Hara / Hyodo / Fujimoto desert the club that made them

Barry writes:

Hara joins Urawa, Hyodo joins Kashiwa, Fujimoto joins Nagoya.

Shut the door on your way out.

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 2-1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 2-1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Hyodo 15------------------- Lee 81
Iwashita 39

Att. 17143

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Ichikawa
DF Hiraoka
DF Iwashita
DF Ota

MF Hyodo
MF Honda
MF Fujimoto

FW Omae
FW Nagai
FW Okazaki

Subs Used

Ito T. on for Omae (59)
Johnsen on for Nagai (66)
Ito S. on for Fujimoto (80)

Report

Three wins in a row? Blimey. This really has been a season of three halves. The first great, the second apocalyptic, and the third, well, pretty nervy but ultimately good. With this win we've as good as secured a top six finish, one better than last year, but with two games still to play and second place still in reach why stop there?!

Ladies and Gentlemen - the J. League :)

We burst out the gates and had the better of the first twenty or so minutes and had a chance or two to take the lead before Hyodo was there to smash Omae's pass into the back of the net. I'll be honest, when he wound up to hit it I found myself involuntarily flinching given the high probability of it sailing in my direction. And I stand in the back row of the second tier. :-D To be be fair to him, it was a peach of a strike and keeper had no chance.

We extended the lead through Iwashita, who hasn't scored his trademark goal-from-a-corner for a while, so that was good to see. But then we spent most the rest of the game on the back foot. Hiroshima had God only knows how much of the possession, but just couldn't make the last ball most the time.

Out with the old? Sho Ito replaces Jungo

Just when they looked like they wouldn't be able to make the break through, they did, and it ensured a very nervous end to the game. Tempers started to flair and mistakes abounded, but we held on for the win. All credit must go to Nishibe who made a stunning one handed save at point blank range. He managed to turn a bullet header onto the bar and single-handedly (literally) win us the game. Top work that man.

Two games to go. Nothing but two victories is good enough if we hope to claim an ACL spot, and if we beat Kobe on Saturday they'll be relegated. Yes, the title has been decided (not Kashima for once!) and the bottom two teams are already down, but there's still some drama left in the 2010 J. League season!

Videos

Personal cams of both goals. First Hyodo's thumper.



Iwashita's:



Kachiloco - with Kenta!

Hyodo Confirmed as Captain

Barry writes:

Hyodo has been confirmed as captain for 2010. Arata and Iwashita deputy.

That's all. :)

2009 Captain / Vice Captain Announced

The captain and vice captains have been announced for 2009. After Takagi's departure over the winter, Hyodo has stepped up from last year's vice captain role to take over as skipper.

Hyodo celebrates winning the captaincy by posing with me

Vice captains for 2009 are Kodama and Okazaki. Okazaki, still only 22 and making a name for himself in the national team, has a bright, bright future ahead of him.