June 6, 2005
Nabisco Qualification Fight Goes to the Wire
| Date | Home | . | Visitor | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4 (Sat) | Omiya Ardija | 1-3 | Urawa Reds | Saitama Stadium |
| Jun 4 (Sat) | Vissel Kobe | 0-1 | Albirex Niigata | Kobe Wing Stadium |
| Jun 4 (Sat) | Kawasaki Frontale | 1-1 | Tokyo Verdy | Todoroki Stadium |
| Jun 4 (Sat) | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 2-1 | Gamba Osaka | Hiroshima "Big Arch" |
| Jun 4 (Sat) | JEF United | 1-1 | Oita Trinita | Ichihara Seaside Std. |
| Jun 4 (Sat) | FC Tokyo | 0-0 | Kashiwa Reysol | Ajinomoto Stadium |
| Jun 4 (Sat) | Kashima Antlers | 3-3 | Shimizu S-Pulse | Kashima Stadium |
| Jun 4 (Sat) | Cerezo Osaka | 1-1 | Nagoya Grampus | Nagai Stadium |
Group A
In group A, the Urawa Reds entered their fifth-round match against local rivals Omiya Ardija needing justone point to clinch a certain spot in the playoff round, and they wasted no time piling up a three-goal lead, with midfielder Keita Suzuki starting the show off with a strike in the 10 minute and Emerson and Tatsuya Tanaka each added a goal before the intermission. Just minutes after the restart, Omiya suffered a heavy blow as Toninho picked up a second yellow card on a play that looked like nothing more than incidental contact as both he and Emerson chased after a ball on the sidelines. Mr. Iemoto took an earful from the entire Ardija team, and even most of the Reds players looked bemused.But if anything, the loss of their big defender only galvanised the fighting squirrels to greater efforts, and it was Ardija's Tuto who produced the next strike, just four minutes after Omiya had been reduced to ten men. But despite a spirited effort in the second half, Ardija were outmanned in more ways than one, and ended up falling into essentially a tie with Albirex Niigata, who collected a 1-0 victory against hapless Vissel Kobe. Vissel's new coach Emerson Leao will surely be thanking good fortune that this is "only" the Nabisco Cup, and that local fans are not paying much attention. Though Vissel won their last league match , posting only their second victory of the year, since then they have fallen back into impotence. Vissel have lost all five of their Nabisco Cup matches this year, and have not even scored a goal in the three matches since Leao took over. Though it is understandable that the team may need some time to adjust to a new coach and playing style, team owner Hiroshi Mikitani is a notoriously impatient man, and "The Lion" may discover that at Vissel Kobe, his honeymoon period at the club is even shorter than the one after Dennis Rodman's alcohol-fueled vows in Vegas with Carmen Electra.
| Team | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urawa Reds | 15 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 |
| Omiya Ardija | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Albirex Niigata | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Vissel Kobe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | l | 6 |
Pool B
Following four frenetic rounds of goal-scoring abandon, the four teams in pool B settled down a bit this weekend, and limited their production to just a shade over one goal apiece. But that by no means suggests that the content of play was any less "potent" than the previous four rounds have been. With several young stars away on U-20 NT duty, Sanfrecce Hiroshima simply reached into their bulging bag of teenaged talent and pulled out yet another ace! Shinichiro Kuwada, an 18-year-old midfielder who was making his first start for Sanfrecce, turned in a brilliant performance including his first goal for the full "varsity" team, helping Sanfrecce post a 2-1 victory over Gamba Osaka.Meanwhile, Tokyo Verdy and Kawasaki Frontale got into a frenetic footrace down the stretch, afte a busy but scoreless first half. Frontale finally broke the deadlock in the 65 minute when another promising young star -- rookie striker Masaru Kurotsu -- finished off a fine counterattacking rush. But Verdy responded six minutes later through captain Takuya Yamada, and the two sides spend the final 20 minutes racing furiously from end to end in a bid to break the deadlock. The importance of scoring a deciding goal was on everyone's mind, since Gamba had a five-point edge coming into this week. Since neither side could score, they now stand level on six points -- in the race for the best two second-place positions, that is a point adrift of the second place teams in all three other pools.
| Team | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamba Osaka | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 11 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 11 |
| Tokyo Verdy | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 12 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 12 |
Pool C
Pool C is the one pool where top spot has yet to be decided. However, after a tough draw in their match against Nagoya Grampus, JEF United would have to suffer a collapse of monumental proportions to be denied a spot in the quarterfinal round. They have a three-point lead and an eight-goal advantage on goal difference over their local rivals, second-place Kashiwa Reysol, and even if Reysol were to somehow make up that ground, two teams from the other three pools would have to achieve a similar feat to deny JEF one of the best second-place spots.Reysol were held to a scoreless draw against FC Tokyo, in what had to be the sloppiest match of the afternoon. Neither team could get their act together, and even the number of shots on goal was discouraging. Nevertheless, Reysol have seven points going into the final match, putting them level with Ardija, Cerezo and Albirex in the race to claim one of the best second-place spots. FC Tokyo and Oita Trinita are numerically still in the running, but the combination of factors that would have to fall their way to claim a best second-place spot makes such an outcome about as likely as an entire weekend of J.League football without a single bad officiating call. In other words . . . . not bloody likely.
| Team | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JEF United | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| FC Tokyo | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Oita Trinita | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
Pool D
Surely the most entertaining match of the day took place at Kashiwa Stadium, where the woefully understrength Antlers (three members are on duty with the full NT in Bahrain, and two with the U-20 squad in Holland, in addition to a host of players missing due to injury) took on group-leaders Shimizu S-Pulse. The Antlers dominated the early stages, and central defender Daiki Iwamasa once again displayed his awesome scoring prowess on set plays by tallying twice in the opening 15 minutes of play. Choi Dae-Uk pulled a goal back for S-Pulse at the half hour mark, but a strike by rookie Yuzo Kuroki on the stroke of half time gave the Antlers what looked like an imposing lead.But lack of experience showed, down the stretch, as the makeshift Antlers lineup crumbled to allow goals by Yoshikiyo Kuboyama and Cho Jae-Jin. S-Pulse claimed the one point they needed to ensure themselves of top spot in the group, while the Antlers found themselves all but numerically eliminated. Meanwhile, Cerezo Osaka had to settle for a draw against Nagoya Grampus after a goal by recent Grampus acquisition Satoshi Nakayama (formerly of Gamba) cancelled out a first-half strike by Tatsuya Furuhashi. Nevertheless, Cerezo have the best goal difference among the top second-place contenders, and are in a position to claim one of the two best second-place spots if they can overcome the Antlers in the final pool match, next weekend
| Team | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 6 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 |
| Kashima Antlers | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Nagoya Grampus | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
Rumours and Rumblings
AFC Official Referee Exam
Do you enjoy travelling the world and watching football matches? Like to be as close to the action as possible? How about power? Do you enjoy having absolute control over other peoples' fate? Do you enjoy always getting the last word? Would you like to be able to tell people off and have the power to punish them if they answer back? And how would you like to get paid to do all of these things?
Well, if this sound like a good opportunity to you, then maybe you should become a referee for the Asian Football Confederation. Of course, not just anyone can earn such a job. You have to demonstrate your perceptive abilities and judgement, first. To see if you have what it takes, take a few minutes to look at the video clips below, and see if you have what it takes.
Question 1
Watch the video clip below carefully, and decide what you think the call should be:
As the referee, what would you do?
a) Blow the whistle, award a yellow card to the player in red and give a free kick.
b) Blow the whistle, award a red card to the player in red and give a free kick.
c) Blow the whistle, award a free kick, do not issue a caution.
d) Wait to see if the team in blue get the ball back. If they do, signal "play on"?
The answer is --- d), of course. Naturally any good referee should understand the adage "no blood, no foul".
Question 2
Here is a very important call. When you are very close to the play, you want to stay sharp because people will not accept excuses such as "he couldnt see the play". Watch the video clip below carefully, and decide what you think the call should be:
As the referee, what would you do?
a) Blow the whistle, award a yellow card and give a free kick.
b) Blow the whistle, and give a free kick, do not issue a caution.
c) Signal "play on"?
The answer is --- a), of course. This was a very serious offence, and in order to keep control of the match it is very important to award a caution . . . . to the player in blue (Nakata), thus ensuring that he will miss the next qualification round match.
Question 3
Offsides calls are always very difficult to judge, and sometimes the margin of error is so close that a linesman cannot really be sure. However, since people will watch the play on video they are also important to get right. Look at this clip carefully and decide if it is offside, or not offside.
The answer is naturally -- offside. But then as I said, it is always easier to tell on instant replays, particularly when the call is as close as this one was.
Question 4
Finally, here is a call that no referee likes to be stuck making. A player goes to the ground in the box. Did he dive to the ground on purpose, or was he knocked down? Since the call can make the difference between qualifying for the World Cup or failing to do so, you need to get this call right. Watch the clip closely and make the call.
Well, what do you think? Should you:
a) Award a penalty kick
b) Signal "play on"
c) Give the player in blue a yellow card for diving?
The answer is --- b). This is a difficult call to make, but since the player in blue (Nakata) already has one yellow card, it is probably best to show him pity and not card him. Just wave play on, since no real harm was done.
Well, how did you do? If you got three or more of these questions right, the AFC needs you! If you hurry, you may be in time to prove your skills, and eanr a place as one of the AFC representative referees at the World Cup. But you will be in for some tough competition, because the guy who officiated this match with such unerring decisiveness is one of the AFC's candidates as well. Dont miss the chance, call the AFC now!
Oh, and if anyone with any connection to the AFC or FIFA should happen to read this, we would like to take our tongue out of our cheek and say just a few blunt words:
What sort of idiots allow this sort of farce to go on in match after match, month after month, year after year without ever taking action to correct the problem? Is it really THAT difficult to see what a laughing-stock Asian football is becoming? One of these days, these refs are going to "accidentally" cause one of Asia's truly competent teams to get knoced out of the competition with one of these ridiculous bits of "home advantage" refereeing. If it happens to Japan, well, probably the people will be too meek and accepting to do much about it. Not many Japanese football fans are as outspoken as the Rising Sun News.
But if a team like China, Korea or Iran should get screwed over by one of these rent-a-referees, who knows what sort of explosive result will follow? Does it really have to go that far before you take your heads out of your collective butts and start disciplining -- or better yet, firing -- the buffoons who think their job is to "bend" the rules and ensure that weaker Asian teams dont get humiliated by stronger opponents. You know as well as I do that if the calls shown above had taken place in an UEFA match, the referee would never call another match as long as he lived. . . . and if it had happened in South America, the referee would be moved to an undisclosed location and given a new identity, to protect him from angry fans!
Enough is enough!!!!!