J. League Awards 2010 / Released Players

Barry writes:

Jungo Fujimoto was named tonight in the best 11 in the annual J. League Awards. Despite playing all year as a member of the top three, he was included as a midfielder. Sure he's not complaining, though. Congratulations, fella! Now sign a new contract - you know it makes sense!!

The team in full is:

GK:
Narazaki

DF:
Tulio
Masukawa
Makino

MF:
Kengo
Marcio Richardes
Fujimoto
Danilson
Endo

FW:
Maeda
Kennedy

We reprised our annual award of Best Pitch, and rightly so. This is the third year running, and fourth time in total. The surface is near immaculate after a full season of league and cup games, so top marks to those who work so hard keeping it looking so good. Full details here (in Japanese).

Released Players

In other news, although known for weeks, it was officially announced today that Teru, Johnsen, Nishibe and Ichikawa's contracts won't be renewed for next year. Kim Dong Sub, who has been on loan at Tokushima, has been transferred to Gwanju FC in his native Korea.

Okazaki Named in Best 11

Barry writes:

More good news to top off an excellent year for Shinji Okazaki; he was this evening named as one of the two best strikers in the country at the annual J. League awards.

Okachan shortly after banging in a hat-trick for Japan

The recognition comes at the end of his first full season as a starting member, and after netting 14 league goals. Including four league cup goals, he's at 18, with the remainder of the Emperor's Cup still to play. He's worked his way into the national team this year and is all set to head to South Africa next summer.

In the J. League best eleven for 2009, Okazaki is partnered up front by Jubilo forward, and league top scorer with 20 goals, Maeda. It's fitting to see Shizuoka leading the charge for the best 11 this year, but it's high time the orange machine claimed another title or two to ensure people don't forget where the heart of football lies in Japan!

For full details on the 2009 J. League awards, click here (in Japanese). For the official S-Pulse report, click here. In Japanese, but with plenty of pictures.

We also reprised last year's achievement of winning the award for the best pitch in the league. The people in charge always keep Nihondaira's surface in near perfect condition, so it's great to see their efforts rewarded for a second season running. The award this year was actually split three ways, with Urawa and Omiya's Saitama Stadium and Albirex Niigata's Big Swan also being rewarded.

Johnsen Transfer Official & S-Pulse at the J. League Awards

A very likeable city, earlier today

Is Yokohama the most likeable city in Japan? If you ask me, for a nice little day trip out of Shiz, it simply can't be beat! It's got heaps of coastline and related nautical attractions, tons of parks around said coastline, endless shopping to keep the girls happy, years of history and foreign influence to give the city a unique multicultural atmosphere, and awesome architecture from all over the world.

Add to that the ease of transport to, from and within the city, the more than ample dining options all around, the brilliantly colourful Chinatown, the Landmark Tower for ridiculously fast elevators and views right over to Mt. Fuji and beyond, the Ferris Wheel and various other fun and games on the waterfront, and you have an all round great place to hang out of a winter national holiday afternoon.

And all this is before you even get started on the sport! As if having the baseball stadium and Nissan Stadium both in the heart of the city wasn't enough, the huge Marinos Town sits just minutes away from all the downtown action. A football town to the core, after the unfortunate and messy Yokohama Flügels affair, the locals got together and formed another team to replace the one snatched from them. Respect for that alone. If I ever had to leave Shizuoka behind, Yokohama would be way up on my list of places to make home!

Anyway, where was I? Yeah, that's it - while I was off enjoying The 'Hama today, the long-talked about transfer of Frode Johnsen was finally announced. I can only presume we had been waiting until either us or Nagoya were knocked out the cup before making the news official. Most S-Pulse fans have known for weeks the 6 foot 2 Norwegian was on his way to 'Daira. Well, it's a done deal, and the height, presence and proven goal scoring record of the ex international will hopefully be the difference between our 5th place finish this year and an ACL spot next season.

In other news, last night the annual J. League awards ceremony took place. Sadly Hara missed out on the young player of the year award to Nagoya's Ogawa, but it was far from a bad night for the Pulse! Who walked off with the award for best pitch in the league? Shimizu S-Pulse. Who picked up the special fair play award across both J1 and J2? Shimizu S-Pulse. And this season's player of the year, Marquinhos, used to play for which team before he moved to Kashima? You guessed it!

OK, maybe I'm scraping the barrel with the last one! But the first two, especially the fair play award, is something we can be rightly proud off. The credit for that has to go to Kenta who clearly instils a fair play ethic into his players. You're building a team we can be proud of, and playing the game the way it should be played - thank you Kenta!