated with the rest of the team, in this match they began to show indications of what they will be able to contribute later in the season. Choi recorded a brace of goals -- his first in a Jubilo uniform -- and showed indications that he is beginning to understand the intentions of his midfield teammates a bit better. He also squandered 3 or 4 high quality chances, but hopefully that area of his game will improve as he becomes more comfortable in his new role.

Murai, meanwhile, looked much sharper and displayed better judgement in his ball distribution than he did in the match against Grampus, at the mweekend. He made one sparkling individual play in the second half, sliding cleverly underneath the guard of a defender to keep a long ball from going over the touch line, then leaping to his feet, beating a second defender and passing to the opposite post for an easy tap-in by Robert Cullen. Incidentally, Cullen also seems to be playing with greater fluidity and intelligence, and his finish of the Murai pass gave him his first goal for Jubilo in a "real" match (he has a few goals in exhibition contests as well as several in reserve squad matches).

However, the best news of all was that coach Yamamoto finally showed signs that he is prepared to usher aside the old guard, and let younger players establish themselves in the team. Though veterans Makoto Tanaka and Hiroshi Nanami did start, there was no sign of Toshiya Fujita, Toshihiro Hattori or Masashi Nakayama. Youngsters like Cullen, Ryoichi Maeda, Naoya Kikuchi and Sho Naruoka all got to see extended playing time. This augurs well for the team in the long run, though we will have to see if the trend continues once league matches resume, in April.

Despite their win, Jubilo still lie a point adrift of both Shenzhen and Suwon Bluewings, who drew their match on the same day. Jubilo will face Suwon in the last of the first-leg matches, on April 6.