S-Pulse 1-2 Kashiwa

Barry writes

S-Pulse 1-2 Kashiwa
Bosnar 43 ---------------- Kudo 62
-------------------------------- Leandro 85

Att. 19584

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Muramatsu
DF Iwashita
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF Jong a Pin (yellow 54)
MF Edamura
MF Ljungberg

FW Omae
FW Takahara
FW Takagi

Subs Used

Takagi on for Edamura (57)
Sugiyama on for Takahara (67)
Nagai on for Ota (85)

Report

Them: Hard to play against, highly motivated, firing on all cylinders, potentially just two wins from the title. Us: winding down, missing our captain, looking towards the cup, nothing but pride to play for. And that was that. They won, we lost and we all went home in foul moods.

Despite all the above, it was very tight game, with the first half especially on a knife edge. The visitors in particular were largely restricted to long range efforts. The second was far more open, no doubt due to Bosnar's unstoppable free kick just before the break. It made Reysol throw everything they had at us to get back in it. They don't play very attractive football, but look at the table - it's been getting the job done.

They penetrated our defences on several occasions with some slick passing, and it was from a swift bit of overlapping that a shot drew a parry from Kaito. That was then headed home by the completely free Leandro to give them the lead. At 2-1 we kept having a go, but the look of a team playing for the title and one playing for pride is impossible to mistake. A late free kick from Bosnar went wide and that was pretty much that.

Kashiwa are now a whisker from the title and it'll be hard too see them blow it against either Cerezo or Urawa. If Nagoya fail to beat Yamagata on Saturday and Kashiwa win, it's all over. This time next year, it'll be us. #optimism

While I'm here, today S-Pulse became only the 5th team in the country to welcome its 5 millionth supporter through the gates. Top work.

Ghotbi Says

Translated back to English.

I have to choose my words wisely. I'm a little disappointed with some of the ref's decision making today. Omae was in the area and got surrounded by two players and pulled down. I'm 1000% percent certain that was a penalty kick. If that had been given it would have been a different game.

We made a mistake for Kashiwa to equalise, and the second goal too came about from a mistake. After their second we changed the system and went with two up front. We created some chances to equalise.

I think Leandro is one of the best foreigners in the J. League, but with his diving he was trying to get a second yellow card for Jong a Pin, and that's disappointing.

Never mind the game, look at this instead

Videos

Eddy's belter. You really don't need to see anything else.



But if you want to put yourself through it, here you go:

Ono's Injury / Emp Cup 4th Round / Kashiwa Game Sold Out / The Globe is Back!

Barry writes

Ono

Ono is out with his right knee for another four weeks or so.

Emperor's Cup

The next round of the cup is at Nihondaira versus JEF United. Kick off is at 3pm, December 17th. If we get through the 1/4 final (24th) and 1/2 final (29th) are both in Osaka at the Nagai Stadium.

Kashiwa Game

The game tomorrow with Kashiwa is completely sold out, and it looks like sunshine. :)

Globe

After six years in the wilderness, S-Pulse have announced a glorious return to the globe motif on their shirts for next season. You have no idea how happy this makes me. I might even buy one. :)

Mike Havenaar Racially Abused by Kashiwa Fans

Barry writes:

Disappointing news emerged from Chiba this Golden Week weekend as Kashiwa Reysol fans dragged the good name of the J. League through the mud.

It's being reported that the Japanese striker of Dutch parentage Mike Havenaar was subjected to various abuse, including kuso hakujin (lit: shit whiteman) during Kofu's match in Kashiwa on Friday. It might not sound much, but can be equated to someone shouting fucking Jap.

Who knows if Bosnar and Brosque were given the same abuse in March? Unlike Havenaar, neither were born and raised in Japan, so may not have picked up on it as the Kofu forward would have.

Either way, way to go Kashiwa fans; dragging Japanese football into the dark ages. The incident is being investigated by the J. League.

Kashiwa 3-0 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

Kashiwa 3-0 S-Pulse

Att. 10390

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Tsujio
DF Hiraoka
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF Edamura
MF Ono
MF Iwashita
MF Brosque

FW Omae
FW Ito

Subs Used

Takahara on for Brosque (55)

Report

A heady combination of a newly put together team, a referee making a couple of awful calls and a team new to J1 out to impress, and there you go. We looked disjointed and full of nerves and never really got it together.

The team is J1, the facilities are non league

Hitachi fans show their support for their company

In the thick of it

Miles mate, great to meet another S-Pulse supporting Brit! Sorry if I was a bit drunk - had to fill up the several hours before kick off somehow. I actually had my phone turned off, so you may have just got voicemail if you tried calling. Pretty sure that number was right, though.

Video

Check out our wonderful travelling support. You can also see the harsh freekick for their opener as the and a totally crazy call for the straight red. Poor Bosnar - you have to feel sorry for him when the referee's thinking pattern seems to go: huge white guy comes into contact with opponent = foul. He played the ball in what was to my mind a brilliant tackle. How the ref can blow the decision to such an extreme... God help tall foreign players when this guy is around, that's all I can say.

Ryuji Sato (33) - you blew it mate

Kashiwa v S-Pulse Sold Out?

Barry writes:

I'm yet to find an official announcement on the Kashiwa website, but from their ticket page it looks like our opening weekend game up Chiba way has sold out in a matter of days. Our travelling support has come through and helped decimate the ticket supply. There is now a mad scramble for tickets going on over the web, but with mine safely stored under my pillow, I'm now busy researching naughty words to hurl Hyodo's way come 7pm next Saturday. ;)

Kashiwa 5-0 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

4-1. 5-1. 6-2. So this must be what it feels like to support Jubilo. ><;

I have absolutely nothing to say about this joke of a performance. I'm certainly not going to spend my time writing a report or team listings etc etc.

If the team can't arsed, then neither can I.

Not that I'll be watching them, but here are extended lowlights of the Kashiwa horror show:

Kashiwa 1-2 S-Pa (Nabisco Cup)

Barry writes:

2-1 - get it up ya, Kashiwa. :) Our group campaign is back on track, but it will all be for nothing if we can't see off the other yellow half of Chiba on Wednesday evening when JEF visit.

Try telling this lot the cup's a waste of time

The biggest concern came when Nagai hobbled off after pulling his hamstring barely five minutes after coming on for Hara. It didn't look too serious, but it's really not the most fortunate state of affairs after the rather hit and miss (more miss, so far) start to his S-Pa career. All the best for a speedy recovery Nagai - looking forward to seeing you banging them in sooner rather than later!

Kick off. Three minutes later we were one up :)

Cheers lads! You made a trip to Japan's armpit worthwhile

Line up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Takaki
DF Aoyama
DF Iwashita
DF Arata

MF Edamura
MF Ito
MF M. Yamamoto
MF Hyodo

FW Hara
FW Johnsen

Subs used

Nagai on for Hara (60)
Paulo on for Nagai (67)
Fujimoto on for Hyodo (80)

Highlights

Iwashita's goal (personal cam)

Kashiwa v S-Pa (Nabisco Cup Preview)

Barry writes:

Right, I'm off to Kashiwa. We need a win here to get our group campaign back on track, so don't let us down, boys! I may well be cursed, because in ten games on the road, I've not seen us win away from home since November 2007. After our lacklustre disaplay against Yamagata ten days ago, I'm not holding my breath too much! :-D

Prove me wrong!

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 Kashiwa (Preview)

Reysol are in town (and staying down the road)

After last Sunday's derby debacle nothing, and I mean nothing, but three points is acceptable against the team which replaced Jubilo at the foot of the table.

In what are promising to be challenging conditions, errors could play a bigger part than normal in the outcome, (Yes, Nishibe, I'm looking at you) but there are two things which must be achieved tomorrow. Number one: Johnsen - score a goal. Number two, three points for the home team.

As for team news, there are no new injuries to worry about at least, but we'll have to wait and see if Kenta fields the same eleven as last Sunday. Nagai is fit and available, Paulo is still warming the bench rather too much. I'm no manager, but for what it's worth, here's my tuppence worth: Kaito is fit, Nishibe is a liability - Kenta, sort it.

Well over 14000 tickets have been sold for tomorrow, but how many will brave the weather remains to be seen. If you're heading up to 'Daira, don't forget your waterproofs, it's going to be wet!

Before I sign off, after a traumatic week for us all, a message to the team from the UK Ultras:

S-Pulse is our religion, Nihondaira is our temple. The Kop is our alter, our faith unwavering and eternal. Despite Sunday, we'll be back giving 100% for our team and our city. Make us proud - bring us three points and send us to the top five.

WE BELIEVE!!!

David killed Goliath... Simple as That?

Since Black Sunday, I've had a little time to calm down, put things in perspective and generally get over it (mostly). Reading back my post from Sunday evening I was absolutely raging (not without due cause), but in hindsight, it was quite possibly just a little bit much.

Of course, the blame must lay squarely with Kenta for his starting line up / tactics / substitutions and what was an absolutely abject performance. But in my eagerness to dismiss Jubilo as mere relegation fodder I was doing ourselves a disservice. There were bigger factors at play on Sunday.

On paper, Little Jubilo have a team more than capable of survival in J1. The inner turmoil at the Yamaha has provided plenty of laughs around Shizuoka over recent years, but it's masked their true potential: that of a solid lower-bottom half team capable of claiming the occasional big scalp.

The dwindling crowds (less than 9000 for a Saturday game? Ouch!) and general lack of interest at the Yamaha have in turn fostered a spirit of the underdog. The years of winning things are long past. The fans know it and the players know it. Playing to more than half empty stadiums has become a matter of course for Little Jubilo, and so when they face off against their prefectural big brothers in a David / Goliath style showdown, it's inevitable they will raise their game.

Hands up - we were caught with our pants down on Sunday and dealt a sucker punch in a classic tale of the underdog. We swaggered in expecting a walk in the park, and we met a team fired up for the game of their lives. It's no coincidence that Little Jubilo's only two league victories of their last ten games both came against us. The derby is their cup final, and we were had fair and square.

So, what can we take away from all this? Well, don't underestimate the little guy. It's easy to disregard those teams scrapping around at the foot of the table, but we have been given a stern lesson, and it's one we have to learn from. Well done to Iwata for a huge achievement - you're no doubt milking it, and you've every right to given what you achieved.

;-)

Weeeeeell, anyway, onwards and upwards! On Saturday we face perpetually unfashionable Kashiwa Reysol, in what is traditionally our lowest crowd of the season. Given we've already sold three thousand more tickets for this than the same fixture last year, that distinction will probably go to another team this time around. My money's on Yamagata.

In a week it's all off to Ecopa again. This time we're using it as a home ground for the first time in three years, and S-Pulse are eager to get as many there as possible. It's for the visit of Urawa, and let's face it, anything less than 20339 and we're going to be left looking rather stupid. Any more than 18500, however, and we'll have bettered what Little Jubilo could manage for the same game in the same stadium, but with the advantage of it not being an hour journey away.

We're handing out leaflets at stations (which I reckon they should do around Iwata station, but there you go) and inviting primary school kids for free and their parents at a discount, so we'll see. The club are clearly using this game as a conciousness building exercise in the west of the prefecture. The aim being to capture the casual, floating footy fan to the orange side of life, and maybe even convert some of the fans deserting Jubilo in droves.

This is all laudable, but the thing is, despite being on a national holiday (Showa Day) we're all back in work for Thursday. Will more people travel all the way out to Fukuroi than would have to Nihondaira? Fingers crossed, but I'm not holding my breath. Either way, three points would be nice!

I'm setting out an aim of at least eight points from our next four games. We face Kashiwa, Urawa, Hiroshima and Chiba. If we harbour ACL ambitions (and with just cause, we do) then that has to be our target. If we fail to hit that, then it may well be time to talk some more about our man at the helm.

Come on S-Pulse!!!

Emperor's Cup Final: Gamba Osaka 1-0 Kashiwa Reysol (AET)

Today Gamba beat Reysol 1-0 after extra time to claim their first professional era Emperor's Cup title and further cement their position as one of Japan's premier teams. The 117th minute winner was no work of art, but it was deserved. Regardless, and speaking from first hand experience, it must have a bitter pill for the thousands of yellow-clad Kashiwa fans to swallow. Their choreographed display (YES WE CAN in huge black letters against a yellow background) had me leaning their way before kick off! However, when the final whistle went and Gamba lifted the cup, the man their fans must have felt most grateful to was surely manager Akira Nishino.

The former Hitachi (Reysol's forerunners) player took over at the Kansai club in 2002, and while it took him three years to register his first silverware, he has since turned the former perennial also-rans into a real power house. Gamba has now pulled in the league title, the League Cup, the Asian Champion's League title, the Pan Pacific Championship, the Super Cup, and now the Emperor's Cup. And all this within the space of four seasons. It's a mighty impressive haul for a team who spent the lion's share of their early history scrapping around at the foot of the table.

Highlights

Probably the best outcome from today's result is that Gamba gain entry into 2009's ACL - the competition they won just weeks back but were not granted the chance to defend their title. Contrast this to 2008 where the 2007 winners were dumped in at the quarter final stage, and you can well imagine how they might have felt hard done by. Well in that respect, justice has been done, so well done Gamba.

Gamba's recent ascendency as one of the country's best teams is encouraging to see, as it's not been the result of merely throwing money at the squad to buy success. They don't have the best stadium in the league (not by a long shot), nor do they have the most fans (again, not by a long shot). It's just been a good old fashioned story of a team with a good youth system, back room management which allows a coach time to build a team without panicking at the first sign of a trophy-less season, and a club which is now reaping the many benefits of their patience and hard work.

I like to think I can see some parallels between the way we as a club operate and Gamba, and I honestly believe the team Kenta is building won't take long to start bringing in some silverware. Indeed, looking at the last two occasions we've met the new Emperor's Cup holders, we've seen them off each time; 3-2 away in the league cup semi final, and 3-1 at home in the league. I'm counting the days till 2009 kicks off in March, (and you can too, with the new counter at the top of the page!) and we have good reason to steam into the future with every confidence!

Lining up to beat Gamba earlier this year

If you simply can't wait to start planning for next season, here are the key dates, as announced recently.
Xerox Super Cup: February 28th

J.League, Matchday 1: March 7th
J.League, Matchday 34: December 5th

Nabisco Cup, Group Stage March 25th - June 13th
Nabisco Cup, Quarter Finals Legs: July 15th / July 29th
Nabisco Cup, Semi Finals Legs: September 2nd / September 6th
Nabisco Cup, Final: November 3rd

The Emperor's Cup 4th round, when J1 teams enter, is likely to be the first weekend of November if recent years are anything to go by. Don't know about you, but I can't wait!

I'll sign off with the first sunset over Shizuoka City of 2009. Happy new year to one and all - even Jubilo toe-rags! I wish you all health, wealth and fun in the coming year and season!

Emperor's Cup "Final Jihad" - Gamba v Reysol

Well done to each team on making the final! In the early kick off, Reysol came from behind to beat S-Pa's conquerors, FC Tokyo, 2-1. I almost went up to Ecopa to watch it, but it would have only made me angry thinking about what could have been, so I went shopping instead. On my adventures I saw a pair of bright orange jeans. And at only 3000 yen, if they're still there in March I may well invest for the opening week of the new season. :)

In the other semi final , Gamba saw off Marinos with a 117th minute extra time winner to book their date with Reysol on New Year's Day. Gamba will be going for the one trophy which has so far eluded them after losing in the final to Urawa in 2006. Now I know it's Kashiwa's first ever Emperor's Cup final, but I think they may be taking things a touch too seriously:

The "Final Jihad"

A mind bogglingly inappropriate and staggeringly misguided headline if ever I saw one. Well, as much as I would like to attend Reysol's very own Holy War, I'm not able to make the game. I already bought a couple of tickets, so get in touch if you're interested in hitting the cup final on Thursday. They're going cheap, but you must be in Shizuoka to collect in the next couple of days!

S-Pa 3-2 Kashiwa

This just in: full match report from someone actually in attendance! Click here for Mike Tuckerman's report on events.

Unbeaten in five, in the semi final of the cup and having just completed the double over a team in sixth - with the right spin, even the most mediocre of seasons can look almost presentable! While S-Pa pummelled the Kashiwa goal, and ultimately claimed their seventh win of the season, yours truly was riding a bullet back to Shiz after a weekend away in Chiba. As a Disneyland virgin, I had a thoroughly good time and would recommend it to anyone, but as seven o'clock rolled around on Saturday, much to the better half's chagrin, my attentions turned to my mobile phone as updates poured in from Shimizu.

It didn't take long for the first goal notification. With Okazaki in the starting line up for the first time since Frontale away, he wasted no time in staking his claim to his place by making it one nil in the first minute. The score was doubled by Edamura on eleven minutes, but when the half time score of 2-2 came through, as infuriating as it was, it sadly didn't come as that much of a shock. Losing a two goal lead to Oita not long back softened the blow somewhat... That said, S-Pa came out in the second half and thanks to Okazaki were in the lead again in less than five minutes. We continued to pepper the Kashiwa goal with shots matching our first half tally of seven. Kashiwa only managed two efforts, one less than the first 45. They weren't helped by being reduced to ten men on 78 minutes.

Time for a little more spin / looking on the bright side: We're now up to the giddy heights of 14th, and are only one win from 9th. We're above Jubilo who crumbled to a 3-1 away defeat and who will probably be in the drop zone once Marinos have dispatched Sapporo later today. Perhaps most amazingly, we've only lost once more than Nagoya who sit in second. However, it's Grampus who we face away on Wednesday - not a game I'm expecting a hell of a lot of return from! Still, we have a habit of rising to the big occasions, and Nagoya may well be knackered from being the first team to beat Antlers at Kashima Stadium in God knows how long, so lets have it!

Here's a couple of personal videos from yesterday's game starting with Okazaki's opener:



Okachan's second to make it 3-2 to the Mighty Oranges:



The obligatory post match celebrations:

Kashiwa's only victory yesterday

Hey, you won!

Hooliganism in the J. League? You've got to hand it to Kashiwa Reysol fans; attacking en masse a lone S-Pulse scarfer, beating him to the ground and knocking seven shades of shit out of him - they give the word scum new meaning. Makes you wonder why they stop at scarfers? There are plenty of kids who go to games - and girls too! Even easier targets than a 22 year old bloke on his way back to the station. Nobody's naive enough to think hooliganism doesn't exist. Even in Japan it's part of the game to small degree - but Jesus, Kashiwa - wait till you play Antlers or Urawa, start attacking their most vulnerable fans and see how far you get. Got a funny feeling that's not something I'll ever be reading about... It would also have been nice if the local police hadn't been as use as a chocolate teapot. Shame on you Kashiwa "police" - you proved yourself to be worthless.