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!

Man of the Match? The one and only Paulo.

Fuz writes:

Well, for me, that would very easily be Paulo. What a difference one man can make. I felt at the end of last season that Paulo's presence on the park changed the way the team worked, and it certainly did so today. Marcos "Glue" Paulo - holds the team together and the ball sticks to him! He worked so hard yesterday creating chances and getting the ball forward, it was a pleasure to watch and I found myself thinking, yes, we can win this after all. Before a ball was even kicked it was clear Paulo was up for it, high fiving each and every player and raising spirits - and after half time, he was so keen to be back out he was almost at the half-way line before the rest of our team appeared.

Ok, so he can't shoot - well neither can Johnsen apparently and he's actually a forward. Although, without being too harsh on Johnsen he looked more full of fight than before and is certainly trying harder, so we'll see.

I like the way Nagai looks, and would like to see him on the park a bit more - Johnsen's going to have to do something soon to keep his first team place out of Nagai and Hara's clutches, who both look ready for the fight.

Yesterday was a great day, good weather, good crowd, the S-Pa fans were out in force and the changes in the team proved to be vital. Let's see some more football like this and start winning some games - it's still early days in J1 and we can still finish up top.

Oh and in other news - Nishibe, despite letting in two yesterday, wasn't particularly to blame and appears to have learned how to catch the ball. That was a great big relief to the UK Ultras (minus one, who loves Yohei regardless of how many mistakes he makes, such undying loyalty has to be admired).

So, the season is young, Marcos proved himself yesterday and if he doesn't start / make more appearances now then Kenta either has a personal vendetta or an eye problem. We have a fit bunch of strikers raring to go and the defence was on the ball yesterday - literally. Paulo was my man of the match yesterday, but Iwashita would be a second - he was so quick on it yesterday and more than once got the ball cleared and out past midfield to create opportunities.

The Future's Bright. The Future's Orange.

S-Pulse vs Kashiwa - at least we didn't lose....

I didn't get to the game today as there is a potential future S-Pulse player growing inside me and I didn't want to get sick from the weather and therefore endanger any possibility of having a UK Ultra in the team one day, but I did manage to watch it on T.V.

Despite saying only a win would be acceptable I find myself relieved with the draw - yet again we went down a goal early on in the second half - yet again more or less due to Nishibe. Why that man seems to be unable to catch the ball instead of batting it away all the time I will never know. We were very lucky it wasn't two when he did exactly the same thing just a little later on, to my sheer disbelief.

Still not entirely convinced with what Kenta is up to... was surprised to see Nishibe in the starting line up after last week, although happy that Johnsen was dropped. When he did come on he looked a bit more ready to fight than before so perhaps that was the kick up the backside he needed - and he was integral to Oka-Chan's goal. The goal was a massive relief and was a nice piece of work between Okazaki, Johnsen and even Hara getting in on the action.

I really want to see Paulo on the park - he's not getting on even as a sub and I really believe given the chance he could be a fantastic addition to the team.

Let's see how Wednesday goes for now, but there is still a long way to go before Kenta and the boys redeem themselves for Black Sunday.

On a side note - WHAT THE HELL were the mid-game adverts all about? I've never been more pissed off by a commercial in my life - football should not be interrupted by anything, least of all people trying to sell me their junk. That's what half time is for, along with running to the loo and for those able to drink, stocking up on 2nd half booze.

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. :)

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. :)