Ono's Injury / Emp Cup 4th Round / Kashiwa Game Sold Out / The Globe is Back!

Barry writes

Ono

Ono is out with his right knee for another four weeks or so.

Emperor's Cup

The next round of the cup is at Nihondaira versus JEF United. Kick off is at 3pm, December 17th. If we get through the 1/4 final (24th) and 1/2 final (29th) are both in Osaka at the Nagai Stadium.

Kashiwa Game

The game tomorrow with Kashiwa is completely sold out, and it looks like sunshine. :)

Globe

After six years in the wilderness, S-Pulse have announced a glorious return to the globe motif on their shirts for next season. You have no idea how happy this makes me. I might even buy one. :)

S-Pulse 2-0 Gifu 2nd (Emp Cup, 2nd Rnd)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 2-0 Gifu 2nd
Takeuchi 45
Omae 45+1

Att. 3648

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Hiraoka
DF Iwashita
DF Ota
DF Tsujio

MF Ono
MF Jong-a-Pin
MF Takeuchi

FW Omae
FW Takagi
FW Nabeta

Subs Used

Sugiyama on for Iwashita (HT)
Edamura on for Ono (61)
Takahara on for Takagi (72)

Report

S-Pulse moved past Gifu's Seconds with the help of débutante Takeuchi's headed goal and then a cross which led to our second, and ultimately winning, goal. Other good news from today's low key affair was Takahara's return to the team after injury and Jong a Pin demonstrating his versatility when replacing Iwashita as centre back at half time after Sugiyama was brought on.

The win means we meet Gainare Tottori. The 3rd round game will be on November 16th, which is a Wednesday evening at Nihondaira, 7pm.

I fancied a change from behind the goal

Welcome back, Taka

Videos

Here's Takeuchi's excellent opener in lovely slomo from YouTube user imoimo9.

Emperor's Cup Highlights and 2005-2010 Montage

Barry writes:

Finally I can bring myself to watch.



But probably a lot more interesting is this great digest video YouTube user Jooomaru made of the Kenta years. So many memories. :)

Kashima 2-1 S-Pulse (Emp Cup Final)

Barry writes:

Kashima 2-1 S-Pulse
Don't know 26 -------------- Johnsen 59
Don't care 79

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Ichikawa
DF Iwashita
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF M. Yamamoto
MF Honda
MF Ono

FW Okazaki
FW Johnsen
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

T. Ito on for M. Yamamoto (67)
Hara on for Ono (82)
Omae on for Honda (87)

Report

Not up to writing anything yet. Maybe Monday. Absolutely cracking day out in the sun, though. Only two teams get to do it on New Year's Day, and regardless of the result, it was an away day to top any other.

Can't beat a cup final Big Day Out

Kick off

Bugger

Do they ever get bored? You know, of winning all the bloody time?

Why let a small detail like the result get in the way of a stunning away day :)

Videos

S-Pulse 3-0 Gamba Osaka (Emp Cup Semi Final)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 3-0 Gamba Osaka
Johnsen 19, 61
Hyodo 28

Att. 14179

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Ichikawa
DF Iwashita
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF Hyodo
MF Honda
MF Ono

FW Okazaki
FW Johnsen
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

Ito T. on for Ono (69)
Omae on for Johnsen (77)
Yamamoto on for Hyodo (90)

Report

Blimey. Five days ago we hadn't even played our quarter final. Now we're two days away from a cup final day out in Tokyo. When you've spent most of the days in-between drunk and/or bloated on Christmas gorging, it's more than a little surreal. I guess that's the unique magic of the Emperor's Cup!

Kick off

We played with a confidence and verve that surprised even me. We battered Osaka for long periods, and when they did launch attacks of their own, Kaito, who has stepped into the space left by the injured Nishibe, displayed safe hands time and again. Ono was a class above as usual, and the impact of the lack of Endo for the visitors was clearly apparent. Johnsen seems to like Ecopa, and he was on hand again to nod home his second and third goals at the Fukuroi stadium this year.

I'll keep it short because I'm tired, hung over and worn out from all that sambaing. Well, we ran around with a purpose and intent I've not seen for a while. We swept around the field with confidence and always looked like winning. If we can recreate that on Saturday I've no doubt we can win it against the Antlers. We're yet to lose to Kashima this season and owe them for the 2000 final when they did us 3-2 after extra time.

It's our fourth Emperor's Cup final appearance, and nineth cup final in total. From those previous eight, we've won only two. If nothing else, the law of averages is on our side! Losing seven out of nine would be statistically improbable. Therefore, we're going to win. :)

You'd better believe it!

The 90th Emperor's Cup. 2010 Final: Kashima Antlers versus Shimizu S-Pulse. Two of the five ever-presents in J1 face off together for more than the Emperor's Cup title. Also at stake is the fourth and final ACL berth. The game is totally sold out but my ticket is safely stashed under my pillow, so you can be assured of a full report on Sunday (or sometime in February is we lose).

Videos

Soneone's video of Johnsen's opener.



I took a video which happily coincided with Hyodo's bullet strike.



The big fella makes it 3-0 with his second of the day.



Outs

While I'm here, Nagasawa and Hiroi have been loaned out to J2 outfit Roasso Kumamoto for a year, while Takagi has left for Consadole Sapporo.

S-Pulse 1-1 Yamagata (AET) S-Pa win 5-4 on Pens (Emp Cup 1/4 Final)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 1-1 Yamagata (AET)
Bosnar 109 -----------------Tashiro 107

(S-Pa win 5-4 on Pens)

Att. 11719

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Ichikawa
DF Iwashita (yellow 118)
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF Hyodo
MF Honda
MF Ono (yellow 41)

FW Okazaki
FW Johnsen
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

Omae on for Ono (70)
M. Yamamoto on for Fujimoto (88)
Kijima on for Omae (111)

Report

Well, that was a novel way to spend a Christmas afternoon. :) Due to the way the calender fell this year, it was all down to Daira on the 25th for the quarter final of the cup. 90 minutes in the bitterly cold wind, followed by 30 more of extra time, more than once I considered the warmth of my kotatsu and a nicely chilled Asahi. But we're lucky in Japan in that there are very few games held in the winter months, so if I couldn't rouse myself to shout us on to the semi finals, I wouldn't be much of a fan, eh?

It was a long old haul, but we saw it through. The tension going into the second half of extra time exploded when Yamagata took the lead through Tashiro. It left us stood staring in silence at the blue and white masses cavorting around the terraces. It was a scene of euphoric bedlam that would have been pretty impressive were it not so sickeningly annoying.

HO HO HO

But we were soon jumping around hugging total strangers thanks to the big fella Bosar. He rose to flick a corner into the top right which sailed majestically past the despairing keeper. After a couple of close calls for both teams, to penalties it went. All five of our heroes hit the net, and with Yamagata's second kicker's effort being stopped by Kaito, our season is extended another four days.

Wednesday we're all off to Ecopa to face defending champions Gamba Osaka in what is our fifth cup semi final appearance in three years. Only once out of the other four did we get through to the final, so the law of averages is surely on our side! :-D See you there!

Penalty shoot outs - not fun for anyone concerned

Videos

Highlights:



Full video of the shoot out:

Cup Quarter Final Venue Confirmed

Barry writes:

Emperor's Cup 1/4 Final, Nihondaira Stadium
Christmas Day 2010

S-Pulse v Yamagata

Kick off 1pm.

HO HO HO.

So much for Sendai! :) If we make it through, the semi final will be played at 1pm, Ecopa on December 29th.

Yokohama F. Marinos 0-3 S-Pulse (Emp Cup 4th Rnd)

Barry writes:

Yokohama F. Marinos 0-3 S-Pulse
------------------------------------------------------------------------Fujimoto 48
------------------------------------------------------------------------Okazaki 72, 81

Att.　6054

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Tsujio
DF Hiraoka
DF Iwashita
DF Ota

MF Hyodo
MF Honda
MF Ono

FW Okazaki
FW Nagai
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

Omae on for Fujimoto (75)
Ito T. on for Ono (82)
Ito S. on for Okazaki (89)

Report

S-Pulse produced a virtuoso display (possibly) to beat Marinos 3-0 away from home and progress to the quarter finals of the Emperor's Cup. The quarter final will be played on Christmas Day, meaning I risk a mammoth bust up with the other half if I attempt to make it. Bollocks. Well, we'll worry about that later. I'm off out to celebrate and make up for having not been there.

Next we meet Montedio Yamagata who we have beaten in out last four meetings with an aggregate score of 10-1. Ho ho ho. Let's not get cocky, but the draw has been kind. The game is rumoured to be at Sendai's Yurtec Stadium, but as soon as anything in confirmed I'll post it here.

Kampai!

Videos

Okazaki's second, which made it 3-0. Excellent travelling support for a wet Wednesday away from home.

S-Pulse 4-1 Mito Hollyhock (Emp Cup 3rd Rnd)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 4-1 Mito Hollyhock
Iwashita 63-----------------Ohashi 53
Ono 66
Omae 91
Ota 94

Att. 3107

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Tsujio
DF Hiroi
DF Iwashita
DF Ota

MF Hyodo
MF Yamamoto M.
MF Ito T.

FW Ito S.
FW Nagai
FW Hara

Subs Used

Ono on for Ito T. (63)
Omae on for Yamamoto M. (79)
Nagasawa on for Hyodo (85)

Report

As I sit here scoffing the last of my S-Pulse birthday cake, finally I have some happy tidings to convey. We won a game! It feels like an age, and it's certainly been a while since we scored four. Yes, it was against J2 opposition, but boy does it relieve some of the gathering darkness of recent weeks.

It was all change after Sunday's aggregate defeat. Only Nishibe, Hyodo and Yamamoto remained, with Ito Sho making a first start. He was joined up top by Nagai and Hara. Not a bad front line by any means, and I was impressed with Sho's tricky dribbling game. He has a verve and confidence about him which I like, and want to see more of - especially against higher level opponents.

It looks like a comfortable enough scoreline on the face of it, but our four only came after an absolute howler by Nishibe to gift Mito a lead. Think Green's spillage for England in the World Cup and you've pretty much got it. A speculative effort from Ohashi should have been a straightforward collect, but the ball squirmed up and out of Yohei's hands and into the net. Not that it was the visitor's first attempt. Up to that point, Mito had hit us on the counter more than once and even had the ball in the net, but it was ruled out by the lineman's flag.

Mito's hardy travelling bunch

Nishibe's error kick started us somewhat, and after five corners in quick succession, we finally broke through via Iwashita. Three minutes later a penalty was put home by the just-brought-on Ono, whose introduction did the trick. He steadied the ship and helped sort out what creativity we'd been lacking in the centre of the park. After getting in front though, we did then tend to sit back and invite Mito onto us, which ensured a nervy end to the game. That was until the very end when a couple of swift moves resulted in goals for Omae and Ota, with Ota's being the last kick of the game.

Kick off

In the next round we play Yokohama F. Marinos. The game is scheduled for Wednesday November 17th, location to be confirmed.

Videos

Iwashita's equaliser.



Here's a vid I took of our second, Ono's penalty - his third goal in three games, no less!



Omae with our third.



Ota makes it four.

S-Pulse 2-0 Honda FC (Emp Cup 2nd Rnd)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 2-0 Honda FC
Hara 74
Nagasawa 92

Att. 3739

Report

A reserve S-Pulse XI moved past local side Honda FC earlier today.

In the 3rd round we'll play J2 side Mito Hollyhock. The game will be at Nihondaira, Saturday October 9th. Kick off at 1pm.

Videos

Hara's opener:



Nagasawa makes it two:

S-Pulse 1-1 Nagoya (Nagoya win 5-3 on Pens)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 1-1 Nagoya (Nagoya win 5-3 on Pens)
Okazaki 16 -------------- Tamada 56 (pen)

Att: 19578

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Ichikawa
DF Hiraoka
DF Arata
DF Ota

MF Hyodo
MF Honda
MF Edamura
MF Fujimoto

FW Okazaki
FW Nagasawa

Subs used

Johnsen on for Nagasawa (HT)
Tsujio on for Fujimoto (84)
Hara on for Hyodo (112)

Report

I'm back in England right now and didn't manage to raise myself at 4am to watch this one unfold, but my eyebrow did just shoot up when I noticed Nagasawa started ahead of Johnsen. I don't know the full story here, but why, in a game of this magnitude, we'd play a young rookie ahead of any of our better and more experienced strikers is absolutely beyond me. He got subbed at half time for Frode.

It took extra time and penalties to decide this one, with Ichikawa's shoot out miss proving the difference. He beat the keeper, but not the crossbar. The meaningless lottery of the penalty shootout was played out with noone else missing, which meant Nagoya won 5-3 on spot kicks. Another cup semi final loss isn't exactly a joy to behold, but that's football, and all things considered we've had a better season than many.

Gamba Osaka will be Nagoya's opponents in the final on Friday, and it's hard to look beyond the Osaka outfit adding to their impressive six-trophy trophy haul in recent years. If Osaka do defend the title they won on Jan 1st 2009, Hiroshima will receive the fourth ACL spot for next year. For that reason alone I'm kind if hoping Gamba win this one!

Highlights

Here are some extended highlights of the game. There's no replays on any of the goals or for the penalty decision (which looks like the Nagoya player just falls over into Arata), so if I can find a better set of highlights I'll add them.

S-Pulse 3-2 Niigata (aet) Emperor's Cup 1/4 Final

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 3-2 Niigata
Okazaki 11 ----------------Matsushita 15
Johnsen 86 ----------------Yano 88
Kodama 104

Att. 9705

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Ichikawa
DF Hiraoka
DF Arata
DF Ota

MF Fujimoto
MF Honda
MF Edamura
MF Hyodo

FW Johnsen
FW Okazaki

Subs Used

Nagasawa on for Hyodo (72)
Ito on for Fujimoto (88)
Nagia on for Honda (95)

S-Pulse marched on to the semi final of the cup in a pulsating match at a sun-bathed Nihondaira this afternoon. An excellent away support came down from Niigata for what would be the final game of 2009 for one of these two teams. S-Pulse rediscovered the art of goal scoring with both front men getting on the score sheet, but it was Arata Kodama who popped up deep in extra time first half stoppage time to volley home the goal which sent us into the cup semi final.

Nihondaira Stadium, Shizuoka City, Japan
A balmy 23 degree Saturday afternoon (On December 12th!!!)

Everton Santos saw red (but had to be carried off)

The semi final will be played at Ecopa Stadium on December 29th at 1pm. Opponents will be Nagoya, who beat Gifu in their quarter final.

Videos

Highlights taken from the official Albirex channel:



Now for some personal cam captures of our goals, starting with Okazaki's opener:



Johnsen makes it two one:



Arata volleys home the winner:



All three videos courtesy of YouTube user ssnnddttyy.

Emp. Cup 1/4 Final Venue Confirmed: Nihondaira!

Barry writes:

Seems we've lucked out big style. The Emperor's Cup quarter and semi final venues and kick off times were announced today, and we've been handed a home draw in both, should we progress. The quarter final tie with Alibirex Niigata will be played at Nihondaira, kick off 1pm on Saturday December 12th.

If we win we'll go on to face the winner of Nagoya and FC Gifu which will be played Tuesday December 29th at Ecopa. Kick off 1pm. Click here for the official announcement (Japanese). This reporter thinks we've been handed a massive chance to make our first Emp Cup final since 2005, and will be gutted if we don't make it. Come on, boys!

As long as the possibility remains...

Barry writes:

This is not a fanbase about to give up any time soon:



A stunning travelling support made it's way over 100 miles north of a Sunday evening only to presented with a shocker of a performance. Even after the final whistle they sang on. But that horrific night is now dead and gone. Not forgotten, but for the time being there are bigger things to worry about. Starting with progressing in the Emperor's Cup on Saturday, then the make or break tie with Gamba Osaka next Saturday (21st).

The tie with Gamba is set to sell out a full week before kick off, making it one of the fastest selling games in S-Pulse history. The stadium will be a boiling orange cauldron as we roar our boys onto a win which which will get everything back on track. As stated at the end of the video above:

0-5, but we won't quit.

ACL.

Emperor's Cup.

As long as the possibility remains...

S-Pulse 2-0 Consadore Sapporo (Emp Cup Rnd 3)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 2-0 Consadore Sapporo
Nagai 0, 20

Att. 5101

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Ichikawa
DF Hiraoka
DF Iwashita
DF Ota

MF Fujimoto
MF Honda
MF M. Yamamoto
MF Hyodo

FW Okazaki
FW Nagai

Subs Used

Arata on for Iwashita (18)
Johnsen on for Nagai (63)

Report

Well, it took the best part of the season, several false starts, and some wretched luck with injuries, but Yuichiro Nagai is finally off the mark! Thanks in main to the first goals to come from our number nine, S-Pulse progressed to the 4th round of 2009's Emperor's Cup by dispatching Consadore Sapporo 2-0.

I call this one "portrait of a hero"

In the few times I've seen him, I've become a big fan of Nagai and I believe he's got so much more to give than he's been able to this year. I was made up to see him in the starting line up and he didn't take long to give Kenta even more headaches when choosing his best two up front. Thirty seconds after the start he was on hand to knock home a shot which back came off the post and grab his first goal in orange. He followed up 19 minutes later after some defensive hesitation from the visitors cost them dearly.

Awesome banner

Worrying was the enforced substitution of Iwashita who twice in three minutes was on the end of the away team's strong approach to the game. The first time he was clattered to the ground which led to a yellow card for the Sapporo player, and not long after in blocking a hard shot he seemed to jar his foot or ankle and had to go off. I'm still waiting for news from the official site as to the extent of the injury, but fingers crossed for him. He's had an excellent season, capped recently with an international call up, so here's hoping it's just knock.

Nagai doubles the lead and half the team celebrate Arata becoming a dad

Sapporo were an entirely different prospect to Sagawa Printing earlier in the month, but the result was fairly comfortable. Despite Sapporo's positive and physical approach to the tie, we never really looked in any real danger of not progressing. A late flurry of attacking play did bring a couple of nervy moments, but the result didn't really feel in too much doubt.

We now go on to play Ventforet Kofu for a place in the quarter final. The game with Kofu, flying high in J2 and who today beat J1 Kyoto, will be played November 15th at the Tottori Soccer Stadium, home to JFL side Gainare Tottori. Given that Tottori (Japan's least populous prefecture, apparently) is three hundred miles from Shizuoka, I think I'll settle for watching on the box. The quarter final will be against either Albirex Niigata or Meiji University. Meiji Uni pulled off a major scalp today by beating J1 Montedio Yamagata, so they'll be fancying their chances against anyone.

Second half action

Attentions now turn back to the league and the race for an ACL spot. We're away to Kashiwa next Sunday at 6:30pm, a kick off time which pretty much put the kibosh on my hopes of getting to the game. Reysol are nine points off safety with a horrendous goal difference. Anything less than three points for the home team will mean relegation. The current bottom three are pretty much dead and gone, with next weekend surely just confirming matters. So much for a riveting relegation battle. However, the fight at the top remains wide open, so don't forget to tune in next weekend for more J. League fun and games!

Videos

A long personal cam clip of the players coming out, kick off, and Nagai's opener. The goal comes on 4:20.



Nagai's second, taken from a personal cam.

S-Pulse 2-0 Sagawa Printing (Emp Cup Rnd 2)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 2-0 Sagawa Printing
Hara 46
Marcos Paulo 82

Att. 5341

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Ichikawa
DF Hiraoka
DF Arata
DF Ota

MF Fujimoto
MF Honda
MF Ito
MF Hyodo

FW Johnsen
FW Hara

Subs used

Marcos Paulo on for Hyodo (61)
Yamamoto on for Ito (68)
Kijima on for Johnsen (84)

Report

Nihondaira was bathed in beautiful October sunshine as S-Pulse progressed to the Emperor's Cup 3rd round without ever really moving out of 2nd gear. The result was a nice little present on the day I turned 25 for the seventh time.

Best view in the league, surely?

A not-too-depleted team took to the field today against Kyoto's Sagawa Printing. The holes created by national call ups for Kaito, Iwashita and Okazaki were ably filled by Nishibe, Hiraoka and Hara respectively. After a rather patchy first half, (which didn't go unnoticed by the faithful behind the goal) we eventually strolled to a comfortable 2-0 victory.

With Kaito off with the national team, Nishibe was in goal

Hara opened our scoring not long after the restart with a brilliant individual goal. The Sagawa defence just couldn't deal with his speedy run deep into the penalty area, and he smashed the ball home with a great finish.

We played well within ourselves for most the remainder of the game, only very occasionally feeling anything close to a threat by the visitors. That said, we had to wait till the 82nd minute to put the game to bed. The second came from Paulo after he'd come on as a 61st minute sub. The big man was there to knock home a shot which the keeper could only parry and it takes his total tally with us up to two. He really enjoyed it, and I'm glad I was there to see it!

A rare goal for Paulo - enjoyed by all!

The win takes us through to the 3rd round to be played October 31st at 1pm when we'll face Consadore Sapporo (victims of Paulo's other goal) at home for a place in the last sixteen. The winner will face the victor of Kobe vs Kyoto. It was far from a testing game today, and a comfortable win, but let's be grateful it was. Several J. League teams were knocked out by non-league or university team opponents, including Tokyo Verdy, Urawa Red Diamonds and Tokushima Vortis. All part of the magic of the cup, and a reminder to take every game seriously!

A (slightly harsh) yellow for their number 9

Next home game is in the league in a fortnight against FC Tokyo. This will probably sell out, so if you're thinking of going, get your tickets early!

Videos etc

Courtesy of YouTube user ssnnddttyy who captured the game on their personal cam, here are both our goals. Hara's opener, not long after the break:



Paulo's goal. You can see how much he enjoyed it!

Emperor's Cup 2nd Round Opponents Confirmed

Barry writes:

S-Pulse will face Sagawa Printing SC in the 2nd round of the 2009 Emperor's Cup, to be played on my birthday, Sunday October 11th. Kick off is 1pm. Sagawa progressed to the 2nd round after beating Biwako Seikei Sports Univ 1-0 earlier today.

Sagawa Printing are based in Muko, Kyoto and currently play in the JFL, just below J2. For details of tickets, see here (Japanese). As is common with Emperor's Cup games, prices are slashed across the board.

Not interested in the early rounds of the Emperor's Cup? Well just bear in mind this game against Tochigi SC back in 2006. An incredible ten goals were scored in the final 31 minutes of play, so why not go along in October? You never know what crazy fun the cup will throw up!

S-Pulse 2008 Competition Records

The 2008 season is now behind us, so here is a full record of our performance in the league, Nabisco Cup and Emperor's Cup. UK Ultras reports are linked where available.

2008 Final League Table
2008 League Record
2008 Nabisco League Cup Record
2008 Emperor's Cup Record

Click on the above links to jump to the records in question.

2008 J. League Final Table

Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
---------------------------------------------------------------
1. Kashima 63 P 34 18 - 9 - 7 56 30 +26
2. Kawasaki 60 P 34 18 - 6 - 10 65 42 +23
3. Nagoya 59 P 34 17 - 8 - 9 48 35 +13
-----------------------------ACL---------------------------
4. Oita 56 P 34 16 - 8 - 10 33 24 +9
5. S-Pulse 55 P 34 16 - 7 - 11 50 42 +8
6. F.Tokyo 55 P 34 16 - 7 - 11 50 46 +4
7. Urawa 53 P 34 15 - 8 - 11 50 42 +8
8. G.Osaka 50 P 34 14 - 8 - 12 46 49 -3
9. Yokohama FM 48 P 34 13 - 9 - 12 43 32 +11
10. Kobe 47 P 34 12 - 11 - 11 39 38 +1
11. Kashiwa 46 P 34 13 - 7 - 14 48 45 +3
12. Omiya 43 P 34 12 - 7 - 15 36 45 -9
13. Niigata 42 P 34 11 - 9 - 14 32 46 -14
14. Kyoto 41 P 34 11 - 8 - 15 37 46 -9
15. Chiba 38 P 34 10 - 8 - 16 36 53 -17
---------------Promotion/Relegation Series-------------
16. Iwata 37 P 34 10 - 7 - 17 40 48 -8
---------------------------Relegation--------------------------
17. Tokyo.V 37 P 34 10 - 7 - 17 38 50 -12
18. Sapporo 18 P 34 4 - 6 - 23 36 69 -33

2008 J. League Results

1) March 3rd - S-Pulse 1-2 Oita Trinita (19054)
2) March 15th - JEF United 1-2 S-Pulse (14566)
3) March 30th - S-Pulse 0-0 Omiya Ardija (13855)
4) April 2nd - S-Pulse 1-2 Urawa Red Diamonds (15223)
5) April 5th - Gamba Osaka 2-0 S-Pulse (16219)
6) April 12th - S-Pulse 0-2 Nagoya Grampus (14167)
7) April 19th -Yokohama F Marinos 1-1 S-Pulse (19763)
8) April 26th - S-Pulse 1-0 FC Tokyo (14145) report
9) April 29th - Kashiwa Reysol 0-2 S-Pulse (11012) report
10) May 3rd - S-Pulse 1-1 Jubilo Iwata (20330) report
11) May 16th - Albirex Niigata 3-0 S-Pulse (36403) report
12) May 11th - S-Pulse 1-0 Kashima Antlers (16195) report
13) May 18th - Tokyo Verdy 4-1 S-Pulse (11426)
14) June 28th - S-Pulse 2-1 Kyoto Sanga (17099) report
15) July 5th - Consadore Sapporo 2-2 S-Pulse (10282) report
16) July 12th - S-Pulse 0-1 Vissel Kobe (14164) report
17) July 17th - Kawasaki Frontale 2-1 S-Pulse (14131) report
18) July 20th - S-Pulse 3-0 Albirex Niigata (17025) report
19) July 27th - Omiya Ardija 0-0 S-Pulse (10193) report
20) Aug 9th - Oita Trinita 2-2 S-Pulse (18743) report　
21) Aug 17th - S-Pulse 1-1 Yokohama F Marinos (18292) report
22) Aug 23th - S-Pulse 3-2 Kashiwa Reysol (14163) report
23) Aug 27th - Nagoya Grampus 3-2 S-Pulse (10071) report 1 report 2
24) Sept 13th - S-Pulse 3-1 Consadore Sapporo (15395) report
25) Sept 20th - Vissel Kobe 0-1 S-Pulse (7839) report
26) Sept 23rd - S-Pulse 1-0 Tokyo Verdy (15206) report
27) Sept 28th - Kashima Antlers 2-0 S-Pulse (15481) report
28) Oct 4th - FC Tokyo 1-5 S-Pulse (30410) report
29) Oct 18th - S-Pulse 2-0 Kawasaki Frontale (18716) report
30) Oct 26th - S-Pulse 3-1 Gamba Osaka (19082) report
31) Nov 8th - Jubilo Iwata 1-0 S-Pulse (24887) report
32) Nov 23rd - Urawa Red Diamonds 1-2 S-Pulse (54709) report
33) Nov 29th - S-Pulse 3-2 JEF United (20079) report
34) Dec 6th - Kyoto Sanga 1-3 S-Pulse (17331) report

2008 Nabisco League Cup Record

Group Stage

1) Mar 20th - S-Pulse 3-1 FC Tokyo (10035)
2) Mar 23th - Tokyo Verdy 0-0 S-Pulse (7154)
3) Apr 16th - S-Pulse 5-0 Tokyo Verdy (8213) report
4) May 25th - S-Pulse 4-2 Jubilo Iwata (12389) report
5) May 31th - FC Tokyo 1-1 S-Pulse (7941) report
6) June 8th - Jubilo 2-0 S-Pulse (11731) report

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
S-Pulse	11	6	3	2	1	13	6	+7
FC Tokyo	11	6	3	2	1	12	7	+5
Jubilo Iwata	10	6	3	1	2	10	7	+3
Tokyo Verdy	1	6	0	1	5	2	17	−15

Quarter Final

1) July 2nd - Kashima Antlers 0-0 S-Pulse (6757) report
2) Aug 6th - S-Pulse 2-1 Kashima Antlers (8949) report

S-Pulse beat Kashima Antlers 2-1 (agg)

Semi Final

1) Sept 3rd - S-Pulse 1-1 Gamba Osaka (8013) report
2) Sept 7th - Gamba Osaka 2-3 S-Pulse (9103) report

S-Pulse beat Gamba Osaka 4-3 (agg)

The Final

★ Nov 1st - Oita Trinita 2-0 S-Pulse (44723) report

2008 Emperor's Cup Record

4th Rd) Nov 5th - S-Pulse 1-0 JEF United (4214) report
5th Rd) Nov 15th - Kashima Antlers 3-4 S-Pulse (5158) report
1/4 Final) Dec 20th - S-Pulse 1-2 FC Tokyo (8051) report

Emperor's Cup Final: Gamba Osaka 1-0 Kashiwa Reysol (AET)

Today Gamba beat Reysol 1-0 after extra time to claim their first professional era Emperor's Cup title and further cement their position as one of Japan's premier teams. The 117th minute winner was no work of art, but it was deserved. Regardless, and speaking from first hand experience, it must have a bitter pill for the thousands of yellow-clad Kashiwa fans to swallow. Their choreographed display (YES WE CAN in huge black letters against a yellow background) had me leaning their way before kick off! However, when the final whistle went and Gamba lifted the cup, the man their fans must have felt most grateful to was surely manager Akira Nishino.

The former Hitachi (Reysol's forerunners) player took over at the Kansai club in 2002, and while it took him three years to register his first silverware, he has since turned the former perennial also-rans into a real power house. Gamba has now pulled in the league title, the League Cup, the Asian Champion's League title, the Pan Pacific Championship, the Super Cup, and now the Emperor's Cup. And all this within the space of four seasons. It's a mighty impressive haul for a team who spent the lion's share of their early history scrapping around at the foot of the table.

Highlights

Probably the best outcome from today's result is that Gamba gain entry into 2009's ACL - the competition they won just weeks back but were not granted the chance to defend their title. Contrast this to 2008 where the 2007 winners were dumped in at the quarter final stage, and you can well imagine how they might have felt hard done by. Well in that respect, justice has been done, so well done Gamba.

Gamba's recent ascendency as one of the country's best teams is encouraging to see, as it's not been the result of merely throwing money at the squad to buy success. They don't have the best stadium in the league (not by a long shot), nor do they have the most fans (again, not by a long shot). It's just been a good old fashioned story of a team with a good youth system, back room management which allows a coach time to build a team without panicking at the first sign of a trophy-less season, and a club which is now reaping the many benefits of their patience and hard work.

I like to think I can see some parallels between the way we as a club operate and Gamba, and I honestly believe the team Kenta is building won't take long to start bringing in some silverware. Indeed, looking at the last two occasions we've met the new Emperor's Cup holders, we've seen them off each time; 3-2 away in the league cup semi final, and 3-1 at home in the league. I'm counting the days till 2009 kicks off in March, (and you can too, with the new counter at the top of the page!) and we have good reason to steam into the future with every confidence!

Lining up to beat Gamba earlier this year

If you simply can't wait to start planning for next season, here are the key dates, as announced recently.
Xerox Super Cup: February 28th

J.League, Matchday 1: March 7th
J.League, Matchday 34: December 5th

Nabisco Cup, Group Stage March 25th - June 13th
Nabisco Cup, Quarter Finals Legs: July 15th / July 29th
Nabisco Cup, Semi Finals Legs: September 2nd / September 6th
Nabisco Cup, Final: November 3rd

The Emperor's Cup 4th round, when J1 teams enter, is likely to be the first weekend of November if recent years are anything to go by. Don't know about you, but I can't wait!

I'll sign off with the first sunset over Shizuoka City of 2009. Happy new year to one and all - even Jubilo toe-rags! I wish you all health, wealth and fun in the coming year and season!

S-Pulse v FC Tokyo (Emp. Cup 1/4 Final)

S-Pulse and FC Tokyo face off tomorrow for the fifth time this year in the 1/4 final of the Emperor's Cup. It's this season's last chance of silverware, and the final ticket into next year's Asian Champion's League.

Previous meetings this year have gone off like this:

League:

S-Pulse 1-0 FC Tokyo
FC Tokyo 1-5 S-Pulse

League Cup Group Stage

S-Pulse 3-1 FC Tokyo
FC Tokyo 1-1 S-Pulse

Three wins, one draw, ten scored and only three conceded. Given that three of those games took place in our poor first half of the season, with only the 5-1 mauling coming in our resurgent second half, we have reason to be confident. Losing the League Cup final has instilled an even deeper ache among the orange masses for our first title since winning the Super Cup in 2002.

The winner will go on to face either Kashiwa Reysol or Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the semi at Ecopa, in what would be as good as a home game for us at least! That being the case, you can be sure more than 6000 will turn up! That was the crowd for the semi between Sanfrecce and Gamba last year at the same venue. Not too surprising given how far it is from both cities!

Tomorrow's game kicks off at 1pm. There's no live broadcast available, but for live text, the official S-Pulse homepage does the job, as does J's Goal. Both sites are in Japanese, but you may be able to navigate around by pictures and trial and errors to find what you're looking for.

So come on S-Pulse - rewards the hundreds of fans who are heading up to Sendai for this one! Let's have a semi back in Shizuoka!

We Believe!!!

In transfer news, today Marcos Aurelio was released while Marcos Paulo has had his contract renewed. Good news, both. :)