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July 24, 2005

Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On

Below is a summary of the scores from this week's matches:

Date	Home	.	Visitor	Venue
Jul 23		3-0		Hiroshima Big Arch
Jul 23		0-2		Saitama Stadium
Jul 23		1-0		Ichihara Seaside St.
Jul 23		1-1		Tokyo Nat'l Stadium
Jul 23		0-0		Mitsuzawa Stadium
Jul 23		0-1		Shizuoka Stadium
Jul 23		4-1		Expo '70 "Banpaku" St.
Jul 24		2-0		Mizuho Stadium
Jul 24		1-3		Oita "Big Eye" Stadium

4 - 1

Gamba seemed to have equalised midway through the first half, when Tsuneyasu Mitamoto shuffled home a corner kick at the near post, but the goal was disallowed when the linesman ruled that the ball had crossed the end line while in the air, and curled back into play. The reason we said that this was an "unusual" call is that it actually seemed to be a correct decision, and took a certain amount of courage for the linesman to call, well after the play and against one of the star players of the home team.

But Gamba did manage to level the tally before half time, as Araujo demonstrated why he is leading the league in the scoring category. Taking an inlet pass at the edge of the box, he faked his way through four or five defenders and then spun a shot across the face of goal while falling out of bounds, yet managed to hit the far side of the net to give Gamba a sense of comfort going into the locker room.

After the break, Gamba moved into second gear and soon left Cerezo far behind. Araujo produced the lead goal on the stroke of the hour, finishing off a set play. Shortly thereafter, Masashi Oguro broke down the left side of the Cerezo defence, then crossed the ball to Hideo Hashimoto coming into the box on the opposite side, for a powerful finish.

Gamba closed out the scoring with seven minutes to play, as a high cross towards the left side of the penalty area was headed back across the face of goal and into the low right corner.

Date: 23 July, 2005		Location: Banpaku Stadium
4	1 1H 1 3 2H 0	1
Araujo (43') Araujo (63') Hideo Hashimoto (70') Yasuhito Endo (83')	Scoring	Tomoyoshi Tsurumi (9')
Akihiro Ienaga Satoru Yamaguchi Hideo Hashimoto	Cautions	Teruaki Kurobe Akinori Nishizawa Tomi Shimomura Kiyokazu Kudo
Lineups: Naoki Matsuyo, Satoru Yamaguchi, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Noritada Saneyoshi (Toru Irie 64), Mitsuteru Watanabe (Masashi Oguro 45), Hideo Hashimoto, Yasuhito Endo, Takahiro Futagawa (Akihiro Ienaga 81), Fernandinho, Kota Yoshihara, Araujo. Motohiro Yoshida, Bruno Cuadros, Tomoyaoshi Tsurumi, Tomi Shimomura, Kiyokazu Kudo, Takanori Nunobe, Nozomu Hiroyama (Kota Fujimoto 80), Takuya Kokeguchi, Hiroaki Morishima (Daisuke Yoneyama 82), Akinori Nishizawa, Teruaki Kurobe (Tadaaki Tokushige 64) .

0 - 2

In their clash with Omiya Ardija, the Antlers were once again shorthanded due to the suspension of captain Mitsuo Ogasawara and an injury to Alex Mineiro . This clearly had some impact on the Antlers' build-up, and you could see the team struggling to put its passes together properly over the first 25 minutes or so. But eventually, Masashi Motoyama and Takuya Nozawa managed to find the right wavelength and make the necessary connections.

In the 26 minute, Motoyama took an overlap pass at the tol right corner of the box, and feinted to the end line as if he were about to try to charge for the right post. The entire defence reacted, and left a huge opening on the opposite side of the box. Nozawa waved for the pass and Motoyama looped a cross over everyone's head, to a wide-open Nozawa. The reserve forward merely had to chest the ball down and pick his spot, from about seven meters out.

This provided Kashima with the sort of "comfort zone" that they seem to thrive on. Whereas Gamba has achieved its success by piling up the goals, allowing them to outscore opponents even when they concede two or three on their own end. the Antlers have succeeded with impregnable defending, scoring a goal or two when the opportunity presents itself and spending the rest of the match forcing their opponent to work themselves to exhaustion. Hitoshi Sogahata showed his worth by turning away the three significant chances that Ardija got in this match, and the impeccable defending of the Antlers back four did the rest.

Midway through the second half, Motoyama and Nozawa combined again, this time on a play that will be at the front end of the highlight reels this week. Nozawa took an inlet pass towards the middle and then hooked a lead pass into the box as Motoyama cut sharply from right to left, penetrating behind the defence. As all the defenders, most of the cameramen and two-thirds of the population of Omiya city frantically followed the cutting Motoyama, Nozawa drifted in behind him, towards goal. When the speedy NT midfielder suddenly backheeled the ball, the only player on the pitch who was NOT running in the opposite direction was Nozawa. He collected the ball, took two steps towards goal to improve his angle, and then blasted it into the roof of the net.

Date: 23 July, 2005		Location: Saitama Stadium
0	0 1H 1 0 2H 1	2
	Scoring	Takuya Nozawa (26') Takuya Nozawa (68')
Chikara Fujimoto	Cautions	Arivaldo dos Santos
Lineups: Hiroki Aratani, Takuro Nishimura (Kazuyoshi Mikami 45), Kazunari Hiraoka, Seiichiro Okuno, Daisuke Tomita (Koji Morita 78), Masato Saito, Jun Marques Davidson, Tatsunori Hisanaga, Chikara Fujimoto, Naoto Sakurai (Christian Dionisio 61), Satoshi Yokoyama . Hitoshi Sogahata, Arivaldo dos Santos (Toshiyuki Abe 78), Daiki Iwamasa, Go Oiwa, Toru Araiba, Takeshi Aoki, Fernando, Chikashi Masuda (Masaki Fukai 79), Masashi Motoyama, Takuya Nozawa (Shinzo Koroki 89), Takayuki Suzuki .

1 - 1

FC Tokyo have finally moved clear of the relegation zone, but they cannot be very happy about their current position. The thing of it is, Tokyo have been playing very attractive and reasonably effective football all year long, but they have had some of the worst luck you could imagine. Of course, part of the problem is that the team is still very young. Apart from keeper Yoichi Doi, there are only two or three real "veterans" in the entire squad. This seems to have some correlation to the large number of errant shots the team produces -- not wildly errant, but rushed just enough to prevent them from finding the net.

Vissel, on the other hand, are simply an understrength team. The folly of owner Hiroshi Mikitani's efforts to sign well-known veterans is becoming more and more apparent as most of those who have been lured to Kobe by his money over the past two years are now long gone. But since coach Pavel Rehak took over control, as the team's third coach this season, Vissel have been playing with the sort of spirit and energy that you like to see in an also-ran club. It may be too late for them to avoid relegation, but at least they now seem to have at least a fighting chance of avoiding the drop.

For one thing, in recent matches Vissel have been taking advantage of the opportunities that fall their way. Thisweek was no exception as, in the 25 minute, a defensive error by FC Tokyo and a sudden counterattack sent Keisuke Kurihara away for an uncontested dash on net. Kurihara calmly waited for Doi to commit himself and then tucked the ball into the right corner.

As has been their habit throughout this season, Tokyo responded with a thunderous barrage of shots and high crosses into the box . . . . none of which produced any goals. As the match moved passed the one-hour mark, it was beginning to look like the ill-fated team would once again be deserving of their nickname -- the Capitol City Blues. But out of nowhere, teenaged midfielder Yuta Baba snapped off a quick shot from the perimeter and found the inside of the right post, caroming his shot home and pulling Tokyo level once again.

As the match wore down, both teams were pushing desperately for the win,. but it was Tokyo who had the majlority of the chances. As the clock ticked into the second minute of injury time, Lucas Severino tripped over an outstretched leg, just outside the penalty box, and the referee whistled a free kick.

This call, though it seemed justified, pushed coach Pavel's temper past the breaking point, and he flung a water bottle out onto the pitch. Unfortunately for him, the fourth official was looking right at him as he did so, and quickly alerted head referee Kiyoshi Ota. Mr. Ota -- one of the few refs in the J.League who does justice to the uniform he wears each week -- was having none of that, and he stopped the contest to deal with the situation. Coach Pavel tried to pretend htat he didnt know what was going on, but Mr. Ota stood unmoved, pointing to the locker room, for a full three minutes, making it clear that he was prepared to hold up the match as long as necessary until Pavel marched off.

When play finally resumed, the match clock read "97". Unfortunately for FC Tokyo, their free kick hit the defensive wall and the chance to claim a late victory slipped away. Both teams deserved more than a single point from this contest, but unfortunately, that is all the reward they will receive.

Date: 23 July, 2005		Location: Tokyo Nat'l Stadium
1	0 1H 1 1 2H 0	1
Yuta Baba (64')	Scoring	Keisuke Kurihara (25')
	Cautions	Roger
Lineups: Yoichi Doi, Akira Kaji, Jean Carlo Witte, Teruaki Moniwa, Jo Kanazawa (Fumitake Miura 79), Yohei Kajiyama, Yasuyuki Konno, Naohiro Ishikawa (Norio Suzuki 55), Ryoichi Kurisawa (Yuta Baba 55), Mitsuhiro Toda, Lucas Severino . Makoto Kakegawa, Park Kang-Jo, Kunie Kitamoto, Hiroyuki Komoto, Roger, Atsuhiro Miura (Mitsunori Yabuta 68), Tomo Sugawara, Noaya Saeki, Pavel Horvath, Keisuke Kurihara (Hideo Tanaka 84), Tomoyuki Hirase (Mitsutoshi Watada 66) .

0 - 0

Date: 23 July, 2005		Location: Mitsuzawa Stadium
0	0 1H 0 0 2H 0	0
	Scoring
Eisuke Nakanishi	Cautions	Kisho Yano
Lineups: Tetsuya Enomoto, Eisuke Nakanishi (Hayuma Tanaka 69), Naoki Matsuda, Yuji Nakazawa, Dutra, Yoshiharu Ueno, Daisuke Nasu, Masahiro Ohashi, Koji Yamase (Taketo Shiokawa 85), Daisuke Sakata, Norihisa Shimizu (Tatsuhiko Kubo 64) . Yuta Minami, Yuzo Kobayashi, Norihiro Satsukawa, Yukio Tsuchiya, Tomokazu Myojin, Hidekazu Otani, Tomonori Hirayama, Ryo Kobayashi, Lee Chu-Jun (Tatsuya Yazawa 61), Kisho Yano, Keiji Tamada .

0 - 1

Date: 23 July, 2005		Location: Shizuoka Stadium
0	0 1H 0 2 2H 2	0
	Scoring	Marcus Tulio Tanaka (55')
Daisuke Ichikawa	Cautions	Satoshi Horinouchi Nobuhisa Yamada Tatsuya Tanaka
Lineups: Yohei Nishibe, Daisuke Ichikawa, Toshihide Saito, Ryuzo Morioka, Takahiro Yamanishi, Keisuke Ota (Jumpei Takaki 70), Kazumichi Takagi, Teruyoshi Ito (Masaaki Noborisawa 76), Choi Dae-Uk, Yoshikiyo Kuboyama (Junichiro Zaitsu 85), Cho Jae-Jin . Ryota Tsuzuki, Keisuke Tsuboi, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Satoshi Horinouchi, Tadaaki Hirakawa (Nobuhisa Yamada 20), Makoto Hasebe, Keita Suzuki, Hideki Uchidate, Alessandro Santos, Yuichiro Nagai (Escudero 89), Tatsuya Tanaka .

3 - 0

Sanfrecce continue to display a great deal of inconsistency but the underlying talent on this team is obvious. We believe that another year of experience, coupled with some top-quality coaching could make Sanfrecce a strong championship candidate, though their lack of a strong and influential team leader either on the pitch or in the coaching ranks seems to be holding them back.

Having said that, they were more than a match for Verdy, who put on a more encouraging performance in the second half, but had already dug themselves such a large hole that they never really looked like getting back into the contest. The departure of Ossie Ardilles, as we noted last week, cannot address the problems that this team faces, and though there is still a lot of time to dig themselves out of the cellar, the way they are playing right now suggests that relegation is a strong possibility.

Date: 23 July, 2005		Location: Hiroshima "Big Arch" Stadium
3	3 1H 0 0 2H 0	0
Own Goal (8') Hisato Sato (22') Hisato Sato (30')	Scoring
Norio Omura	Cautions	Kazuyuki Toda Lee Kang-Jin Daigo Kobayashi Jun Tamano
Lineups: Takashi Shimoda, Yuichi Komano, Dininho, Norio Omura, Kota Hattori, Takehito Shigehara (Shogo Nishihara 87) Joubert "Beto" Martins (Susumu Oki 66), Kazuyuki Morisaki, Ri Han-Jae, Hayato Sato, Galvao (Koji Morisaki 72) . Yoshinari Takagi, Kenta Togawa, Atsushi Yoneyama, Lee Kang-Ji (Jun Tamano 70), Kazuyuki Toda Yoshiyuki Kobayashi (Takeshi Hirano 45)(Takayuki Morimoto 78), Takuya Yamada, Daigo Kobayashi, Takahito Soma, Kazuki Hiramoto, Washington .

1 - 0

But Maki's first-half goal held up, as Frontale couldnt find the key to JEF's defence down the stretch.

Date: 23 July, 2005		Location: Ichihara Seaside
1	1 1H 0 0 2H 0	0
Seiichiro Maki (31')	Scoring
Stoyanov	Cautions	Augusto
Lineups: Ryo Kushino, Daisuke Saito, Ilya Stoyanov, Yuki Mizumoto, Satoru Yamagishi (Koji Nakashima 81), Yuki Abe, Yuto Sato , Masataka Sakamoto, Naotake Hanyu, Seiichiro Maki, Mario Haas (Takenori Hayashi 89) . Takashi Aizawa, Yoshinobu Minowa, Shuhei Terada, Hiroki Ito, Hiroyuki Taniguchi, Taku Harada (Tomoaki Kuno 76), Yasuhiro Nagahashi, Augusto de Souza, Akira Konno (Marcus de Morais 54), Juninho, Masaru Kurotsu (Kazuki Ganaha 81) .

1 - 3

But following the break, Albirex welcomed back a long-awaited star of their own. After sitting out the past 12 matches with a hamstring injury, ace striker Fabinho made his return as the second-half whistle sounded, and quickly showed Albirex fans that he is ready to return to his post as the go-to man on offence. In the 68 minute, a backbreaking reverse dribble allowed him to slip between two defenders and he fired off a powerful drive from nearly 30 meters, banking his shot off the bottom of the right post and into the net. Ten minutes later he weas off to the races again, dribbling single-handed through three scrampling defenders and then blasting another long-distance rocket that curled inside the right post.,

This go-ahead goal seemed to shatter Oita's confidence, and they quickly conceded a third goal which was poked home by Yusaku Ueno, to put the match out of reach.

Date: 24 July, 2005		Location: Oita "Big Eye" Std.
1	1 1H 0 0 2H 3	3
Daiki Takamatsu (11')	Scoring	Fabinho (68') Fabinho (79') Yusaku Ueno (83')
Ryosuke Kijima Magno Alves	Cautions	Shigenori Hagimura
Lineups: Shusaku Nishikawa, Koji Yoshimura, Masakazu Shibakoya, Tomoki Fukaya, Koji Arimura (Ryosuke Kijima 80), Yoshiro Abe (Kohei Nishino 89), Takashi Umeda, Kazuhiro Kawada, Yuichi Nemoto, Magno Alves, Daiki Takamatsu . Yosuke Nozawa, Anderson Lima, Naoki Takahashi, Shigenori Hagimura, Yasushi Kita, Yoshito Terakawa (Fabinho 45), Hiroyoshi Kuwahara (Daisuke Aono 59), Isao Honma, Edmilson (Tetsuya Okayama 78), Shingo Suzuki, Yusaku Ueno .

2 - 0

After half a season, Nagoya is already beginning to look like a competitive team, and theough they are not really "complete" enough to hope for any silverware this year, they are well on their way towards building a championship contender for next season. Certainly, Nagoya does employ veterans to stiffen the team's spine and provide direction and leadership. The acquisition of Toshiya Fujita from Jubilo, last month, was intended for exactly tthis purpose. But the team has assigned rookies and second-year players to important roles in the team, with the ful confidence that they can continue to play regularly as long as they demonstrate their value.

Jubilo, meanwhile, seem not to have moved an inch from their position at the start of the season. Talented youngsters like Ryoichi Maeda, Robert Cullen and Yoshiaki Ota do see occasional action, but even following a great performance, they often find themselves back on the bench the next weekend as a famous yet decrepit veteran resumes their place in the pecking order. This obviously is no way to give teenagers confidence. The "old boy" network at Jubilo seems so deeply ingrained that no matrter how many times the veterans fail to do their jobs properly, or how many times the youngsters come off the bench to transform a match, it isnt enough to alter the long-established heirarchy. No doubt the fans love seeing their old heroes, each week, but what is the point, if they cant produce victories. A wise head office, or coach, would simply sell off the veterans to other teams, to eliminate the temptation to give an old crowd favourite another run-out. Of course, it is conceivable that the Jubilo management think that they are an entertainment business, and their job is to keep the viewers happy. If so, that is all well and good. But they certainly cannot expect to win many matches if this is their "strategy".

Coach Nelsinho seems to have done a very good job of retooling his team this season. Grampus have been through some difficult times, and with a team this young they are likely to have more. But with players like Keisuke Honda, Yohei Toyoda, Takahiro Masukawa and Keita Sugimoto gaining experience and confidence with each passing week, it won't be long before the team is a legitimate contender. What a difference!

This week, Naoshi Nakamura scored a brace to carry Grampus to victory, but it was the solid defensive play of Sugimoto and Masukawa, along with the set-up efforts of Honda and Toyoda (as well as the veteran Fujita, who seemed to enjoy dissecting his former teammates with clever passes) which made all the difference. Grampus cruised to an easy victory, and caught up with Jubilo in the league table, as a result,

Date: 24 July, 2005		Location: Mizuho Stadium
2	1 1H 0 1 2H 0	0
Naoshi Nakamura (16') Naoshi Nakamura (53')	Scoring
Toshiya Fujita Yohei Toyoda Satoshi Nakayama	Cautions	Ryoichi Maeda Hideto Suzuki Nobuo Kawaguchi
Lineups: Seigo Narazaki, Keita Sugimoto, Masahiro Koga, Takahiro Masukawa, Yusuke Nakatani, Claiton, Keiji Yoshimura, Toshiya Fujita, Keisuke Honda Naoshi Nakamura, Yohei Toyoda (Satoshi Nakayama 80) . Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Hideto Suzuki, Makoto Tanaka, Takayuki Chano, Yoshiaki Ota, Takashi Fukunishi (Takahiro Kawamura 64), Toshihiro Hattori, Shinji Murai, Hiroshi Nanami (Nobuo Kawaguchi 75), Masashi Nakayama (Robert Cullen 45), Ryoichi Maeda .

And so, as the league takes another break for summer holidays, national team matches and exhibition events, little has changed from the situation a month ago, with the one exception that Gamba have edged a bit closer to the league-leading Antlers. Urawa Reds move into third place, which is the highest position they have held this season, but at 10 points adrift they still have a lot of work to do if they want to get back into contention. The rest of the league faces a near-crisis situation, since they not only have to catch up with the two leaders, but also must battle each other in a highly competitive clutch of 8-10 teams. Either the Antlers OR Gamba might conceivably fall apart down the stretch, but it seems unlikely that BOTH will collapse. This means that teams like Yokohama Marinos, Jubilo Iwata, Nagoya Grampus, JEF United and Sanfrecce Hiroshima will have to make a move on the leaders within the first 3-4 weeks after play resumes, in late August, or else turn their ambitions to next season.

Rumours and Rumblings

The Last Shall be First

Well, if you are a European club visiting Tokyo in the near future, better get out your disaster insurance policy and check if it covers serial lightning strikes, because this sort of result is becoming a habit for the men in green. A rather peevish Hidetoshi Nakata stalked away from a postmatch interview, clearly not thrilled with having been upstaged by a bunch of unshaven, poorly tailored nobodies, but there was little he could do about it. For the second time in two weeks this tattered club from western Tokyo overrran a top-notch European opponent, and if not for the fact that they got a bit carried away, and started to celebrate before the match was completely over, they might have had an even more emphatic victory.

As it was, Verdy claimed a 2-1 victory as goals from veteran Kentaro Hayashi and youngster Tadamichi Machida overcame a late strike from a desperately attacking Fiorentina squad. Naturally, the Italian club is just starting their season, and working out the kinks in their team strategy. However, the team has been in Japan for a week, and already played matches against two other J.League clubs -- a less demanding schedule than Verdy's, particularly if you consider the level of competition Verdy has played over the past week. Therefore the old excuses about jet lag or exhaustion hardly apply. Verdy simply took this match to their opponent, and it took Fiorentina far too long to realise that they had a serious challenge on their hands, and start to put a 100% effort into the contest.

Fortunately for all concerned, Fiorentina displayed somewhat better sportsmanship than other teams who have dropped matches to J.League opposition recently. Though there was a bit of roughhousing over the final 15 minutes as the visitors began to react emotionally to the prospect of losing, generally speaking the players displayed a more sportsmanlike attitude after the final whistle than did the Spanish giants, following the Verdy match last week. In that contest, the entire collection of spoiled millionaires stomped off to their locker room right after the final whistle, leaving only Roberto Carlos to smile to the crowd and shake the hands of the Verdy youngsters. At least ONE player on that team has a bit of class. The Fiorentina players were far more genial and sportsmanlike, staying around to congratulate their opponents and then make a circuit around the stadium to wave to the fans.

Recently, there have been some comments from FIFA and AFC officials criticising these "Far East tours", for their exploitative nature and the fact that they do not give anything back to local teams. The Rising Sun News simply cant agree with this attitude. The fans want to see their European heroes, and are willing to pay that money to enjoy the spectacle. If the fans want to see these events, they will (and by all means should) continue to be held.

The only problems arise when the visiting team forgets that the name of the game is sportsmanship. The money, as well as the adulation, that they recieve needs to be repaid through good sportsmanship, fair play and a show of appreciation to the fans. Teams like Fiorentina, Barcelona and Bayern Munchen have certainly provided that to the people who came out to see them.

If there is a problem with these tours, it lies in the attitude of teams like Real Madrid and Manchester United, who seem to think that they DESERVE the obscene amounts of money that they receive for these exhibition matches, and that they dont have an obligation to pay anything back. For goodness sake, it isnt that much that we ask. Just that you show the same professionalism you would in a league match back in Europe, and that -- win or lose -- you can at least spare a smile and a pat on the back to that young player on the opposing team who has poured out his heart trying to earn the respect of players he idolizes. And when it all is over, that you take lap around the pitch to wave to those fans who turned out to see you. If youre not too proud to take their money, you certainly arent too proud to give them a smile and a wave, at the end of the contest. That is, after all, what they paid for.

Antlers Ride Herd on Man U

"Do you really think it is worth the effort?" I asked. "After all, it was just another one of those lucky flukes, right? After the one the other day, I didnt think anyone would be interested."

"The one the other day?" He asked. "Sorry, I dont follow you."

"Oh, just a few days ago, there was a match between Tokyo Verdy and some understrength pretenders from Spain. According to all the newspapers in Europe it was a lucky fluke, and after reading the European press comments about the Antlers - Man U. match I gather it was the same story. Nothing to get excited about."

"Oh, right." He replied, though he sounded a bit unsure of himself. "So you think the European press was pretty much on the mark, when they said it wasnt an accurate reflection of their performance?

"Well, sure. I mean, they obviously know a lot more about it than me, dont you think? When I was watching the match live I had the sense that the Antlers were playing more effectively, but clearly that isnt possible. So Im sure it was pretty much the way they reported it back in Manchester."

"I see . . . and were the Antlers at full strength? or were there any players missing?

"Well, not quite full strength. Alex Mineiro, the Antlers' Brazilian striker was missing, and so was Go Oiwa, the former national team defender. But from what I could tell, Manchester United were understrength too. That famous guy with the hairdo . . . . whats his name . . . Becky . . . He didnt play at all!"

Uhhh. Beckham plays for Real Madrid now.

"OH RIGHT! Thanks for reminding me. That was the name of the team that played against Verdy the other day. Small world. . . "

So apart from those players, was anyone else missing?

Ummmm, lets see. . . . Akira Narahashi was out. He's the starting right wingback. And Arivaldo dos Santos. He is the second-string right wingback. But the third-string wingback Jun Uchida is actually quite good, and he did a fair job of containing the man he was supposed to mark. Funny thing was, the announcers kept calling him Ronaldo, but Im SURE it wasnt Ronaldo. This guy was rather good-looking, and he actually had hair."

"Errrr . . . . right. But apart from that they were a full-strength lineup, and fairly well-rested?"

"Yeah, pretty much. . . . I mean . . . its true that Zico asked the Antlers to take out the three national team member early in the second half, so that they wouldnt be exhausted when they left for the East Asian Championships tomorrow. But by that time Manchester had taken out its starting strikers too, and brought in these three thuggish-looking guys who couldnt shoot straight. So its not as if the absence of the top three Antlers players had any real impact on the result."

Oh.
What about this striker who scored the two goals for Kashima. Is he any good?

"Oh, you mean Motoyama? Yeah hes a decent player but doesnt know how to play his position properly. Like you said, hes supposed to be a striker, right? All the newspapers in Europe reported that he was a striker as well. Youd think that would be good enough evidence. But for some reason Motoyama keeps insisting that he is a midfielder, and last night he was constantly playing out of position. If he would just pay attention to the experts and not try to play so deep in the formation, he might be able to get some better results. "

. . . . . .
What about this other team that Manchester United is playing -- the Urawa Reds?

"Yeah, they play each other on Saturday. Dont know if it will be very interesting though. All the Reds players are away on national team duty, and with Manchester United so understrength and tired and only taking it as a friendly and all, I think it will probably be a dull match."

"Oh, I see. So you think Manchester will have an easy victory, then . . .

Nah . . . more likely it will be another one of those lucky flukes. Seems they happen alot when European teams come to Japan in the summertime. But its nothing to get worked up about. After all, look at the history -- these lucky flukes happen at least five or six times every summer, and everyone knows that the J.League is a crap league."

Oh wait a minute . . . ." he interrupted, sounding a bit solemn and apologetic. " I never meant to imply anything like that."

"No worries." I told him before hanging up. "I read that in the Manchester Evening News, this morning. Im sure it MUST be true."

Great Scot! Shunsuke Wears Hoops

Though Nakamura had a relatively unimpressive season in 2004-05, due partly to injury and partly to the lack of offensive support on Reggina's roster last season, his strong performances for the national team were enough to earn attention from a number of European teams. However, at a relatively early stage, the old firm giants from Glasgow showed that they had done their homework and were sincerly determined to bring Shunsuke to Celtic Park in 2005. Nakamura had initially indicated that he wanted to play in Spain, but the enthusiastic courting from Celtic eventually won him over, and by last weekend it was clear that he would be on his way to Scotland as soon as he and the team could work out issues such as image rights and licensing. On Tuesday, the details were finalised and a very enthusiastic Gordon Strachan announced the deal to the local press.

Though we have noted in the past that Spain would probably offer Nakamura an ideal playing environment, since the style of football in La Liga is so well suited to his mix of strengths and weaknesses, we think that the Scottish Premier League may turn out to be a good environment for him as well. Though it is true that football in Scotland tends to be a bit physical, and Shunsuke certainly is not known as a "tough guy", we think that he will be able to cope with the physical side of the game. If anything, the pressure that he faces in league action may benefit him in the long run, especially in his performances for the national team, since he will be challenged to develop even greater strength on the ball. His three years in Italy certainly brought a major improvement in Nakamura's ability to shake off defensive challenges, and if he continues to respond in a positive way to the challenges he faces, it can only help him improve as a player.

More importantly, though, the football played in the Scottish Premiership tends to be very "positive", unlike the risk-averse, conservative play that characterises Serie A. Nakamura should be able to employ his offensive creativity and technical precision much more freely than he was able to do in Italy. Furthermore, Celtic have a fairly good chance to make their way through the secondary qualification route, and take part in Champions League action this season. Certainly the move to Celtic will allow Shunsuke to get at least some taste of European play.

We have updated our player page for Nakamura with up-to-date statistics on both league action and National Team play through July (including data of the Serie A season and the national team's participation in the Confederations' Cup). We look forward to an exciting season for Nakamura and all of his fans, and wish Celtic the best of luck in their domestic league and European campaigns, in 2005-06.

Barca Equalled Again by Feisty Marinos

After another 90 minutes, however, the two teams still could not settle the matter of bragging rights. Barcelona certainly played with greater flair. But once again the Marinos fought a determined battle, and certainly were not wanting for scoring opportunities of their own. Indeed, it was the Marinos who nearly took the lead twice on breakaways by the young and apparently tireless strike pair of Daisuke Sakata and Masahiro Ohashi.

Barcelona finally managed to break down the Marinos defence in the dying minutes of the first half, as a looping cross from the right flank was headed home by the speedy Xavi, who reached the ball inches ahead of keeper Tatsuya Enomoto. But the Marinos had yet another late comeback in their bag of tricks, and with 12 minutes to go, defender Yuzo Kurihara soared through the Barcelona penalty box to meet Sakata's corner kick with a thundering header, giving Yokohama their second consecutive draw with the Spanish league champs.

Once again, Barcelona displayed the grace of true champions, with both Xavi and Ronaldinho thanking both the Marinos and their fans, and promising to return again -- perhaps as early as December -- to make one more bid to defeat the stubborn seagulls. This is good news indeed. Of all the clubs who have visited Japan this year, only Barcelona and Fiorentina (and to a lesser extent, Bolton Wanderers who played in a widely-overlooked 1-1 draw against Kawasaki Frontale) have shown their hosts and the fans the sort of respect and appreciation which these "goodwill tours" are supposed to promote. If teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid think that they can win new fans and "market" themselves in Japan by kicking opposing players in the hamstring when nobody is looking, or flashing a disputed number of fingers at the fans whose money made the event possible in the first place, well, next year maybe they should just stay at home.

Reds Reserves no Match for Manchester

When Giggs and Ronaldo came on at the start of the second half, however, the difference in quality soon became apparent. It is a bit unfortunate that we were not able to see what the Reds could have done against a world-class opponent with players like Tatsuya Tanaka, Keisuke Tsuboi, Tulio and Alex Santos in the lineup. But at least the entrance of Ronaldo gave the crown its money's worth in terms of excitement. Wayne Rooney won the man of the match honours by scoring twice over a breif period around the one-hour mark. His first goal came on a pretty through pass from Paul Scholes which put Rooney through with only one defender in his path. Satoshi Horinouchi actually made the defensive play, but his saving tackle bounded off another defender's leg and right back to Rooney, who was not about to waste this bit of good fortune. He drilled a shot into the far side of the net, and that pretty much sealed the Reds doom. Minutes later Rooney caught reserve keeper Norihiro Yamaguchi off his line, and looped a shot over his head to extend the Manchester lead.

The final 20 minutes of play were actually quite interesting, even though the result was clearly in United's hands, as they gave us our first chance to see Urawa's three recent foreign acquisitions for the first time. Both Ponte and Maric acquited themselves reasonably well, and we suspect that they will provide useful experience over the second half of the season. But the real star of the show was the Reds' 16-year-old Brazilian signing, Escudero. The youngster has good speed and dribbling skills that are sure to make Reds fans forget Emerson in no time. In the last minute of extra time, Escudero took an inlet pass from Ponte and shimmied his way through the entire Man U back line, including keeper Edwin vander Saar, only to fire over the crossbar with the goal at his mercy.

A consolation goal would have been nice, but all in all the Reds performed as well as could be expected considering the circumstances. Hopefully the next time the two Vodaphone-sponsored teams meet, they will take care to schedule the match at a time when both sides are able to play their top members.

Impossible is Nothing

So when Real Madrid arrived in Japan for an exhibition match against Tokyo Verdy, the 26 goals that Verdy had conceded over the preceding six matches didnt matter. The seven-figure salaries of all the media superstars on the Real Madrid squad were of no consequence. The expectations of fans and oddmakers alike may have been uninimous about the likely outcome. It would be surprising if even the Verdy players themselves thought they had a chance against the Spanish giants. But none of that mattered. The only thing that did matter was what happened on that hundred-meter-long rectangle of green.

And what did happen was something that verdy players and fans alike will remember long after this unhappy season is over. It wasnt just some lucky fall of the dice, or some fluke of nature. This was not something that Real fans will look at and say "Oh, Verdy didnt deserve that result. It was just a lucky break." No, the simple fact of the matter was that Verdy outplayed their opponent for a full 90 minutes. They ran harder. They tackled more effectively. They passed and dribbled with superior skill and effectiveness. And when the time came, they put the ball in the net.

Not once. Not twice. But THREE TIMES!

Six minutes into the contest, while the two teams were still just pushing the ball around, feeling one another out, Atsushi Yoneyama received a back pass, about ten meters outside the penalty area. The Real Madrid players were hanging back in a defensive stance, assuming they could deal with whatever Verdy tried to throw at them. But suddenly Yoshiyuki Kobayashi bolted out of the middle row and Yoneyama read his move perfectly, toeing the ball over the top of the Real defence. It took a deflection on the way through, but still fell right to Kobayashi, who hurriedly swiped at it and sent the ball spinning past the keeper, giving Verdy a shock 1-0 lead.

At this point, Real showed no real concern, assuming that they would be able to make up the difference before long. But the goal provided a spark of hope in a team that has had very little to cheer about over the past month or two. Perhaps it awakened their sense of pride and determination, as the team suddenly realised that they could banish an entire season's worth of bad memories if only they could maintain this score line. The Spanish team came out and began to pressure the Verdy zone, workingthe ball forward and looking for chances to get a shot on net. But the more time that ticked away, the greater the inspiration became for the green brigade. They matched Real in intensity, and even kept the disparity in skill and savvy to a minimum.

Then, with Real pressing forward looking for the equaliser, Verdy got the break which would turn the match on its head once and for all. In the 26 minute, Kazuki Hiramoto pushed forward on a "counterattack" with Takuya Yamada and Washington joining him for a three-on-five break. Though outnumbered, the Verdy players were running far harder than their opponents. and Hiramoto showed excellent poise, holding the ball despite heavy pressure from behind, and carefully judging when Washington would make his break. The pass was perfect, just narrowly beating the Real Mardrid offside trap. Though the Real players appealed for offside, a replay shows that the pass was impeccably timed, and Washington still a half-step onside when it was released. The big Brazilian collected the ball, feinted once, then ripped a low shot into the right corner, to give Verdy a stunning 2-0 lead.

The remaining 20 minutes of the first half were the most difficult Verdy would face in the entire match, as Real pressed continuously, looking for at least one goal before the break. But dogged defending and relentless, tireless movement to the ball kept the visitors scoreless, and as half time approached, Real began to lose their cool. When Kazuyuki Toda managed to wind up David Beckam enough to get the England captain redfaced, and on the verge of throwing punches, you could sense that the match needed just one tiny push to send it permanently into Verdy's control.

That push came in the 53 minute. Real came out of the locker room and applied continuous, debilitating pressure on the Verdy defence. They knew they were the better team; they just had to get the ball into the Verdy net, and that look of "destiny" on the faces of the Verdy players would vanish, their resistance would collapse and Real could cruise to a narrow but acceptable victory. But try as they might, they just couldnt breach the ferocious defence of Verdy, and quick outlet passes to Hiramoto and Washington were allowing Verdy to kill time up at the other end, as well. Eight minutes into the first half, Verdy got their first real opportunity of the second half -- a corner kick from the right side. Takahito Soma sent a low line drive for the near post, and captain Takuya Yamada threw himself headlong through te air, at boot-top level, meetingt he ball about six inches above the turf. It caromed off his tousled head and spun into the back of the Madrid net.

The crowd exploded in a mixture of amazement and celebration. The Verdy players seemed to float three feet above the playing surface as they gathered for a giant group hug. And every head on the Real Madrid side of the pitch began shaking side to side, in disbelief. Though there were still over 35 minutes left on the clock, the match was over. Madrid knew it. Verdy knew it. The crowd knew it. Even coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo knew it, and began rotating in a fresh group of substitutes to play out the string, and protect his stars from any risk of unnecessary injury.

As time ran down, the heavens opened and a sudden downpour of drenching rain covered one and all. The crowd danced wildly in the stands, the Verdy players threw back their heads and soaked in the feeling of cool relief, breaking their long losing streak at last, and in a fashion that will be remembered long after their final league record in the 2005 season is forgotten.

Impossible is nothing. Not in the beautiful game. In fact, impossible isnt even in the vocabulary.

On a given day, anything can happen. Anything.

Isnt that something!