S-Pulse 1-0 Kobe

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 1-0 Kobe
Bosnar 82

Att. 15367

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Ichikawa
DF Iwashita
DF Arata
DF Ota

MF Ono (Yellow 70)
MF Honda
MF Hyodo

FW Omae
FW Johnsen
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

Bosnar on for Iwashita (48)
Yamamoto on for Omae (64)
Hara on for Ichikawa (72)

Report

That was a tough old game, and one we were fortunate to get away from with all three points. We weren't especially good, and looked decidedly blunt up front without Okazaki spearheading the offensive.

We showed flashes of decent play but I spent most of the day frustrated. Kobe kept Johnsen under control, and Omae, on his first league start, didn't ultimately cause the visitors many problems.

Kobe went very close to scoring at least twice, once in the first half with Arata blocking the ball right on the line. A heart-stopping moment. When the game started looking like finishing up 0-0, it was substitute Eddy Bosnar who slammed in a 35 yard free kick. It was low and moved through the wall like the Nozomi Super Express. It managed to wrong foot the keeper, who'd had a good game till then. We held on for a nervy last eight minutes plus stoppage to move top of the table on goal difference.
We'll have to be better next Saturday against Kawasaki, although they'll still be smarting from getting destroyed 4-0 by Marinos. I'll be heading up to the Todoroki and packing my binoculars. From what I hear it's a bit of a distance from the away zone to where the action is taking place.

Some special thanks goes to the head call leader, whose name I still don't know, and didn't think to ask yesterday, for passing me the CD below full of the new chants for this season. Much appreciated, fella! Thanks a lot. :)
Videos

Eddy's cracker:



Full highlights to come if and when I find them. In the meantime, check out Nagoya's opening goal from their 2-0 defeat of Iwata:



This was in the very first minute of play. The Jubilo comedy show coming to a town near you sometime this year. :)

UK Ultras - The Book

Barry writes:

Well, I guess it was only a matter of time.

On sale via Blurb. Click here

I'm happy to announce the publication of the first UK Ultras book, and the first English language J. League book for a while. The book is the UK Ultras' photo diary of the last few years spent following S-Pulse and is available here for purchase at the meager price of just £8.95 (around 1200 yen) in paperback. For that you get over 110 pictures crammed into forty lovely full colour pages - that's just 31 yen a page!

The book is unashamedly full of pictures of me and my friends, and if you've been to a game with me in that time, you're probably in it. :) I made this for my S-Pulse buddies, but have had a few people ask after one, so I figured I may as well make it available for anyone who is interested.

You can have a virtual scan of it here, and if you're interested in having a little look at some normal fans having some fun old times in the J. League, then you could do far worse than this little picture book. If you're already in Japan and follow some other team, then you can have a gander at how we roll down Shimizu way. ;)

S-Pulse 3-0 Yamagata

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 3-0 Yamagata
Fujimoto 13
Okazaki 88
Teruyoshi 94

Att. 18517

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Ichikawa
DF Iwashita
DF Bosnar (Yellow 15)
DF Arata

MF Ono
MF Honda
MF Hyodo (Yellow 87)

FW Okazaki
FW Johnsen
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

M. Yamamoto on for Ono (72)
Omae on for Fujimoto (78)
Teruyoshi on for Okazaki (90)

Report

Having nervously checked the weather forecast everyday leading up to Saturday I couldn't help worry we might be in for a wet opening home weekend. As it was Shizuoka was actually bathed in a gloriously warm sunshine as we filed through the turnstiles.

Getting there early is what it's all about

The performance was a solid one against a determined opponent. We had a good first half and took the lead though a Johnsen shot deflected wickedly off Jungo. It wrong footed the keeper and hit the back of the right in front of us. 1-0.

We should have made more of our superior first half possession, but it was still one zero at half time. The second half Yamagata were a much improved team, and it was a nervous 44 minutes before we put the game beyond doubt.

The match ball was dropped in by helicopter for some reason I missed

Our second came from Okazaki's pinpoint head. After a free kick was played out wide to Ichikawa, the cross was swung over to Shinji who was waiting at the far post. He managed to nod it back across goal right in front of the keeper. It ending up in the far corner. Unfortunately, Okazaki went off injured within moments after getting a knock in the mouth.

That wasn't where the story ended, as Shinji's replacement Ito Teruyoshi managed to grab his first goal for three years with the last action of the game. 3-0 may flatter us a little, but a win was fair.

Making friends

Videos

All from YouTube user ssnnddttyy's personal cam, here are the goals. Our first:



Our second:



Our third:

Referee Takuto Okabe Suspended After Trick Penalty

Barry writes:

Referee Takuto Okabe, who was in charge of our opening weekend fixture with Hiroshima, has been suspended for two games. The reason being his failure to call Hiroshima's so-called "trick penalty" as illegal.

The penalty in question:



I barely mentioned this in my report for the game, but that was due to the TV signal cutting out for the spot kick and my subsequent not bothering to watch it.

The problem with the kick is that the eventual kicker is not clearly identified by the referee prior to it being taken, nor is he inside the penalty area when the whistle sounds. As Sato is outside the box when the whistle is blown, he is ineligible as the taker. The taker should be in the box along with the defending goal keeper.

Read about the rule-breaking penalty on Reuters, here. Okabe has got his punishment, but I think in the spirit of fairness, Hiroshima's goal should be struck off the record, and the three points given to us.


;-)

Hiroshima 1-1 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

Hiroshima 1-1 S-Pulse
Sato 3 (pk) -----------------------Omae 93

Att. 16216

Line Up

GK Nishibe (Yellow 3)

DF Ichikawa
DF Iwashita (Yellow 91)
DF Bosnar
DF Arata

MF Ono
MF Honda
MF Hyodo

FW Okazaki (Yellow 35)
FW Johnsen
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

Ota on for Arata (69)
Omae on for Hyodo (81)
Tsujio on for Ichikawa (86)

Report

Football is back, and it feels so, so good. And it was an event-filled Saturday for the three of us who trooped over to the S-Pulse Dream House to watch it on the big screen.

It's usually busier...

Barely three minutes in, a Hiroshima forward goes to ground as Nishibe dives at his feet. Penalty given, striker jumps up celebrating. He steps up to take it aaaaaand.... the signal dies.

When we got back up and running (at 1-0 down), it was a frustrating first half as the home team dictated the game. We were playing 4-3-3 as in closed season, and it's going to take a while for things to gel. Fujimoto up front on the right seemed slack on several occasions when his first touch let him down or he was caught napping. Despite a whole lot of huff and puff it just wasn't happening in the first 45, and it took a talking to at half time to turn our game around.

A dead signal meant mobile phone digital came into it's own

The second half we dominated, and when not held back by the diving, simulation and all round dodgyness of the Bulgarian number 2 Stoyanov, we were able to swing in several decent crosses into the danger zone, though we singularly failed to really test the keeper.

Ono was different class, and he demonstrated the impact he's going to have this season. For his first full game I was very impressed with his touch, awareness and precision. Bosnar was also a presence at the back, and one we're going to benefit from. He was sent up for each of our seven corners along with fellow defender Iwashita. Once we've had a few games to let everyone get used to each other I'm looking forward to what we're capable of.

Speaking of Iwashita, anyone who saw today's game will be amazed how he stayed on the pitch till the end. Entering stoppage time, the hot headed newly-wed pushed a Hiroshima player away with his full palm on the opponent's face. Predictably, the Hiroshima player went down like he'd been shot in the head, but regardless of any making-the-most-of-it, any hand-to-face is a red card right there. The ref reached for his pocket and pulled out... a yellow. Absolutely amazing.

Within seconds of this, and with the clock at 92 minutes, we were up the other end with a final throw of the dice. We were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box, Jungo swung it right into the mix and it was met by substitute Omae Genki for his first league goal. It was no less than we deserved, and on balance 1-1 was a fair result.

Love Ono's pose here :)

Videos

Here's the Hiroshima penalty:



And here's our late, late equaliser:



Slightly more extended highlights, including Iwashita's facepalm.

New Chants for 2010

Barry writes:

As uploaded to YouTube user 12shunsuke12's account today, several new chants have been announced for 2010. It's all a bit different to back home where chants evolve organically on the terraces and either get taken up or forgotten about depending on the supporters. Here the songs are constructed in a studio and we are then told what to sing.

Well, it is what it is, and I'm not judging either way. I do miss the spontaneity of crowd humour you get so much of back home, but there's also something to be said for everyone knowing what they're meant to be singing at the same time. The noise is amplified ten fold, and the all round atmosphere benefits.

Anyway, I'm not here to bang on about the difference in terrace culture between Japan and the UK, I'm here to post this video:



Check out 12shunsuke12's page for the new chants for Ono, Bosnar etc, but the chant above is the one I'm most looking forward to belting out next Saturday.

Pre-Season: S-Pulse 2-0 Niigata

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 2-0 Niigata
Johnsen 48
Fujimoto 61

Att. 6120

S-Pulse beat Niigata 2-0 on a sunny Sunday afternoon down Nihondaira.

Orange suits you, fella

Goals

Both from YouTube user ssnnddttyy's personal cam. First, here's Johnsen's opener:



And next, Jungo's cracker: