December 12, 2009

A Cup of Holiday Cheer

The Emperor's Cup provided another demonstration of its well-known capacity to surprise and amaze, this weekend, as the quarterfinal round gave viewers some of the best football entertainment in months. Fans had their pick of story lines, ranging from the Cinderella saga of Vegalta Sendai to the age-old themes of revenge (Gamba) and revival (S-Pulse).

1 - 2

The last time that these two teams met at Kashima Stadium was a mere two weeks ago, when the Antlers crushed Gamba's faint hopes of making a race of the J.League title by a stunning 5-1 score line. But if anyone wanted a stark and thorough lesson in how important Marquinhos is to the Kashima Antlers' offnece, all they need to do is compare that contest with this one. While the Antlers had their chances, they were unable to finish them off. Gamba, on the other hand, made the best of their few opportunities, and got a bit of help along the way.

The absence of Marquinhos from the Kashima fold (and to a lesser extent, Cho Jae-Jin's inability to make the lineup for Gamba) made this match a much more cautious one for both teams than the explosion of offence two weeks ago. Kashima had the first opportunity to score, when Shinzo Koroki fired a shot off the crossbar just a few minutes in. However, it was the Osaka Boys who took the early lead on a free kick that Yasuhito Endo curled off the forehead of Masato Yamazaki.

But just when it looked like Gamba would go into the break with a lead, Marquinhos' replacement in this contest -- the little-used but clearly capable Yuzo Tashiro -- made a dash behind the Gamba defence, fired a low shot that Yosuke Fujigaya barely managed to palm off the right post, and then collected the rebound and tucked the ball home from a narrow angle.

The secdond half unfolded much like the first, with Kashima creating steady pressure but failing to make connections in the final third of the pitch, and Gamba hitting back with occasional counterattacks that seemed more likely to create a goal. However, the deciding tally was an early Christmas present to Masato Yamazaki from the extremely generous Antlers' defence. Midway through the second half Gamba pushed forward on a counterattack and Hideo Hashimoto chased a lead pass down the right channel. The Antlers defence seemed to have it covered, but inexplicably Toru Araiba turned away from the ball as he backpedaled and allowed Hashimoto to poach it right off his boots. As he turned inside and tried to cross, though, the ball was deflected by Araiba, and it bounded straight towards Atsuto Uchida. Amazingly, Uchida swyng his left foot and missed the ball completely, allowing Yamazaki to nip in behind him and stroke a shot into the back netting.

This was not the only defensive miscue from Uchida, who seemed to be having a very bad afternoon. Soon after this play, following another missed assignment, coach Oliveira hauled him off and replaced him with Chikashi Masuda, and he removed the other defensive culprit, Araiba, moments later. But despite a late rush of pressure, Kashima's attack lacked the sharp edge that Marquinhos usually provides, and Gamba were sufficiently fired up to stave off the late pressure and claim their revenge for the recent drubbing in league action. Gamba will need to hope their good fortune in this match carries over until Christmas, because they will spend the holiday in Tokyo preparing for their semifinal match with this year's Cinderella . . . Vegalta Sendai.

2 - 1 (ET)

This year's "big story" has been the remarkable run of Vegalta Sendai, who have already lifted the J2 championship trophy, and now are marking their return to the J1 with a string of impressive victories over Omikya Ardija, FC Tokyo, and now the biggest scalp of all -- Kawasaki Frontale. It seems hard to believe that just a month ago, the Blue Dolphins were swaggering around Kawasaki and confidently boasting of their hopes to win the "triple crown" of Japanese football. But history has repeatedly shown the perils of such hubris, and this year was no exception. First Frontale fell to FC Tokyo in a Nabisco Cup final that not only exposed the big-game brittleness of Frontale's vaunted strike force, but also earned the team harsh criticism for their lack of decorum in defeat. This was followed quickly by a collapse in the League campaign. Frontale fell to lowly Oita Trinita and tumbled out of the top spot, then chased Kashima to the finish line and another disappointment.

This week it was Vegalta Sendai's turn to pile onto the fallen Frontale. This contest could have been an even more emphatic win for the "home" team, if not for the intervention of the Man in Black, but all the same, the capacity crowd at Sendai Stadium were able to rejoice in another thrilling upset.

Kawasaki were without their veteran striker Juninho, for this match, and while they have a host of other players who can contribute on offence, the team badly missed Juninho's ability to rescue matches with one moment of sheer brilliance. Vegalta demonstrated their credentials as a formidable J1 opponent by outplaying Frontale for the full 120 minutes. It was a back-and-forth battle, to be sure, but the pace and run of play were dictated almost entirely by the Golden Eagles of Tohoku. When the opening goal arrived, ten minutes before half time, it came as no surprise to anyone, since it had been in the offing for the entire first half. Typically, it was Ryan Yong-Gi who provided the incisive through pass that Yuki Nakashima drove past Eiji Kawashima. The home team carried their lead in at the break, and then held it doggedly throughout a second half that included as much dangerous counterattacking by the home team as it did pressure from the visitors.

With just under ten minutes remaining, Vegalta appeared to have claimed the ticket to Tokyo, when Tomoyuki Hirase slashed through the right channel and then fired a low-angle shot that Kunimitsu Sekiguchi bundled home with his belly . . . or did he? As Sekiguchi started his celebrations the referee, Mr. Matsuo, waved a negating finger and signalled a handball offence -- even going so far as to show Sekiguchi a yellow card. Replays were not 100% conclusive, but it certainly looked like the ball had come off the Sendai midfielder's stomach, rather than his arm.

Grasping at this lifeline, Frontale gave one last gasp and managed to prolong their season by a half hour. In the first minute of extra time, Vegalta keeper Takyto Hayashi misplayed a high ball into the box and failed to latch onto it as he charged out. The ball was deflected out to Kazuhiro Murakami at the top of the penalty area, and he drove a low shot into the vacated net to send the match into extra time.

But the Golden Eagles would not be denied. as the second overtime period began, Sekiguchi snatched back the glory he had been denied, with a pinpoint cross that found veteran Tomoyuki Hirase at the Kawasaki penalty spot. Hirase flicked the ball on with the crown of his head, and the ball spun just inside the right post, trigerring thunderous celebrations throughout the Northern Kingdom. Vegalta will meet Gamba Osaka in Tokyo, on December 29, to fight for a ticket to the finals on New Year's Day.

3 - 2 (ET)

If one says that Kawasaki Frontale stumbled down the stretch in the J.League title chase this season, then Shimizu S-Pulse fell off a cliff, landed on the freeway and then were run over by several large lorries. The spectacular collapse left the Wingheads in a distant seventh place, after having led the league with just over a month remaining. This tragic end to what had been a fairly successful season even had some people in Shizuoka calling for the head of coach Kenta Hasegawa. But it looks like the Wingheads have picked themselves back up and are airborne again, after a stirring conquest of Albirex Niigata, on Saturday

This contest was the very definition of a "see-saw battle", with Shinji Okazaki putting S-Pulse in the early lead, only for Toshihiro Matsushita to equalise five minutes later. The match swayed back and forth for another 75 minutes before Frode Johnsen snatched what looked like the winner, five minutes from full time. Niigata had already been reduced to ten men when Everton Santos picked up a second yellow for a dangerously late tackle. But throwing caution to the wind, Niigata lined up in a 3-3-3 formation and charged forward in the dying minutes. With just a minute remaining Kisho Yano snatched the equaliser and sent the contest into extra time.

But S-Pulse would not be denied. After 29 minutes of scoreless extra time, Takuma Edamura sliced open the undermanned Niigata defence and found defender Arata Kodama charging into the box in a bid to avoid a PK shootout. Kodama met the pass with his left boot and sent the "home" crowd at Nihondaira Stadium into wild celebrations.

0 - 3  

Nagoya Grampus rounded out the field of four semifinalists with a relatively comfortable win over their nearby J2 neighbors, FC Gifu. This was the first time that the two clubs have played a "derby" match that had any real significance, and though the J2 club were clearly fired up for the match, the disparity in competitive skill was hard to overlook. Australian target man Josh Kennedy had a particularly dominant afternoon, scoring a classic "three-point hat trick". After a hard-fought first half, it looked like the two teams would retire to the locker room with the match still scoreless. But as the clock moved into injury time Shohei Abe fired in a line-drive cross that Kennedy headed past keeper Kyohei Noda, crushing Gifish hopes of springing an upset.

The second half was increasingly one-sided as the energy and hard running that had kept Gifu competitive in the first half began to wane. Midway through the second act Kennedy scored his second goal with a right-footed flick that tipped home a pinpoint cross from Keita Sugimoto. Ten minutes later the big man finished off his hat trick with a left-footed stab at a loose ball that dropped in front of net, thus getting on the score sheet with all three of his main body parts. Nagoya moves on to another local derby contest in the semifinal round -- a December 29 clash with Shimizu S-Pulse at Shizuoka "Ecopa" Stadium.