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March 30, 2008Oh Deer!
During the break, there was one big news flash from Kawasaki that caught a lot of people by surprise, and which could have an impact on other teams besides just Frontale. A mere two weeks into the season, the Kawasaki Frontale head office announced that Brazilian striker and top young prospect Givanildo "Hulk" de Souza would be allowed to leave the team, and that Frontale would begin an immediate search for another team that wants to sign him. Frontale's totally hapless play in its first few matches certainly left the impression that SOMETHING was wrong, but we had the impression that the problem stemmed from the selfish play of Juninho, and we kept wondering when Hulk would push the veteran out of the lineup. Apparently the team management views Juninho as an essential part of their plans, this year. Hulk was unwilling (for good reason, in our view) to sit on the bench and watch Juninho flounder about, when he knew he could do a better job, and since he couldnt convince the coaching staff to give him playing time, he asked instead to be traded. Hulk led the J2 in scoring last season, and was a critical factor in helping Tokyo Verdy win promotion to the J1. In our view, he could be starting on any team in the league. So naturally, the question of where he might end up is a very important one. The top candidates at the moment are Tokyo Verdy, where he played last season, and Urawa Reds, who surely have the money to sign him. There is also a possibility that he could go back to Brazil. Whatever the case may be, we will be watching closely to see what happens over the next week or two. Now lets take a look at the scores from Sunday's contests:z
The spotlight match this weekend was the head-to-head clash between the top two teams, Kashima Antlers and Yokohama Marinos. At the start of the day, they were two of only three teams with perfect records over the first two weeks of the season, and considering the fact that both teams had scored more goals than Oita Trinita, both knew that the winner of this match would almost certainly come away as the league leader and the early "team to beat"
  vs   The two teams have a long-standing rivalry, and based on both personnel and recent performance, we expected this to be a closely contested battle. Sure enough, the fans at Kashima Stadium goth their money's worth in an eventful, albeit low-scoring tussle that was decided in the waning moments of the second half. Indeed, about the only person in the stadium on Sunday who didnt havve an extremely impressive outing was the referee, Mr. Anazawa, who seemed unable to keep up with the pace and intensity of the contest, and wound up annoying both teams and fan contingents. Perhaps the highlight -- or rather, the lowlight -- of the afternoon came late in the second half, with the score deadlocked and less than 15 minutes remaining on the clock. After the Antlers took the lead on a goal by Marquinhos , late in the first half, the Marinos fought back and equalised at the midway mark of the second half on a low shot by Takanobu Komiyama, which skipped on the wet turf as if it had hit a patch of asphalt, and snuck past the keeper into the low left corner. As Kashima started increasing the pressure to try to restore their advantage, Marquinhos beat the offside trap on a long ball over the top, and raced behind Yuzo Kurihara, collecting the ball just to the left of the box and cutting for the left post. Kurihara was a full step behind the speedy Antlers striker and had no chance to stop Marquinhos legally, but if he allowed the Brazilian to cut into the box, a goal was almost certain becasuse there were no other defenders in position to help out. So Kurihara made the "professional sacrifice" that cynical defenders usually do. A step before Marquinhos reached the box, he slid in from behind and took his legs out from under him. There was never any question that he was going for the ball, but he did try to break Marquinhos' fall to reduce the risk of injury. Both teams knew exactly what Kurihara intended, and Marquinhos didnt even show much anger at first. Kurihara was sacrificing himself to stop a goal, in the hope that his team could make it through the final 15 minutes, a man down, without conceding a goal. But while all 22 players seemed to understand the script, Mr. Anazawa didnt. First, he took out a YELLOW card, allowing Kurihara to stay in the match despite what was a textbook definition of a red-card offence, thereby infuriating all the Antlers players. Then, he walked over and pointed to the penalty spot -- despite the fact that the foul took place at least three feet outside the box -- and sent the Marinos on a tirade. We have seen a lot of bad calls over the years, but rarely has a referee managed to get a call SO wrong that he manages to infuriate BOTH teams. Fortunately for Yokohama, Mitsuo Ogasawara botched his spot kick, leaving the match deadlocked. But five minutes later a break fell the other way, as Yuji Nakazawa lunged to prevent Marquinhos' cross from the left flank from reaching Yuzo Koroki , at the penalty spot, but he only managed to deflect the ball onto the feet of Danilo , four meters out from the left post. Danilo settled the ball, then drove a powerful shot through the keeper's legs to give Kashima the victory
It wasnt quite as dull as it looks, based on the box score, but the clash between Shimizu S-Pulse and Omiya Ardija certainly wasnt one of the more eventful contests on Sunday.
  0 - 0  
The Urawa Reds finally broke out of their long slump, at Saitama Stadium on Sunday, rolling over Albirex Niigata to a 3-0 victory. Actually, the content of this match wasnt quite as one-sided as it looks on the scoreboard, but there definitely was a lot more offensive crispness and intensity on display than what Urawa has shown in the recent past. Coach Engels has adopted a style of play that is far more adventurous and enjoyable to watch than anything we have seen over the past two years. And as it often does, the greater momentum and positive attitude seemed to attract good fortune. Since the Reds were pressing forward hard, all day long, they left some space at the back that Albirex was able to exploit. If their finishing had been a bit better, of a few breaks fell their way, they probably deserved a goal -- maybe even two -- as consolation.
  3 - 0   But there was never any question which of the two teams had the upper hand in this contest. Even before Takahito Soma opened the scoring, two minutes before the break, it was apparent that the Reds were starting to click on offence, and a goal would eventually arrive. Certainly the return of Marcus Tulio Tanaka -- who played at defensive midfield in this contest rather than his usual spot in the back line -- had an impact on the team's effectiveness. But we had the sense that the Reds would have been able to break out of their funk even without their combative lynchpin. Everyone in the squad showed the sort of intesity and effort that had been lacking, earlier in the season. Just seconds after the restart, Tulio struck for his first goal of the season, and the Reds seemed to have the contest in their pocket. However, the Mighty Swans put up a bit of a fight over the next 20 minutes or so, and as we said above, only poor finishing and a few unlucky bounces prevented them from getting at least one consolation goal. But in the 67 minute, Yuichiro Nagai drove the final nail into the coffin, stabbing home a rebound after the Albirex keeper fumbled a shot from the right edge of the box.
Gamba Osaka also broke out of their slump, winning a closely fought battle with Tokyo Verdy on a goal by Lucas, 15 minutes from full time. As they have done in all of their matches this season, Verdy showed solid team organization and a fairly good defence, but their inability to produce much on the offensive end cost them a result.
  2 - 1   Ryuji Bando opened the scoring for Gamba with a leaping volley that looped over the keeper's fingertips. But 15 minutes later Verdy equalised on a similar play, with Yuzo Funakoshi meeting a looped pass from the right flank and sending his first touch streaking just inside the near post. Verdy held Gamba at bay for the next 45 minutes, and it was beginning to look like Gamba might be held to yet another draw. But with less than 15 minutes remaining, Tomokazu Myoijin's cross from the left found Lucas streaking through the box, and the Brazilian ace drove a powerful left-footed shot into the back netting.
Kawasaki Frontale also broke out of their slump, with a 2-0 victory over 10-man JEF United. The Blue Dolphins took an early lead when just two minutes after kickoff, Chong Tese cut loose with a long-distance shot that caught the keeper off his line, cleared his fingertips and squeezed just underneath the crossbar.
  2 - 0   Midway through the first half Koki Yonekura, who was already carrying one yellow card, foolishly charged into Kengo Nakamura from behind, though Frontale were still nearly 50 meters from goal. The challenge was not that brutal, but it was extremely late and very clumsy, and not at all the sort of thing that a player with one yellow card should be doing. Yonekura paid the full price for his recklessness, as the ref handed him a ticket to the showers. This gave Kawasaki a boost going into the break, and on the stroke of half time Satoshi Kukino doubled Frontale's advantage. In the second half, JEF put up a pretty impressive struggle as they tried desperately to get back into the contest. But with a man advantage and strong support from the home crowd, Kawasaki mas never going to let this result slip. Playing conservatively down the stretch, Frontale preserved their victory and claimed the full three points.
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With their victory over the Marinos, coupled with a loss by Oita Trinita, the Kashima Antlers move into sole possession of first place. However, things are starting to look a little bit more normal, as Reds, Gamba and Frontale all moved out of the league basement. Only one team -- Albirex Niigata -- still has not claimed a point from the first three matches of the season
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