April 3, 2010
Losing Your Cherry (Blossoms)
Spring has arrived across all but the northernmost regions of Japan, bringing with it a profusion of flowers, cherry blossom viewing parties, a new class of students preparing for the start of the school year, and a new intake of employees at companies throughout Japan - well . . . at least those that are doing well enough to do some hiring. Like any other large organization, the J.League has welcomed in a new generation of rookies, and now that they have had a chance to settle in, these kids are one by one getting chances to make their mark on the team, and prove their worth to coaches, teammates and fans alike. This week several youngsters lost their cherry blossoms, with their first appearance in the J1, and a couple look to be very interesting prospects for future greatness.
Here are the scores from Saturday's matches
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3 - 1 
The first match of the weekend was remarkably appropriate, given the time of the season. The Flaming Pink Cherry Blossoms of Osaka, Cerezo, played host to their Puce-Hued neighbors from Kyoto Sanga, in these two teams' first derby meeting in three years. The scenes of cherry blossom-lined avenues on the approach to Nagai Koen, used in the pregame programme, set the mood for a brilliantly blooming afternoon of football
Cerezo entered this contest with only two points from their firstr four matches, and still looking for their first win of the sesaon, while Kyoto has got off to a very solid start, and sat comfortably in seventh place as the weekend began. Those results probably offer an inaccurate picture of the relative competitiveness of the two teams, but they definitely gave Osaka the competitive fire of underdogs as the contest kicked off. From the outset, Cerezo were the team pressing the tempo and searching for the opening goal. Thus it was no surprise when they claimed the early advantage, on a lovely cut and finish by Shinji Kagawa. Takashi Inui fed a pass behind the Kyoto defence, Kagawa dashed through to collect the ball, and before his defender could make a challenge, he looped a curling drive over the keeper and just below the crossbar.
Shortly after half time the Flaming Pinks extended their lead on a delicately lovely play involving four of Cerezo's most skillful players. Inui set things in motion with a long through pass that led Martinez to the top left corner of the penalty box. Seeing the keeper off his line, and a teammate in the vicinity of the far post, Martinez chipped a soft floating shot/pass for the high right corner. Sanga keeper Yuichi Mizutani played the ball well, scrambling back just in time to flick the ball off the forehead of Adriano, who was leaping high to finish off the play. But even though Mizutani managed to keep the ball out of the net, his momentum and that of Adriano carried both players into the deep recesses of the net, while the ball dropped invitingly just in front of goal. Kagawa charged in and bundled the ball across the line before any Kyoto defenders could make the clearance, and Cerezo had a two-goal advantage.
This proved to be a major turning point in terms of momentum. For the next 20 minutes Sanga suddenly took control of the contest with harder running and constant pressure. They dominated both ball possession and the number of scoring opportunities, making several very dangerous thrusts at the Cerezo net, including close calls by Atsushi Yanagisawa, Diego de Souza and Takuya Masushima. But each time the final pass was a bit off target, and the shot a weak one that Kim was able to collect comfortably. Finally, in the 70 minute, Sanga's efforts finally bore fruit when Diego played a line-drive cross into the box from the left wing. Young Takumi Miyayoshi chested the ball down at the penalty spot, and immediately swung a left boot at the ball on the short hop. Though the ball took a deflection off a Cerezo defender, it trickled into the back of the net before Kim could pick it out from the cluster of bodies in the goal mouth. This marked Miyayoshi's first J.League goal, and as it turned out, he could not have picked a better time to lose his virginity. Just moments later a long ball over the top found Miyayoshi dashing away on goal, and the youngster was hauled down on the edge of the box to prevent another tally. Unfortunately, though, the subsequent free kick was deflected off the wall and into touch.
As time ran down and both teams fought for the advantage, the deciding blow was struck by two veterans who arrived at Cerezo this season after long careers on the opposite side of Osaka. Former Gamba winger Akihiro Ienaga penetrated the left wing and drilled a low cross to his former Gamba teammate, Ryuji Bando, who deflected the ball into the low left corner, beating the keeper and vaulting Cerezo into a secure lead. Despite a late charge by Kyoto, all their efforts came to naught, and Cerezo walked off with their first win of the season.
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3
0 - 0 
Though the snow-capped mountains visible in the distance beyond Niigata's "Big Swan" Stadium and the chilly breeze wafting through the stands may have provided hints that winter still has not retreated completely from the North Shore of Japan, the first few blossoms on the trees provided a promise of spring, but the chill in the air suggested that new life has not yet arrived in the region. This was a pretty appropriate omen for the afternboon, as the first "Orange Derby" of the season kicked off between Albirex Niigata and Omiya Ardija. Though there were a handful of scoring opportunities at each end, neither team was able to break out of the slump that has affected them over the past few weeks.
As half time approached, both teams tried to step up the offensive pressure, resulting in a few half-chances. However, their precision was lacking especially in the final third. The two most dangerous both fell to Ardija striker Masahiko Ichikawa, who sent one drive off the palms of the keeper as he charged towards the right post, and drove a second rising line drive off the crossbar, with the keeper beaten.
The second half was much the same, though momentum seemed to shift slightly from the visitors to the home team, over the course of the second 45 minutes. As time ticked away, the Mighty Swans had two big chances to break the deadlock on sudden counterattacking dashes. But both times Kisho Yano was denied by the Ardija keeper, and the contest ended in a scoreless deadlock.
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0
1 - 2 
In Yokohama, two high-profile returnees from Europe faced off against one another for the first time since 2001, as Shinji Ono's Shimizu S-Pulse travelled to Yokohama to take on Shunsuke Nakamura and the Yokohama Marinos. Both teams entered the weekend within two points of the league leaders, Kashima Antlers, who do not play until Sunday, so the stakes could not have been much higher - a win would vault the superior team to the top of the league table, at least for the moment. S-Pulse left no doubts about how serious they were about the match, wasting less than three minutes to open the scoring. Shinji Ono got the play started with a sparkling exchange that sent Takuma Edamura off on a dash down the right sideline. Charging down the wing, he crossed the ball into the middle, and though the Marinos defence was able to head it clear, the ball fell to Shinji Okazaki charging into the box. With his first touch, Okazaki slammed the ball home to give S-Pulse the early lead.
In his first few matches this season, Ono has looked skillful, but a bit tentative, perhaps reflecting the many injuries he has ssuffered over the course of his career, a subsequent fear of hard contact, and also perhaps the rust accumulated during three years of almost continuous presence on the bench. But this week the signs of Ono's increasing confidence and match sharpness were clear for all to see. Repeatedly, over the opening twenty minutes, Ono walked up to an opposing player and, with almost casual precision and power, simply pried the ball away and dribbled off upfield. It was not until Yuji Nakazawa used the pressure as an excuse to flop dramatically to the turf, and earn Ono a yellow card, that the S-Pulse midfielder dialed back his pressure on the ball to some extent. Shunsuke Nakamura has looked quite impressive with his passing and dribbling, since arriving in Yokohama, but even he has not displayed the all-around power and "presence" in midfield that Ono displayed in the opening stages of this contest
Nakamura would not play much of a part in the contest, taking a knock on the ankle about 15 minutes in and being substituted for Kenta Kano before a half hour had elapsed. The substitution seemed to have a strong beneficial impact for the Marinos, however, and they spent the next ten minutes threatening the S-Pulse goal with a series of set play opportunities. But with three minutes to go until intermission, it was S-Pulse who used a set play to extend their lead. Ono played a low hard drive to the penalty spot, and somehow keeper Iikura and Kurihara failed to communicate their intentions. The two Marinos players collided head on and the ball bounded loose to Okazaki, who casually stroked it into the back of the net.
Yokohama made a second change at half time, bringing on Argentine newcomer Bastianini as a striker and assigning the buildup duties to Koji Yamase. This produced a surge of offensive pressure in the opening minutes of the half. Though Bastianini failed to get involved in any goal-scoring opportunities, he did look quite lively and technically skillful. This will add to the Marinos already abundant supply of offensive-minded players, and no doubt the Argentine will have opportunities to prove his worth as the season wears on.
After an extended push and several close calls, the Marinos finally got a break when an S-pulse defender - seemingly by accident but nevertheles in full view of the ref - got tangled up with Yuji Nakazawa on a corner kick and both fell to the turf. The ref pointed to the spot and it looked like Yokohama was on the verge of narrowing the deficit. But Nishibe guessed correctly and dove right on top of Hyodo's penalty kick, preserving the Wingheads' two-goal lead. Moments later Ono retired to the bench, and S-Pulse adopted a sagging defensive posture which handed almost all of the initiative to the Marinos. Finally, with just over five minutes to go, Yokohama at last managed to pull a goal back on a free kick by Kano, whose drive for the right post was deflected slightly by veteran Norihisa Shimizu, causing Nishibe to lose the handle and let the ball spill across the goal line. But thereafter Nishibe was unbeatable between the posts, turning away every Marinos bid for an equaliser. S-Pulse collected the full three points, and thus climbed a point clear of Kashima at the top of the table.
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0
1 - 0 
On a day when most of the country was revelling in the marvellous spring weather, Montedio Yamagata and Sanfrecce Hiroshima faced off under the chilly haze of a late-winter sky. And those who were not chilled to the core by the low temperatures were surely numbed by the sluggish pace of the football on display, which had all the fluidity, warmth, structure amnd consistency of a slushpuddle on a gravel-rutted Yamagata back road. The hosts are unlikely to apologise for the frigidity of their football, since the team entered the weekend with just two points from four matches, and their best hope of claiming any more lies in their ability to stonewall opponents over ninety minutes and hope that long balls into the front line can be converted by their tall, powerful forwards into the occasional goal.
Hiroshima, on the other hand, has depended on their attacking prowess to carry them, and thus a slow-paced and defensive contest would generally be viewed as a problem for their hopes of winning. But circumstances this week were a bit different than usual. For one thing, the Purple Archers have spent close to 48 hours in the air, over the past ten days, travelling to and from Australia. They struggled through 60 minutes with only ten players, during their away match in Adelaide, and then had to battle for a 1-0 victory at home in order to keep their ACL hopes alive. And they did this without any central defenders - Ilya Stoyanov was sent off early in the first match and was suspended for the second, while Makino missed both contests with an unspecified ailment. Though both were in the starting lineup on Saturday, the team was clearly fatigued, distracted and disorganized. The result was a very dull and one-dimensional football match, consisting mainly of aimless passing in the back line and the occasional exchange of long balls lofted hopefully towards the opponent's penalty area, to little if any real effect.
After 75 minutes of scoreless and somnolent football, everyone in the stadium seemed to have slipped into a hibernating slumber. So when Yuzo Tashiro suddenly found a seam in the center Sanfrecce box, collected a cross from the right wing and swiftly pivoted to thump his shot past Nishikawa into the low left corner, in the 75 minute, the Hiroshima players seemed genuinely stunned. The Purple Archers had largely dominated play up to that point, and while it would be hard to describe a slow-paced, scoreless deadlock as "one-sided", there really was little warning or prelude to Tashiro's tally. Though Sanfrecce lacked the energy that we usually associate with their brand of football, there was no hint that they might be at risk of conceding a goal to the even more one-dimensional Montedio. But by the time Sanfrecce finally saw the danger, and started throwing in players to sharpen up the offence, it was too late. Though Hiroshima did create a few half-chances down the stretch, Yamagata had little difficulty running out the clock and registering their first win of the season.
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1
2 - 0 
At the start of the sesaon, we identified Nagoya Grampus as a team that might battle for the league championship this season. So far the team's performances have been a bit inconsistent and the Red Whales have yet to demonstrate the sort of skill, solidity and depth to worry their top rivals, they are starting to put the pieces together, bit by bit. Nagoya's triumph over Vissel Kobe, on Saturday, was probably not impressive enough to be viewed as "turning point". But it was a fairly comfortable conquest, which highlighted the team's increased depth this season. Keiji Tamada and Mitsuru Chiyotanda were given some rest, their positions taken by Igor Burzanovic and Alex Santos, respectively, and the replacements both contributed with solid performances.
Nagoya took the early lead in the 23 minute on a powerful free kick blasted into the top left corner by Burzanovic, providing one of the few real "highlights" of a slow opening half hour. After this goal, however, the pace picked up considerably. Vissel's new striker, Ken Tokura, nearly headed home the equaliser a few minutes later, but he misjudged the bound of Matsuoka's cross just slightly, and the ball hit the crossbar and skidded over the top of the goal net. The half closed with some rapid thrusts at both ends, as well as a bit of argy-bargy which generated some yellow cards and a lot of lecturing from Mr. Masayoshi Okada, who found the defensive tactics adopted by both teams a bit too cynical.
Shortly after the break, however, Vissel had theiur own scoring opportunity on a set play, and Tulio was very fortunate to receive only a yellow card for reaching up and swatting at the ball as it curled over the wall, while standing squarely on the line that defines the penalty area. But Seigo Narazaki made a beautiful leaping block as the second free kick came in from the edge of the box.
With about 20 minutes remaining, university student and special "C" contract player Yusuke Nagai, who has been named to the NT squad to face Serbia next week, made his J1 debut for Vissel. But if coach Miura was hoping that the youngster would inject some fire into his teammates, the plan backfired. Nagai stepped onto the pitch just in time to watch Grampus move further in front. The second goal was very similar to the first, only from a slightly shorter distance. Once again Nagoya won a free kick and once again it was Burzanovic who drilled his shot high into the left corner, to extend Nagoya's lead. Vissel put on some pressure down the stretch, but a late red card for Popo after an angry foul from behind on Santos, broke the momentum. Kobe never really managed to break down the Red Whales' defence, which held up for the clean sheet and a 2-0 victory
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0
2 - 1 
This season, we have had only a few occasions to really complain about the officating in J.League matches. There have been a few cases where refs have lost control of a contest, but up to now, there were relatively few cases where one of the Men in Black really stepped in and dictated the outcome of a match. Omiya Ardija fans might disagree, but even last week's red-card-assisted victory by FC Tokyo seemed more a case of an overly fussy ref awarding lots of cards to both teams, and Omiya just happening to be hurt more severely by the harsh standard he was applying. The outcome was unfair, and surely infuriating to Omiya fans. But it is hard to demonstrate any clear bias in the calls, which earned both teams a number of unnecessary bookings.
The Saturday evening match between Urawa Reds and Shonan Bellmare, on the other hand, can only be described as an illustration of how young referees can be intimidated by a crowd into making wildly different calls on almost identical incidents. This double standard was illustrated most starkly by twin incidents in the final five minutes of the first half, in which first the Reds, then Bellmare, had a player fall down in the penalty box. In both cases the offensive player accelerated into the penalty box on the dribble, changed direction suddenly, make minor contact with a defender's leg, and flopped dramatically to the pitch. Replays suggest that even the point of contact - ankle to ankle - was virtually identical. But Urawa's Tatsuya Tanaka was awarded a penalty kick (converted by Robson Ponte), whereas Shonan Bellmare's Yuya Nakamura was awarded a yellow card, for "diving". To be fair, both were borderline calls, that could have gone either way. The problem was that the ref responded to them with such dramatically different judgements.
Up to that point in the contest, the Reds had created nearly all of the dangerous scoring chances, and had a clear edge in just about every aspect of performance. Only some excellent goalkeeping work by Shonan's Yosuke Nozawa prevented Urawa from staking an early lead. But as early as the 20 minute it was already apparent that the ref - perhaps influenced by the large and extremely vocal crowd - was prepared to believe just about any flop, dive or tumble that Reds players took, no matter how improbable, not only awarding free kicks, but even handing out yellow cards for a number of extremely minor challenges by Bellmare players, yet waving on similar challenges made by Reds players. The PK call, which came after Tatsuya Tanaka cut back on a drive into the box and flopped over the conveniently extended leg of a Bellmare defender, was just the culmination of a long series of such calls. When Yuya Nakamura tumbled in almost identical circumstances at the opposite end, just two minutes later, Mr. Nabeshima stalked up and brandished a yellow card for diving. While the Reds' 1-0 halftime lead was a pretty good reflection of the run of play, Bellmare fans had to be wondering why Mr. Nabeshima was wearing a blue shirt, and not a red one.
The second half began much as the first, with Urawa dominating play but unable to break down the packed Shonan defence or beat the acrobatic dives of Nozawa. The officiating standard was also unchanged. In the 55 minute Yuki Abe deliberately charged headlong into two Shonan defenders, initiating all of the contact as the two defenders stood almost motionless, with hands raised in a gesture of innocence. But to no one's surprise, a free kick was awarded just outside the box, and Abe made good use of the opportunity. His low, hard kick deflected off the wall, fooling Nozawa and bounding into the right corner.
The greatest tragedy of the whole thing was that the Reds really dominated the contest, and one has to believe that they would have managed to claim all three points even without the help of Mr. Nabeshima. Yet I am fairly sure that the Rising Sun News will not be the only commentator to highlight the blatant officiating double-standard, or to suggest that the victory is tainted. From that perspective, Mr. Nabeshima's inability to apply a single, consistent standard ends up hurting BOTH teams.
As the clock ticked down towards the final whistle, Bellmare finally put together a successful exchange of passes, with Genki Nakayama finishing off the play by flicking home a cross from Arai, on the left wing. But it was far too late to change the final outcome. The Reds emerged with a 2-1 victory, and three deserved, yet somehow sullied points.
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2
2 - 1 
Sunday's match between Vegalta Sendai and Kashima Antlers had all the suspense, drama and technical quality of an Ed Wood movie. And thats being kind. Sendai's opening goal was both interesting and unexpected, but after that, it was a bit like showing a Tom and Jerry cartoon at a cat-lovers' convention. The opening goal took less than a minute for Vegalta to generate. Ryan Yong-Gi fired off a shot the very first time he touched the ball, and sent a pinpoint drive that Sogahata had to palm off the crossbar. Lee Jung-soo badly misplayed the rebound, heading it weakly onto the boots of Fernandinho who was charging into the box behind the play, and the mercurial Brazilian striker sent a bounding ball off the left post and into the Antlers' net, with just 30 seconds or so elapsed.
That was just the start of what would be a very difficult day for the reigning champions. Over the opening ten minutes, Marquinhos was mugged from behind at least five times by Vegalta defenders. It wasnt just a subtle push in the back or a well-timed "accidental collision, either. On one of the occasions, Elizeu actually had his hands locked together as he embraced the Kashima striker from behind. On the sixth such occasion Marquinhos spread his arms to try to keep the defender off, and in what certainly looked like a premeditated flop, Watanabe grabbed at his face and plummeted to the ground. The ref went straight for the red card. Talk about predictable . . .
What made this incident all the worse was that the referee obviously knew, from the moment he got the card out, that he had overreacted, and when Kashima players tried to expose his folly he was willing to risk the well-being of the players to save his own face. From that moment onward, every time a high ball was sent towards a Sendai player in the front line, either Lee of Iwamasa crashed into his back at bone-crunching speed, clearly daring the ref to call a foul and allow them to send the League a videotape which would illustate a double standard (since he had refused to call fouls when Vegalta players were mugging Marquinhos). Instead - in a calculated effort to protect his own skin - Mr. Inoue left his whistle in his pocket despite the fact that some of these collisions were clear invitations to injury. Naturally the Sendai players responded in turn, and with less than 20 minutes gone, William Hill began taking bets on which player would be the first to get transported to the hospital. If there was ever a referee who deserved to be punched out by both coaches, in unison, this is the guy. (Fortunately, the two teams seemed to sort things out between themselves at the break, and refrained from that sort of gratuitous violence in the second half).
If the above comments sound suspicious, and you are scratching your head wondering what to believe, here is the cherry to put atop the cake -- somehow, at least two yellow cards awarded by Mr Inoue have "disappeared" from the official statistics. Though I dont have the contest on tape, I can clearly remember a card getting brandished at Toru Araiba after a bit of incidental contact shortly after the break, and even more clearly remember seeing Mr. Inoue hold up a yellow card in front of Takayuki Nakahara for "diving", after he flopped in the penalty area (it didnt look deliberate. he seemed to just trip over the ball as Lee Jung-Soo made a sliding tackle). But neither of these yellows is recorded on either the J.League's official website or the match thumbnail on Sankei Sports' website. Ive seen some confusing things happen in the J.League in the past, but this is exploring new frontiers in inexplicability.
The rest of the match is hardly even worth discussing. Kashima managed to dominate play for about 30 or 40 minutes, even with one fewer player, but eventually they ran out of energy and succumbed to a hard-running and hard-working Vegalta team. The teams traded goals in the second half, and Kashima even looked like getting an equaliser - breifly - before Sendai's work rate and energy overran them down the stretch. You almost suspect that they could have claimed a point WITHOUT the active intervention from the men in black. One almost has to feel sorry for Vegalta, whose accomplishment will be sullied when the videos of some of Mr. Inoue's calls make their way onto YouTube.
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0
4 - 3 
As contemptable as the Sendai-Kashima match might have been, the Jubilo - Gamba clash which kicked off an hour later was magnificent enough to ease any nausea that viewers might have been feeling as they tuned in. Even the presence of "The Thing" Yoshida was not enough to sully the enjoyment (in fact, Mr. Yoshida managed to stay out of the fray, for the most part). This breathtaking battle see-sawed back and forth for 90 minutes, and even after three minutes of injury time viewers were still in doubt about the final result, until at last the final whistle sounded and Jubilo could finally relax after being pursued doggedly by the visitors for almost the entire match. Four times Jubilo forged into the lead, and each time except the last, Gamba fought their way back to level terms, with three separate players scoring braces. It was quite a drama
The scoring started just after the half hour mark, when a powerful shot from Lee Keun-Oh was punched straight up in the air by the keeper, and dropped to Ryoichi Maeda who seemed to be the only player that chased in after the ball. It is possible that he was a step offside when Lee let the shot fly, but the flag stayed down and Maeda headed the ball home from point-blank range. Gamba replied moments later, on a slanting run into the box by Hideo Hashimoto which also might have been marginally offside, but in a nice display of equity, the linesman on the opposite side also kept his flag down and Hashimoto stroked the equaliser past the frozen keeper.
After the break, Jubilo were again the first off the mark, and once more it was Maeda who did the damage, charging in at the left post to poke home a loose ball, at the end of a wild counterattack. Moments later Hirai pulled Gamba back onto level terms when he burst past the Jubilo back line to collect a lovely through pass and stroke it into the low left corner. The next swing of the see-saw came in the 75 minute, when Maeda dummied on a drive through the middle and allowed Lee's pass to roll through to Park Chu-Ho in the left channel. Park's defender had reacted to Maeda, giving the Korean wing time to settle the ball and fire a powerful shot into the roof of the net. But once more, Hirai responded for Gamba, on another galloping break behind the Jubilo defence. This time Hirai chased down a bounding lead pass, met it a half-step ahead of Naoki Hatta and used a leaping right-footed flick to poke the ball over the Jubilo keeper.
But the final chapter was posted by Park, and it was a spinetingler. Taking the ball down the left channel, Park muscled past one defender, turned back to the middle to elude a lunging Gamba boot, fought through one final challenge that met the ball and knocked Park off balance, and as he was falling to the turf, he thrust out a boot to poke the ball across the goal line. For a fourth and final time Gamba came charging back, and created two or three dangerous set play opportunities in the dying moments, but they ran out of time, and Jubilo held on to claim their first victory of the season.
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4
2 - 1 
The final match of the weekend was the so-called "Tamagawa Classico", between FC Tokyo and their cross-the-river neighbours Kawasaki Frontale. These two teams have always played each other at a high pace and high level of intensity, but even on the basis of past comparisons, the pace of play in the opening half hour generated so much electricity that Tokyo's shirt sponsor, TEPCO, started filling out applications to the government for special tax treatment, seeking recognition an alternative energy source.
Frontale opened the scoring in the 20 minute, on a thundering drive from Chong Tese at the top of the penalty box. Moments later Naotake Hanyu struck and almost identical shot from an almost identical spot, but his drive came back off the left post, and though Sota Hirayama poked the ball home, the linesman had his flag up for offside. The next 15 minutes were dominated by the Terrible Tanuki, who crafted one goal rush after another, and added two more dents to the woodwork around Kawasaki's goal, but failed to find the back of the net. Naturally, the pace had to drop off eventually, and as half time approached the pace slowed a bit as both teams tried to catch their breath.
The second half got under way with a surge of offensive pressure from Frontale, and after a few close calls, they finally managed to double their adfantage on a free kick that was rammed home by Chong. Tokyo continued to chase a goal, but it was not until two minutes into injury time that they finally pulled one back, for a small bit of consolation.
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1
