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.

Urawa 0-1 S-Pulse (Nabisco Cup)

Barry writes:

Urawa 0-1 S-Pulse
----------------------------- Hara 87

Att. 34040

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Tsujio
DF Iwashita (yellow 48)
DF Hiraoka
DF Ota

MF Hyodo
MF Honda
MF Ono

FW Nagai
FW Johnsen
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

M. Yamamoto on for Hyodo (65)
Omae on for Honda (78)
Hara on for Nagai (78)

Report

I was expecting to watch this one on the box, but as it wasn't on live anywhere I was reduced, like a savage, to listening on *spit* Reds Radio. Urgh. As if that wasn't bad enough, the commentator wasn't even trying to provide a balanced account of what was unfolding at the Saitama Stadium.

I just checked the stats and was genuinely surprised to see we had 12 shots; only two fewer than the home team. You wouldn't have known it. The commentator took any S-Pulse possession as opportunity to babble on about the fact Reds fans were booing Nagai, that three ex Urawa players started for us today, that we hadn't won in four, or the fact that a draw wouldn't really suit either team.

Timely

So it was a confusing / hilarious / surreal moment when, with the presenter off on another mindless rant about God only knows what, he, completely out of the blue, started shouting and yelping about a goal. I was paralysed with fear as I tried to figure out what had just happened, but to cut a long story short, it was Kazuki Hara who had reaffirmed his semi-legendary status as our very own super sub.

I'm yet to see it, but will add a video is and when one appears online. These three points put us back in the race to qualify for the knock out stages, but anything less than a win against those sky blue scumbags next week will see our hopes for another cup run as good as over. Even a victory may yet prove to be insufficient as you can see:

		Played	Pts	W	D	L	F	A	Gd
1	iwata	4	10	3	1	0	7	3	+4
2	S-PULSE	5	8	2	2	1	4	3	+1
3	Yokohama FM	4	7	2	1	1	5	2	+3
4	Yamagata	4	7	2	1	1	3	1	+2
5	Urawa	5	7	2	1	2	6	6	0
6	Kobe	4	3	1	0	3	4	7	-3
7	Shonan	4	0	0	0	4	2	9	-7

It's really too close to call. All we can do is win. See you at Nihondaira next week where there will be near on THREE TIMES more than was at jubilo's home game yesterday.

Videos

OK, so here they are, the highlights:

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!

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!

The Prodigy vs Shimizu S-Pulse

One the Shinkansen to Nagoya last Sunday, I was listening to the new Prodigy album. The title track struck me instantly as one that might make a good backing track to a goal compilation video. So I made one. :) It's a tribute not just to the team, but also to our legions of supporters - the best in the league!

Enjoy!



Making this video reaffirmed to me just how talented our Hara is, and also how important Kazuki is to us as team. I'm looking forward to making another video at the end of this season with many more of his cracking goals and assists in it.

While I'm here, I have to show you this goal line clearance from last week. In the Gamba vs Kyoto game, Kyoto defender Mizumoto pulls a miracle stop out the bag to help ensure Sanga hold on for all three points:



Blimey! :)

Takagi and Aoyama off? Hara Rookie of the Year?

The league season is over, and as such transfer news is flying around, increasing in number by the day. Recent bad tidings to take the edge off the good news of Johnsen's impending arrival include rumours of Aoyama to Urawa, and more solid stories of Takagi to Gamba. Given our progress these last few months (not least the fact we were the best team in the country in the second half of the season) potentially losing players to domestic rivals is a bitter pill. The stark reality is, both teams in question have been champions in the last four years, and Reds especially are swimming in money. These potential losses, added to the old news of Yajima probably heading off to Europe, leaves a couple of gaping holes in our first choice starting members.

Our back line may take some drastic restructuring, but up front we'd be pretty much set. With international Okazaki, breakthrough hero Hara, and Nagoya's goal machine Johnsen leading the charge, we should have the finishing touch which in it's absence cost us so dear the first half of this season. Hara has just been nominated as one of the best three youngsters of the 2008 season. If he wins the Rookie of the Year award, it will mean S-Pulse players would have won the title twice as many times as the nearest other team. Results announced December, Monday 22nd. Any confirmed transfers will be reported on here as soon humanely possible.

Kashima Antlers 3-4 S-Pa (Emperor's Cup 5th Round)

And it doesn't get much tighter than that!

After Kashima scored with five minutes of extra time to go I was bracing myself for the lottery of a penalty shoot out, but there was rookie of the year (in my humble opinion!) Kazuki Hara to put it in in the very last minute of extra time! He at once saved us the hell of a shoot out, knocked out defending champions Kashima Antlers, and put S-Pulse into the quarter finals of the Emperor's Cup! After the anguish of the Nabisco, it's great to know there's another competition still to play for!

Highlights from yesterday's game and a half:



Well, the 2008 record against last year's double winners is none too shoddy at all! P5 W3 D1 L1, which breaks down like this:

League:

S-Pulse 1-0 Antlers
Antlers 2-0 S-Pulse

Nabisco Cup

Antlers 0-0 S-Pulse
S-Pulse 2-1 Antlers

Emperor's Cup

Antlers 3-4 S-Pulse

So now next up is FC Tokyo who today knocked out Albirex Niigata. The match is to be played December 20th. We're now only two games away from another BDO to the Kokuritsu, and from equaling the record for cup final appearances during the pro era. Still, we know that's a long way off just yet! Our record against FC Tokyo this year is pretty solid: 1-0 at home, 5-1 away, (not to mention 3-1 home and 1-1 away in the league cup) so we have nothing to fear!!

Well done to S-Pulse today, seriously. Bouncing back from recent events to put the holders of the competition out is no mean feat! After the hellish week of the Nabisco cup final loss followed by the Derby Debacle, well it shows a real strength of character to come from behind and despatch the best team in the country. S-Pulse - the pride of Shizuoka prefecture - you make us proud!

Emperor's Cup 1/4 final full draw:

Yokohama F. Marinos v Sagan Tosu
Gamba Osaka or Jubilo Iwata v Nagoya Grampus
S-Pulse v FC Tokyo
Kashiwa Reysol v Sanfrecce Hiroshima

To be played December 20th

FC Tokyo 1-5 S-Pa

Demolition. Annihilation. Beating. Whipping. Destruction. Mauling. Thrashing.

Take your pick. :)

The masses at last year's FC Tokyo match

Me and Fuz were both at the 2-0 away defeat last season, and so yesterday's result is an especially sweet one. Despite us both being in Tokyo at 3pm on Saturday, we were en route to Saitama to catch Radiohead, and so missed our best away result of the season. Much like S-Pulse, Radiohead played a blinder. They rocked out a stonking set to a full house, though the majority of which bizarrely stood in static silence for each song. I've never been given evil stares at a gig for singing along before! It was like being at the cinema. Very, very odd crowd.

Anyway, back to the football! Yesterday's goal-fest makes a season aggregate in all competitions of 10-2 against FC Tokyo, and barring an end of season collapse of Urawa-sized proportions, should secure our J1 status for next year. All five goals came from different players starting with another long range blast from Yamamoto. This was followed by another corner strike by Iwashita, and then Hara made it three just before the break.

Tokyo came out swinging in the second half, and despite a total of 11 shots found the target only once. That was on the hour, but was never anything more than a consolation. Okazaki on 78 made it four, before Toda rounded off the rout with a goal in the last minute against his former club. I bet he enjoyed that one!

It was a real shame we had plans elsewhere, as I'm sure the travelling thousands revelled in the 5-1 mauling of their hosts. I can only imagine the crowd in the Ajista knew how to enjoy itself more than the one at the Radiohead show! So here are the goals - enjoy! Check out Hara's control on the third goal - this lad is a real talent!!

Gutted.

I don't know about Shizza, but that one word explains exactly how I am feeling tonight, and I suspect I am not the only one.

I really don't get it this season. There have been so many games where I've watched safe in the knowledge that we were playing better football or were the better team and then later have headed home disappointed. Games that should have been victories turning into draws, and when we should get a point we often end up with nothing. Frustrating to say the least.

Oka-chan, my personal hero, got us off to a good start a brisk 6 minutes in and although it was one -all at half time I felt we were evenly matched and we had a good shot at winning the game, but I would have settled for a draw given that Grampus have been one of the better sides this year and that we were away from home. Yajima came on and blasted a beautiful little number into the top right-hand corner of the net and confirmed my belief - for yes, we STILL believe - that we could win.

And then what happens? Nishibe decides that he hasn't done his clown routine for a while and true to form, royally buggers it up and gifts Nagoya an equalizer. My fellow UK Ultras and I had a hard time believing it really happened, especially after a great save in the first half. (Speaking of saves, the Nagoya goalie had to go to some length to keep us out in the first, just catching a great little shot with the tips of his fingers, lucky git.) Unfortunately Grampus rapidly followed their equalizer with a free kick by Tamada and put themselves into the lead.

But still, we believers declared that all was not lost and there were a solid 30 minutes for us to equalize, possibly even take the lead again. And certainly we dominated the last half hour with Grampus only breaking away a few times, giving us one very hairy moment towards the end when it looked like being an extremely unjust result of 4-2. Honestly, I think I would have cried. Despite pounding the pressure and the addition of Hara, we just couldn't get the ball to hit the back of the net. Too many silly shots squandered, too many occasions when the ball was passed to the invisible man, and too many mistakes.

I guess that's football, and its just the way the cookie crumbles... but I would really like to see us playing the way I know we can. So much young talent in the team willing to score, so lets see them do it!

That said, good to see Okazaki in the starting line up again, he's clearly hungry for first team football and is getting the ball in the net regularly, hopefully a few more games will see him increase his goal tally, and Hara too if he gets on the park sooner in future.

Oh, and it has to be said - both Shizza and I were impressed with the way Nagoya didn't waste time messing around in the last ten minutes - so many other teams do, especially when there is real danger of your opponents getting that equalizer. Then again, maybe they didn't perceive any danger...