S-Pulse 1-3 Gamba Osaka

Barry writes

S-Pulse 1-3 G. Osaka
Ito 9 ------------------------- Lee 32, 39
-------------------------------- Futagawa 52

Att. 18670

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Tsujio
DF Iwashita (24)
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF Edamura
MF Jong a Pin
MF Brosque (93)

FW Ito
FW Takahara
FW Omae (34)

Subs Used

Muramatsu on for Tsujio (61)
Sugiyama on for Ota (67)
Takagi on for Edamura (77)

Report

And that, as they say, is that. Another season all wrapped up and consigned to the history books. Well, a league season, anyway. The small business of the Emperor's Cup is merely getting started, and come December 17th we'll all be back at Nihondaira to take on JEF United for a place in the quarter finals. I think the J. League and Emperor's Cup would only benefit from a little mutual promotion. Rather than pretending the cup doesn't exist, if the league got behind the oldest competition in Japan a bit more I bet we'd see increased gates and greater interest generally.

Anyway. Gamba rolled into town needing a victory while hoping that both Kashiwa and Nagoya failed to win. In with a decent enough shout for the title, but around the hour mark, when it was evident both Kashiwa and Nagoya were on the way towards all three points each, this game rapidly became just another dead rubber.

A depleted S-Pulse (no Ono, no Ljungberg) started well. A rare (first time in six months or more) start for Ito Sho saw him score his first goal in orange. Only took him a year. We were the better team for a lot of the first half, but the visitors had to win and after a while found their feet. A couple of cock ups helped them on their way, but I felt like they were always going to win this.

That said, we were moving the ball around well at times and Ota, back at left back, was having a good game. He's been attracting interest from Europe recently, but I hope he goes nowhere for a while. Takahara also went close before half time, and only a fine save denied him.

After the break it felt a bit like we were just going through the motions, and I guess when you have nought to play for with all thoughts turned towards the cup, that's kind of inevitable. We never seemed to get a break and it played out 3-1. Well, that's it for J. League 2011, but with the last 16 of the cup to come don't be going anywhere! Still plenty more blood, sweat and tears to come this year in Japanese football.

A review of the S-Pulse league season will come over the next couple of weeks.

Is that all you take away?

What better than a Nazi paramilitary organisation to provide inspiration for a football flag?

Can you spot fellow Brit Ben Mabley deep in the Osakan fray?
Getting topless
End of season ceremony

Videos

Ito scores a goal! No, seriously!

G. Osaka 2-2 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

G. Osaka 2-2 S-Pulse
Adriano 15 --------------------Ota 47
Usami 57 ----------------------Omae 50

Att. 16315

Line Up

GK Usui

DF Tsujio
DF Iwashita
DF Bosnar (Yellow 80)
DF Ota
DF Hiraoka

MF Muramatsu
MF Brosque

FW Omae
FW Takahara (Yellow 62)
FW Takagi

Subs Used

Kobayashi on for Iwashita (64)
Ono on for Takahara (64)
Nagai on for Brosque (81)

Report

I've spent Saturday evening at a fellow S-Pulse fan's wedding second party (Congrats, T&S!) so didn't see the game. Decent result away from home though. We got lucky with Omae's freekick to take the lead after a shocking defensive lapse from the home team, but then Usami got equally lucky with his long shot wickedly deflected off (I think Ota's) shin. It sent the ball curving beautifully but annoyingly into the top corner, and Usui had no chance.

The speedy Adriano put Gamba in front from a corner after beating everyone, including a flapping Usui, to the ball. So it was at half time, but we drew level from the unlikely source of Ota. A penetrating cross was swung in from the left which Takahara met with a near perfect volley. Near perfect because it was straight at the keeper. But thanks to the power of the shot, Fujigaya couldn't hope to hold to onto it and the rebound fell out wide to Hiraoka. He nodded it back into the danger zone and Ota was on hand to poke it home.

All told, a point away at the Banpaku is no bad result, and a couple of goals on the road is a positive. Bosnar, who gets some very harsh treatment from the J. League refs, picked up another yellow. I've not seen it, so can't comment on this instance, but he's been very hard done by in the past. The officials see a huge body and, by comparison, little opponent, and call the foul against him. It happens far more than it should.

Wednesday evening we entertain Yamagata at home. Montedio lost at home yesterday and are looking set for a long hard season. Sitting in the relegation spots with only one win to their name we have to be looking for all three points. Can't blolody wait. It feels like an age since I've been up Nihondaira.

The league table is a bit of a mess right now with Reysol top and Sendai and Kobe in the top five while Nagoya and Kashima are in the bottom half. Things will no doubt settle down over the summer. Anyway, three points on Wednesday please, boys!

Selected Comments From Ghotbi

OK, I figure it's time to try my hand at translating. The following comments are from the official match information page having been spoken by Afshin, translated into Japanese and now translated back by me. Bit of an arse about tit way to go about it, but hey ho. Any mistakes are mine. I'm no professional translator. Just hoping to communicate the gist for the English speaking world.

Ghotbi: With four goals, it was a great game for the fans. We can be proud of the way we came back after going behind to a good team like Gamba. We started well, but the first chance we let Gamba have the talented Adriano put them ahead. That goal was a blow to our confidence and it took a little time to get that back.

We started the second half well with two goals from set plays, but Gamba responded with some of their best football, and could equalise. At that point I brought on Ono and Kobayashi to take more control of the game.

Gamba ended really strongly and we were maybe a little fortunate to end the game 2-2. For our young team this was a good result. Gamba Osaka are the best team we've played so far this season. I hope we can can play like this again in our next home game.

Videos

Highlights.

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 0-3 Gamba Osaka

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 0-3 Gamba Osaka
--------------------------------- Lucas 13
--------------------------------- Takei 45(+3)
--------------------------------- Sasaki 86

Att. 19088

Line Up

To come.

Report

Distasteful image of the day? Gamba Osaka players cavorting along the sideline, their fans waving their arms around in a perfectly choreographed victory dance, all while Nishibe is stretchered off to a waiting ambulance. The mindless group mentality and lack of compassion or concern as an obviously hurt player lay motionless was quite the chilling image. It's not one I hope to witness again. Personally, it left quite an impression and the fear for our keeper's health overshadowed most the remainder of the game.

As for the match, we were beaten by the better team, plain and simple. Kenta's reign is coming to an end, and the new era of Ghotbi and Kiyama is, to my mind, a pretty exciting prospect. Yes, we're letting some old faces go, but as part of the mission to turn us from also-rans into a genuinely competitive outfit, I'm behind the club's efforts 100%.

End of season ceremony

Of those leaving, Teru didn't get on, Ichikawa was very average, and Aoyama also never made it on. Nishibe, as mentioned, was stretchered off early on after a bone crunching collision with Arata. We finished the season in 6th, actually better than last year, but with the distinct impression of going nowhere. We still have every chance in the cup, and who knows? Maybe Kenta will go out with a final blaze of glory. Three weeks off until the quarter final is probably just what everyone needs.

On the bright side, if you think your teams has problems, it could be worse. FC Tokyo lost away to relegated Kyoto while Kobe leapfrogged them to safety with a 4-0 away thrashing of Urawa. After Urawa fans upset some thin-skinned Tokyo supporters with a banner congratulating them on the 2011 Tokyo Derby being in J2, ironically it was Urawa's own burgeoning shiteness which was the deciding factor in ending Tokyo's 10 year spell in the top flight. As the 4th best supported team in J1, their demotion is certainly the biggest news this weekend.

Videos

Why you'd bother watching, I don't know, but here you go anyway.

G. Osaka 1-1 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

ガンバ大阪　１対１　清水エスパルス
G. Osaka 1-1 S-Pulse
Myojin 40 --------------------- Okazaki 70

Att. 19914

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Tsujio
DF Hiraoka
DF Bosnar (yellow 40)
DF Ota

MF Hyodo
MF Honda (yellow 68)
MF Ono

FW Okazaki
FW Johnsen (yellow 69)
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

Takaki on for Tsujio (66)
Hara on for Hyodo (89)
M. Yamamoto on for Fujimoto (94)

Report

This is what away days should be about: a weekend away in an awesome (if crazily crowded) city seeing sights, scoffing local delicacies and, of course, watching a cracking game of football.

We could have, and maybe should have, won this creating as we did chance after chance. Whereas against Sendai we put most of them away, on Saturday we either failed to hit the target or were kept at bay by some inspired goal keeping. Okazaki was denied on more than one occasion but he finally hit the target in the 70th minute when his shot was deflected home.

But yeah, we played well. We're on form and even against a team who will, despite their current position, will surely be at the top reaches of J1 come December.

Not done a panorama in a while

A draw will be harder to take for Gamba who are still languishing uncharacteristically at the lower reaches of the table, and an away point at one of the better teams in the league is no bad result at all. All our away fixtures so far have been against what you'd regard as the better teams in the league and we're still the only team in J1 unbeaten.

Only seven games into the season the league table is still pretty meaningless of course, but the next four games against the Saitama teams of Omiya and Urawa, then Kyoto followed by bottom club Niigata give us a huge opportunity to maintain a high position before the World Cup break.

Videos

Gamba's penalty:




Okazaki's equaliser:

S-Pulse 0-2 G. Osaka

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 0-2 G. Osaka
--------------------------------- Lucas 14
--------------------------------- Jae-Jin 70

Att. 20011

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Ichikawa
DF Hiraoka
DF Arata
DF Ota

MF M. Yamamoto
MF Ito
MF Edamura
MF Paulo

FW Hara
FW Okazaki

Subs Used

Fujimoto on for M. Yamamoto (61)
Nagai on for Hara (70)
Nagasawa on for Paulo (78)

Report

We lost and we fully deserved to. How long ago our top-of-the-table exploits seem now! Down to sixth, but incredibly we've still lost only the joint least in the league. 3rd is now impossible, 4th is going to be a mission, but we're in the quarter final of the cup which is more than can be said for most other teams, so at least we have that.

???

Kenta was forced into replacing Johnsen who picked up a knock in training, but the dropping of Kaito in goal for Nishibe had me scratching my head before kick off. One dodgy game against Reysol and the keeper is dropped. This is after an excellent season which resulted in a national team call up recently. A keeper's confidence is paramount, so why knock Kaito's even further? He's clearly the best keeper we have. Nishibe didn't have a terrible game, but he was all over the place on the second goal. To get beaten to a cross by an attacker is poor.

Well, the season nears an end, and the best we can hope for is fourth. Again. I think without any silverware between now and the end of next year Kenta Hasegawa will be looking for another team. I dearly hope he proves us wrong, because I like him, I really do. But football is about winning things, and we've been coming up short time and again the last four years.

Another full house

There were a couple of crazy results this weekend which make our recent rubbish form not quite so hard to take. Kawasaki losing to bottom of the table Oita (ex-Pulser Fernandinho netting the only goal) and FC Tokyo losing to already-relegated JEF both go to show that we're not totally unique in our ability to pull shockers like the ones against Oita and Reysol.

With a bit of unfortunate timing, it was this weekend, after four defeats in a row, that the season ticket renewal forms were sent out. Not that it really makes any difference of course. Thousands upon thousands will be signing up for another year, and you know why? Because this is for life. Through the good times and the bad, WE ARE SHIMIZU S-PULSE, and we're bloody proud of that fact. :)

Videos etc

Awesome home support as usual.



Gamba's goals.

S-Pulse v G. Osaka SOLD OUT ★ Okazaki Nets for Japan

Barry writes:

Saturday's crucial match with Gamba Osaka has officially sold out. The announcement came early this morning, making it one of the fastest selling games in recent memory. It is also our second home league game in a row to sell out, underlining our excellent season at the turnstiles. With just one further home game remaining we are looking set to record an average gate well up on last season, and our highest since 1995 when the J. League boom was at it's peak.

Our final league match of the season with Nagoya on December 5th is also selling fast. As of two days ago, only 3000 tickets remain, with S, SS, and A Zone all sold out. If you're thinking of going, act now!

Okazaki Nets for Japan

In other news, Okazaki was among the scorers last night as Japan beat Hong Kong 4-0 in a qualifier for the 2011 Asian Cup. Okazaki is currently four goals off the pace in the hunt for the J. League Golden Boot, but continues to bang them in for the national team. He should have done enough this year to secure his place in South Africa next year where I'm sure he'll shine.

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...

Champions of Asia 1-4 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

Gamba Osaka 1-4 S-Pulse
Cho Jae-Jin 71-----------------------------Okazaki 16
--------------------------------------------------Iwashita 56
--------------------------------------------------Edamura 63
--------------------------------------------------Hara 82

Att. 18549

Report

After the bitter disappointment of last week I couldn't help but wonder if, even at three nil, Gamba were going to let us out of Kansai will all three points. I needn't have worried so much. Despite Cho Jae-Jin giving the Asian Champs some hope, we went on to become the first team since Manchester United to put four past Osaka, and at the same time get our league campaign back on track.

Shimizu Dream House rocked to fantastic display from the boys in orange

The scoring was opened at the end of a frantic first 15 minutes with both teams setting their attacking stall out. Okazaki showed his class to grab his eighth of the season by knocking a Johnsen through header over an advancing Matsuyo. He was under intense pressure from Osaka captain Yamaguchi, but held his nerve to make an excellent finish; a classic poacher's goal.

Not too long later, Gamba had the ball in the net, but only after a clear handball. It was just as well, as Kaito was rolling around in the net having prevented a goal direct from an excellent corner kick. Despite Gamba applying long periods of sustained pressure, we managed to get to the end of the first half with the score still 1-0. The difference was Yamamoto back in goal, who is head and shoulders above the shaky Nishibe. He turned 24 today and has a long, bright future ahead of him.

On to the second half, and it was our corner weapon Iwashita who slammed the ball home on the volley to double our lead and send the travelling masses into raptures. Less than ten minutes later Edamura made it three, from another Johnsen assist. With Gamba throwing everything at us, they were left fatally exposed as Edamura made his way out wide left. He made no mistake in smashing it past Matsuyo.

Eight minutes later it was with glorious inevitability that ex-Pulser Cho Jae-Jin should pull one back for the home team. The big man was only brought on in the 58th minute for Lucas, but didn't waste time in getting his eighth of the year. He connected with a pass from Leandro who took time out from flopping around on the floor to create a decent chance.

The nerves many of us were feeling given last week's capitulation only lasted ten minutes. Substitute Hara displayed his deadly finishing having sped behind the hesitant blue and black defender to fire it past Matsuyo. In doing so, he pushed the game beyond any doubt and gave us ten minutes to enjoy our destruction of the reigning Kings of Asia; the first time we've beaten them away in the league since 2001.

We were outshot 18-8, and without Yamamoto's steady hands in goal Gamba would surely have clawed more goals back. However, as time began to run out, the hosts were reduced to increasingly speculative long range efforts which didn't cause us many problems.

It was a fantastically decisive finishing display, and one which can give us confidence going into next week's clash with defending champions Kashima. The Antlers won yet again today and are looking pretty much unstoppable on their march to a third straight title. Come on then, lads - be the first team to knock them off their perch since week two of the season! As for today, I regretted that I wasn't able to make it over to Osaka for this excellent result, but the Dream House put on a great event tonight for a near full house.

It's Urawa in leg one of the cup 1/4 final on Wednesday before Antlers on Saturday. If you've got a moment to catch your breath during all this excitement, don't forget that tickets for the derby (August 22nd) go on general sale next Sunday, July 19th. This game will sell out, so get yours early!

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Ichikawa
DF Aoyama
DF Iwashita
DF Arata

MF Paulo
MF Ito
MF Hyodo
MF Edamura

FW Okazaki
FW Johnsen

Subs used:

Hara on for Okazaki (74)
Fujimoto on for Edamura (84)
Honda on for Hyodo (86)

Videos etc

Official pictures can be found here (top row). The report from The Rising Sun, along with those for all other J1 games, can be found here.

Full highlights of a virtuoso performance from our boys in orange, with a special mention for our man in green. Awesome display, Kaito!



Here's also a nice clip of our travelling hundreds who, as always, did us proud. For reasons unknown, we had no band for this game.



And as a bonus feature, here's a video of the Gamba Osaka chairman having to face the music of some seriously unhappy fans:



You don't have to understand Japanese to see he's getting a pretty hard time!

Takagi to Gamba - Hiraoka back from Sapporo - Okachan a Dad!

As widely rumoured for weeks, the transfer of Takagi to Gamba Osaka was offcially announced today.

In a club press release, Takagi stated his hunger for a new challenge, and with ACL football at Gamba, he'll no doubt find what he's after. He thanked S-Pulse's supporters for their excellent support since he joined back in 2000, and we should thank him for his 218 appearances for us. We're sorry to see you go Kazu, but we look forward to putting our traditional three goals past Gamba when you visit 'Daira next season. ;-)

Best of luck, fella!

In other news, defender Yasuhiro Hiraoka, who has been out on loan with Consadole Sapporo for the last season, returns to his native Shizuoka. The 22 year old, who has represented Japan at U18, U21 and U22 levels, played 17 games for Sapporo last year and scored one goal. Welcome back, fella! We look forward to seeing more of you next season!

An additional bit of good news I'm happy to report is that on January 4th at 12:12pm, our very own Okachan became a dad! Huge congratulations to both him and his wife on the birth of their baby boy. A future S-Pulse player, I'm sure!

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!

Emperor's Cup "Final Jihad" - Gamba v Reysol

Well done to each team on making the final! In the early kick off, Reysol came from behind to beat S-Pa's conquerors, FC Tokyo, 2-1. I almost went up to Ecopa to watch it, but it would have only made me angry thinking about what could have been, so I went shopping instead. On my adventures I saw a pair of bright orange jeans. And at only 3000 yen, if they're still there in March I may well invest for the opening week of the new season. :)

In the other semi final , Gamba saw off Marinos with a 117th minute extra time winner to book their date with Reysol on New Year's Day. Gamba will be going for the one trophy which has so far eluded them after losing in the final to Urawa in 2006. Now I know it's Kashiwa's first ever Emperor's Cup final, but I think they may be taking things a touch too seriously:

The "Final Jihad"

A mind bogglingly inappropriate and staggeringly misguided headline if ever I saw one. Well, as much as I would like to attend Reysol's very own Holy War, I'm not able to make the game. I already bought a couple of tickets, so get in touch if you're interested in hitting the cup final on Thursday. They're going cheap, but you must be in Shizuoka to collect in the next couple of days!

Gamba Osaka 5-0 Adelaide United (ACL Final)

Arise Gamba Osaka (the team we recently battered 3-1), you are now Champions of Asia!

Great news for Japanese football as a team from J1 wins the ACL for a second year running, and with it, the title of best team on the continent.

The aggregate final score of 5-0 paints an entirely accurate picture. 3-0 at home, 2-0 away. There was only ever going to be one winner of this tie, and while it was something of a walkover, you can only beat who's put in front of you. In the semi final, Gamba dumped out last year's winners Urawa, who were bizarrely dropped into the tournament at the quarter finals, after the group stage was completed, and thousands of miles had been travelled and hundreds of minutes of football played.

Compare that with Gamba who next year won't enjoy the advantage of being placed in the tournament half way through. Indeed they may well not even get the chance to defend their title at all! Despite having won the thing, to compete in the competition next year they have to earn it like any other team. A top three finish in the J. League is looking unlikely, so unless they grab Japan's forth ACL spot by winning the Emperor's Cup, they most likely won't be in next year's tournament.

Well, forgetting the tournament's mad little idiosyncrasies for a minute, it's time to raise a glass to the Champions of Asia: Gamba Osaka. Undefeated throughout the tournament, and thoroughly deserved winners. Enjoy it!

Totally unrelated, here's a gorgeous rainbow which spread it's arms around Shizuoka earlier today.
Nice. :)

S-Pulse 3-1 Gamba Osaka (Review and Goals)

I get the feeling Gamba must be really starting to hate us. First we put them out the Nabisco Cup in the semis at their home and end their hopes of defending their crown. Then we ensure the thundering momentum which helped sweep them past Urawa in the semi of the ACL came to a shuddering halt by turning them over 3-1 today at Nihondaira. At the same time we all but ended what hopes they had of a title challenge. Taking that into consideration and I wouldn't begrudge them a little ill will towards the oranges of Shimizu!

Feel free to use this as a wallpaper!

A near capacity crowd packed in early and expectations where high from both ends of the ground. Gamba who on Wednesday had won 3-1 away in Saitama were missing Endo through suspension, but were coming for all three points. They needed nothing less to get their title charge back on track. Failing that, the nonsense that even if they win the ACL they won't automatically get to defend their title, and they are clearly desperate to finish in the top three to ensure international football next year.

Despite the incentive Gamba had, and, when you look at it realistically, the lack of any real goal to aim for S-Pa (Title - no chance. ACL qualification - very unlikely. Finishing above Jubilo - already secured. J1 football next year - already secured), despite all this, the game never felt in doubt, as a team off the back of five wins in six marched on to six wins in seven.

Moments after our third

Edamura has been in form recently, and not least of all against Gamba! After doing them in in the league cup, he was there to put us one up on 38m in a goal not entirely unlike his second against Gamba in the league cup second leg. He was also there to score one of the easiest of his career moments into the second half. A surging run down the right from Hara saw him put a perfect ball into the six yard box which beat both the keeper and defender and left Edamura with the simplest of jobs to put it in the net.

Our third just minutes later and was the result of a mid-range Okazaki effort getting a wicked deflection off a defender. It totally wrong-footing the keeper, and as the ball rolled almost in slow motion into the bottom corner the beleaguered goalie tried in vain to get back across goal. For the faithful behind the goal it was party time! Gamba threw everything they had at us, but the best they could do was grab a 75th minute consolation from a corner. Kaito was a wall between the sticks, at one point making a double-stop from point-blank range. Having total confidence in your keeper is an awesome feeling!

A small section of the S-Pulse wall of colour

The after-game celebrations had the added spark that every second word from people's mouths seemed to be "Kokuritsu!" or "Nabisco!" The buzz was palpable! We're surging into the final in red-hot form. Oita, with just one goal from their last 360 minutes of football and three points from twelve, have been stuttering severely of late. The desire for a win next week is achingly apparent around Nihondaira. Oita surely won't be too pleased to see us in such pulsating form, and that coupled with the sheer will power of our supporters, we're going to bring that trophy home. Next week - bring it!!!

Here's all the action:



And to end, a pic taken from just outside the stadium. Gorgeous.

Football Kingdom - Shimizu

S-Pulse 2-0 Kawasaki Frontale

Special feature: Courtesy of fellow S-Pulse supporter and J. League follower Mike Tuckerman, we present an interview with a Japanese S-Pulse fan. In an interview fully in English, Shimizu-born Yuichi Korenaga discusses S-Pulse's current season and football in Japan in general. Full interview can be found here.

Probably one of the better pictures I've managed at the 'Daira!

A classic Saturday afternoon down the 'Daira. Sunshine, beers, mates, goals, a clean sheet, a near-full house. There are certain days where it all just seems to fall into place, and as I left my flat at 11am and saw the clear blue sky overhead, I had a feeling things were going to go our way.

For those who read anything into past records, Kawasaki, who have never won at Nihondaira, were always going to be fighting fate. As it turned out, their poor record under Fuji's shadow continues, and with it, their title challenge takes a huge knock. With it being as open as it is, they're no means out of the race, but dropping points as both Kashima and Oita won again leaves them with a lot to do to get back into it.

The first S-Pulse goal was a lovely worked piece of play, and it had goal written all over it from the outset. It came on 24 minutes and Edamura, after the cross was headed back across goal, was there to slam it home under the Frontale keeper. Frontale's undeniable ability up front was, for the most part, well neutralised, although a couple of occasions saw them go close.
Our second goal came from one of our 11 corners and it was man of the moment Kazuki Hara who put it home. After a poor clearance attempt the ball fell to his feet and he calmly put into the net in front of the two tiered bank which was full to bursting. The poor lad lost his mother earlier in the month, but he's been one of our several break-though players this season, and another goal was no more than he deserved.

The after-match party was as good as ever, and as we had a do pre-arranged back near the station, we rushed off to that with the win just adding more reason to get happily battered. And get happily battered we did.

Next up, outside title hopefuls Gamba Osaka. They have a game midweek they simply have to win, away to Urawa in the semi-final of the Asian Champions League. Fingers crossed they'll be shattered from that, and we can continue our great run. Last year's Gamba fixture was one of the games of the season, so a repeat of the 3-1 scoreline would be just great, thank you!

Time to go, but thank you S-Pulse - you made my birthday celebrations all the more brilliant! Enough from me, time for the highlights!



And here, taken on my camera, is Oja no Hata, our victory song, and which, after four years, I'm embarrassed to say I'm still learning the words to!

Gamba 2-3 S-Pa - Next stop Tokyo!!!

And that, as they say, is that! S-Pulse beat Gamba 3-2 on the night, 4-3 on aggregate, and we're off to the Kokuritsu on November 1st!

S-Pulse's route to the final after winning Group B (picture from official J. League site)

What better way to spend a lazy Sunday other than mooching around the S-Pulse Dream Plaza, stuffing your face with curry, watching films and shopping? Despite the over-riding football theme of the whole area, such was the sterling job my better half did in keeping my mind off our semi final second leg, that when five o'clock rolled around, I'd almost forgotten there was a game to watch! So it was that I walked round the corner to the S-Pulse Dream House to meet Fuz and Takumi and claim our seats in front of the big screen. Despite getting there two hours early, the place was already filling up, and by kick off a crowd well into triple figures steeled themselves for 90 minutes which would make or break our season.

We didn't have to wait long, as a stonking strike from Yamamoto on just three minutes curled past the beleaguered Fujigaya to cancel out the away goal advantage Gamba held. From that moment on the impetus was with the visitors, and even after Roni had made the most of a slack piece of defending from Aoyama to draw level, the momentum was still clearly with S-Pulse. Knowing a second away goal would leave Gamba with a mountain to climb, we kept pressing and went close on a number of occasions. Like the home leg, we were often left frustrated, and going in at half time still level had a lot of us wondering if just wasn't going to be our night.

We needn't have worried so much. As news of an Oita victory in the other semi started to filter through, within a minute of the restart Edamura put it past two defenders and Fujigaya to send the travelling hundreds, and the thousands watching back in Shiz, into raptures. Ten minutes later it was that man again as Edamura put us 3-1 up. Dream House descended into euphoric bedlam as we knew this goal now meant Osaka needed to win 4-3 to get to defend the title they'd won last year. It was a long half hour, and with Gamba throwing everything they had at us, they inevitably pulled one back on 79 minutes. But it was far too little, far too late, and they knew it. With their front line of Lucas and Roni getting increasingly frustrated, they both saw yellow before the ref put them out of their misery. After four minutes of stoppage time, it was all over - S-Pulse are heading to the Nabisco Cup final for the first time since we won it back in 96!

Flying the flag on a previous visit to the Kokuritsu

We'll face a team who have surprised many people this year, Oita Trinita, in the final. Currently sitting level on points with Antlers who are second, Oita, who only joined the J. League in 1999, are going for their first major cup. While Oita fans have to travel all the way up from Kyushu, we're a mere hour on the bullet, so watch out Tokyo - 20000 Shizuokans are coming to town, and we fully plan on homejacking the national stadium! With the final only seven days before the away derby with Jubilo, the possibility of victory in Tokyo followed by a gloating chance in front of the sky blue toe-rags is almost too much of a mouth watering prospect to take!

This video is from the Kyoto home game a couple of months back, but adequately conveys the feeling around Shimizu last night!

It was a hell of a game, and we fully deserved the win. I'll be adding some highlights as soon as I find some online, but for now here's a video of the last thirty seconds as taken at Dream House:

The cup final - let's 'ave it!!!

S-Pa 1-1 Gamba - Just 90 Minutes from Wembley!

Well OK, maybe not Wembley, but for an Englishman, the cup final and Wembley Stadium go hand in hand. It's hard to mention one without evoking images of the other, and as S-Pulse head into the second leg of their League Cup semi final with Gamba Osaka, S-Pa could soon be on their way to Japan's own national stadium for the first time in nearly three years!

It's going to be a long, hard 90 minutes before anything is decided though. If the first leg was anything to go by, Gamba will be physical, organised and fighting for everything in the quest to defend the title they won last year. The home leg ended 1-1, which I came away from feeling slightly hard done by, but buoyed by the fact that a score draw over 1-1 (or a win, of course) will see us through. Another 1-1 and than it's into extra time and penalties. No thanks!

As is becoming usual, we out shot our opponents and we had far more corners. The sad fact was that half the corners came from attacks which should by rights have borne better attempts on goal. Still, for long periods we run Gamba ragged, and while we rode our luck on occasion, the rampant Hara surging down the left wing helped add to the myriad chances we were crafting. Despite going close several times, even striking wood with the game's last piece of action, there was no way through. The Gamba defence collapsed with exhaustion on the whistle, but the orange ranks behind the goal didn't let up for a good five minutes more. Despite the lack of a win, there was real optimism and fight in the Nihondaira night air - just what we need to head into the 2nd leg with.

I'll be watching on Sunday, not from the Banpaku, but from the S-Pulse Dream House in Shimizu, serving those unable to head out west to Kansai of a Sunday evening. The heart is willing, but the 6am start on the Monday means a far more measured evening spent in Shizuoka is in order! Should we prevail, we'll be facing either Nagoya or Oita in the final, with that game also balanced precariously at 1-1. I can see an S-Pa Nagoya final drawing the biggest Nabisco Cup Final crowd since over 56000 crammed in in 2002 to watch Kashima dispense with Urawa. With the last four finals having only three goals to share between them, and with the last three finals seeing crowds over 10000 short of capacity, here's hoping we get to play Nagoya, fill the place up, and win 4-3 with a stoppage time winner! Not sure my heart could handle it though!

Sunday - bring it on!!

Sorry, no pics from the game as I forgot to charge my camera! I promise to snap a couple from Dream House on Sunday (if we go through!).

S-Pa v Jubilo - Derby Day 2 of 4 Preview

Well, here we go again! With the recent 1-1 draw still fresh in everyone's memories, this coming Sunday we get to do it all again as two teams once again battle it out for the crown of Kings of Shizuoka: Shimizu S-Pulse versus Jubilo Iwata. This time the backstory happens to be the 4th game of the Nabisco Cup group stage. The Nabisco is the J. League's own league cup, and traditionally attracts crowds well below those of the league, but with everything to play for, one of our biggest ever league cup gates will cram into Nihondaira for Jubilo's second visit of the season. For whatever reason, it's yet another Sunday 1pm kick off. I may even start a petition about these for next season - noone should be forced to rise before 10am of a Sunday, even for the footer.

Jubilo won't be relishing their chances given they've only managed one win from the last ten derby day meetings, but S-Pa are without both Ichikawa and Teru through injury, both of which will hit the team hard (not to mention Okazaki, Honda and Aoyama who are all away on international duty). That said, Ichikawa didn't feature in two of our previous cup games, but Teru's presence will be sorely missed. Will this give like-for-like player Marcos Paulo his first opportunity to shine in the first team? So far only making the reserves, and with rumours flying around of discontent behind the scenes, who knows if we'll ever see the ex-Brazilian international grace Nihondaira?

Either way, we're going to miss Teru's influence. He'll be back in two weeks, but Ichikawa won't be seeing action for six - the mid-season Olympic break could not have been better timed! It will also give Kenta some much needed time to assess our horrific start to the season. OK, it's not been all that bad when looked at objectively, and we're only five points off 4th place (Reysol who we took apart with clinical efficiency earlier in the month, are sitting in 4th, which speaks volumes about the randomness of this season), but defeats like those at Albirex and Verdy are simply not acceptable for either the club or it's fans. If we'll be seeing some transfer action over the summer, or if wonderboy Genki Omae will be making his J. League debut any time soon remains to be seen...

So, anyway, yeah, back to the point - the League Cup. Here's how things currently stand:


Clearly in the driving seat, and with the 5-0 spanking of Verdy giving us a huge goal difference advantage, a win could put us through and Jubilo out. Three points on Sunday plus Verdy beating Tokyo, and we'd be in round two barring a goal difference disaster in the final two games. But lets not get ahead of ourselves - we're only half way through the group stage and this season has been nothing if not erratic! With a refreshingly big league cup crowd in attendance, it would be rude not to win our sixth derby from ten and leave Jubilo with just a relegation battle to worry about. My prediction? Not nearly as bullish as last time, but a decent enough 2-0 win for the mighty Oranges - just wait and see. :)

A six foot pole (top left) hurled into the Gamba supporters

In other news: The J. League rules out any punishment for either Gamba or Urawa beyond financial. Good move - way to bottle it. When the next incident happens - and it will, there's a history of intermittent crowd violence in the J. League going back years - can we expect the same worthless punishments from those at the top? Gamba have banned the Black and Blue Squad supporters group, apparently those at the centre of any hooliganism, but Urawa are not able to return the gesture. The reds who destroyed the fence and attempted to attack the visitors were in the more moderate area of Saitama Stadium, and not part of any organised fan group. It can only make you wonder what the nutters down the home end would have done if a water balloon (a water balloon - quick, call the paramedics!!!) had hit a child near them.

In other news: Manchester United beat Chelsea in the Champions League Final.

It's a sorry state of affairs when the biggest club competition in the world can effectively be decided by one man slipping over. I'll never understand the fascination governing bodies have with penalty shoot outs. What's wrong with at least having one replay before resorting to the coin toss solution? Think of all the money to be made in having a SECOND final! PK shoot outs, especially those in finals, just serve to chip away at the credibility of a competition and its subsequent winners. Still, maybe I just don't like pens because England always lose at them...

In yet other news: The domain www.shimizuspulse.com was sitting sadly vacant, and so has since been snapped up by a certain fan blog. For copyright reasons I guess we should state that the website is named after Shimizu's Pulse (my friend Mr. Shimizu who has a very interesting pulse) and not after a certain J. League team who wear bright orange. :) The URL should be active in a day or two, and will point here.

Roll on Sunday. :)

Urawa Reds v Gamba Osaka: Hooliganism alive and kicking in the J. League

Urawa fans tear down the barrier and storm over to Gamba

So fair enough, a mob of Kashiwa Reysol hoolies attacking S-Pulse fans is never going to be headline news. Some Japanese would be hard pushed to even point out Kashiwa on a map, let alone care about any goings on there. Even for those who witness it, (the local police, for one) such incidents are quickly filed under the ignore-it-and-pretend-it-never-happened category. So when ugly scenes broke out at the home of Asian Champion's League winners and self-styled flagship side of Japan, Urawa Reds, there's clearly no avoiding the fact that hooliganism is a problem in the J. League. Well, so you might think. Since Saturday, the JFA denial machine has been working overtime to sweep another instance of supporter violence neatly under the carpet.


Fans clash after Gamba's 3-2 defeat of Urawa

The two old enemies Gamba Osaka and Urawa Red Diamonds met at the Saitama Stadium in what was always going to be a highly charged affair. To spice proceedings up further, Gamba's second goal of three came directly off the back of a refereeing cock up which saw a clear Reds throw awarded the wrong way. A quick throw in and pass later, and it was in the back of the net. Reds fans and players went ballistic as you might well expect. Fast forward to the end: Gamba complete the away victory 3-2 and understandably revel in winning away in front of a 57000 crowd. While they celebrate, Urawa players storm over and start mixing it up, which all soon spills over into the terraces. It was perpetual shit-stirrer Tulio who, after helping to start the melee in the first place, was later the one whining the loudest about a lack of fair play and respect - oh, the irony!

The official line states that Gamba fans began by throwing empty plastic bottles into the neighbouring Reds supporters. Apparently the crushing weight of a water balloon (a water balloon!!) injured a young fan so badly that Reds supporters felt justified in tearing down the dividing barrier in an effort to reach the Osaka area. As parts of the demolished plastic wall and more bottles rained down on the Gamba fans, they too rushed the barrier. When thousands of home fans blockaded the away stand exit and started tearing down and destroying Gamba flags, it took several hours before the visitors could be evacuated past the baying mob to safety. A statement from Gamba this morning apologised for their fans' provocative behaviour, and a lengthy release from Urawa said much the same. There has so far been no word from the JFA or J. League regarding punishments for either team. Will they have the balls to hit Urawa or Gamba with anything other than a nominal fine?

Whoever started it and why, and whoever retaliated and why is all academic. The fact is hooliganism in alive and well in the J. League. This isn't news for many of us, but for some this is yet another incident which needs to be talked away and quickly forgotten. It wasn't even mentioned on the national news on Monday morning, and will likely not be heard of again in the mainstream media. I very much doubt either team will be disciplined in any meaningful way, as that then admits the problem exists - something noone seems willing to do. And yet there it is, on the biggest stage of the national league: barriers being smashed up, fans charging each other and missiles raining down.

I'm often reminded in Japan of England's hooligan problem. Yes, it still sometimes happens in the UK, but I honestly can't remember the last time I saw anything like that inside an English ground. There was no real fighting, but the JFA needs to start dishing our substantial punishments now before things escalate. How many Reds hoolies are now going to be buying tickets for the return fixture in November? On the video below one supporter is seen having fallen a pretty hefty drop into the dry moat. He got away with just a broken ankle, so I guess we'll have to wait until fans start getting more seriously hurt until people start waking up and taking action. JFA - prove me wrong.