Kashima Antlers 3-4 S-Pa (Emperor's Cup 5th Round)

And it doesn't get much tighter than that!

After Kashima scored with five minutes of extra time to go I was bracing myself for the lottery of a penalty shoot out, but there was rookie of the year (in my humble opinion!) Kazuki Hara to put it in in the very last minute of extra time! He at once saved us the hell of a shoot out, knocked out defending champions Kashima Antlers, and put S-Pulse into the quarter finals of the Emperor's Cup! After the anguish of the Nabisco, it's great to know there's another competition still to play for!

Highlights from yesterday's game and a half:



Well, the 2008 record against last year's double winners is none too shoddy at all! P5 W3 D1 L1, which breaks down like this:

League:

S-Pulse 1-0 Antlers
Antlers 2-0 S-Pulse

Nabisco Cup

Antlers 0-0 S-Pulse
S-Pulse 2-1 Antlers

Emperor's Cup

Antlers 3-4 S-Pulse

So now next up is FC Tokyo who today knocked out Albirex Niigata. The match is to be played December 20th. We're now only two games away from another BDO to the Kokuritsu, and from equaling the record for cup final appearances during the pro era. Still, we know that's a long way off just yet! Our record against FC Tokyo this year is pretty solid: 1-0 at home, 5-1 away, (not to mention 3-1 home and 1-1 away in the league cup) so we have nothing to fear!!

Well done to S-Pulse today, seriously. Bouncing back from recent events to put the holders of the competition out is no mean feat! After the hellish week of the Nabisco cup final loss followed by the Derby Debacle, well it shows a real strength of character to come from behind and despatch the best team in the country. S-Pulse - the pride of Shizuoka prefecture - you make us proud!

Emperor's Cup 1/4 final full draw:

Yokohama F. Marinos v Sagan Tosu
Gamba Osaka or Jubilo Iwata v Nagoya Grampus
S-Pulse v FC Tokyo
Kashiwa Reysol v Sanfrecce Hiroshima

To be played December 20th