Major J-League transfers 2007

Kazuyuki Toda - M - Tokyo Verdy > Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Tsuneyasu Miyamoto - D Gamba Osaka > Red Bull Salzburg
Fernandinho - F - Gamba Osaka > Shimizu S-Pulse
Marquinhos - F - Shimizu S-Pulse > Kashima Antlers (free)
Takuya Yamada - F - Cerezo Osaka > Adelaide United
Enilton - F - Palmeiras > Omiya Ardija
Toshihiro Hattori - D - Jubilo Iwata > Tokyo Verdy 1969 (free)
Yuki Abe - M - JEF United Chiba > Urawa Red Diamonds ($3m)
Sasho Petrovski - F - Sydney FC - Avispa Fukuoka (free)
Jun Marques Davidson - M - Omiya Ardija > Albirex Niigata
Evaldo - D - Gremio > FC Tokyo
Danilo - M - Sao Paulo > Kashima Antlers (free)
Fabao - D - Sao Paulo > Kashima Antlers
Hulk - F - Kawasaki Frontale > Tokyo Verdy 1969 (loan)
Sho Ito - F - Nagoya High School - Grenoble
Masashi Miyazawa - M - FC Tokyo > Oita Trinita
Mistuhiro Toda - F - FC Tokyo - Shimizu S-Pulse
Masaki Fukai - F - Kashima Antlers > Albirex Niigata (loan)
Tatsunori Arai - F - Sagan Tosu > JEF United Chiba
Yoshito Okubo - F - Cerezo Osaka > Vissel Kobe ($3m)
Tatsuhiko Kubo - F - Yokohama F-Marinos > Yokohama FC
Ryuzo Morioka - D - Shimizu S-Pulse > Kyoto Sanga (free)
Serginho - F - Corinthians > Oita Trinita (free)
Hiroshi Nanami - M - Jubilo Iwata > Tokyo Verdy 1969
Borges - F - Vegalta Sendai > Sao Paulo (loan)
Akinori Nishizawa - F - Cerezo Osaka > Shimizu S-Pulse
Takayuki Suzuki - F - Cvena Zvezda > Yokohama F-Marinos
Norihiro Nishi - F - Jubilo Iwata > Released
Takashi Fukunishi - M - Jubilo Iwata > FC Tokyo
Masataka Sakamoto - M - JEF United Chiba > Albirex Niigata
Alessandro Santos 'Alex' - M - Urawa Reds > Red Bull Salzburg (loan)
Mitsunori Yabuta - D - Avispa Fukuoka > Yokohama FC
Yoshimura Koji - D - Avispa Fukuoka > Yokohama F-Marinos
Daisuku Oku - M - Yokohama F-Marinos > Yokohama FC
Sota Nakazawa - D - Kashiwa Reysol > Gamba Osaka (loan)
Adriano - M - FC Thun > Yokohama FC (loan)
Bare - F - Ventforet Kofu - Gamba Osaka (€1m)
Takuzo Wada - M - Shimizu S-Pulse > Yokohama FC (loan)
Jun Tamano - D - Tokyo Verdy 1969 > Yokohama FC
Shingo Nejime - M - Tokyo Verdy 1969 > Yokohama FC
Fumiya Izwamaru - M - Vissel Kobe > Yokohama FC
Silva - M - Vitoria > Yokohama FC (loan)
Anderson - D - Pogon Szczecin > Yokohama FC (loan)
Alison - F - Suwon Bluewings > Omiya Ardija ($1m)
Leandro - D - Nautico > Omiya Ardija (free)
Eiji Kawashima - GK - Nagoya Grampus Eight > Kawasaki Frontale
Paulo Wanchope - F - Malaga > FC Tokyo
Yutaka Akita - D - Nagoya Grampus Eight > Kyoto Sanga
Marques - F - Omiya Ardija > Albirex Niigata
Magnum - F - Kawasaki Frontale > Released
Augusto - M - Kawasaki Frontale > Released
Alemao - F - Kawasaki Frontale > Released
Yusaka Ueno - F - Albirex Niigata > Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Shu Abe - F - FC Tokyo > Kashiwa Reysol
Daijiro Takakuwa - GK - Vegalta Sendai > Yokohama F-Marinos
Kosuke Yatsuda - D - Sanfrecce Hiroshima > FC Tokyo
Masahiiro Koga - D - Nagoya Grampus Eight > Kashiwa Reysol
Kohi Yoshimura - D - Avispa Fukuoka > Yokohama F-Marinos
Shunichiro Zaitsu - F - Shimizu S-Pulse > Mito HollyHock
Kazumichi Takagi - GK - Omiya Ardija > Consadole
Tatsuya Masushima - F - FC Tokyo > Ventforet Kofu (loan)
Kazuki Kuranuki - M - Venforet Kofu > Kyoto Sanga


The J-League English-language site is excellent this season, it will be very helpful :beer

http://www.j-league.or.jp/eng/



March 5, 2007: Urawa Reds began the defence of their J.League title with a 2-1 victory at home to promoted Yokohama FC on Saturday, March 3.


Saitama Stadium

Playing in front of over 57,000 fans at Saitama Stadium 2002, Urawa needed a late winner from Yuichiro Nagai to secure three points for returning German manager Holger Osieck.
Urawa went in front after 25 minutes with an own goal, but the visitors equalised just before the break with a thundering left-foot drive from Tatsuhiko Kubo. Signed from city rivals Yokohama F Marinos during the winter, Kubo quickly made his mark for his new club with an early candidate for goal of the season, cutting inside from the right flank and finding the top corner with a 35-metre piledriver.

Osieck, who has taken over from championship-winning manager Guido Buchwald, was looking worried on the touchline until Nagai made room for himself on the edge of the Yokohama box, surged toward goal and crashed in the winner with five minutes remaining.

Last season's runners-up, Kawasaki Frontale, also began their campaign with a narrow home win, 1-0 over Kashima Antlers.Brazilian Magnum scored the only goal of the game with a header after 21 minutes, but the star of the show was Kawasaki playmaker and captain Kengo Nakamura. In front of national coach Ivica Osim, Nakamura showed his full range of passing skills and led his team to a hard-earned three points.

Kashima's new Brazilian manager, Oswaldo Oliveira, will have early selection problems following the dismissal, nine minutes from time, of rugged central defender Daiki Iwamasa for his second yellow card.


Bare

The 2005 champions, Gamba Osaka, also began the season with a narrow home win, leaving it very late to score the only goal of the game against Omiya Ardija. Playing without former national team captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, who has transferred to Red Bull Salzburg in Austria, Gamba had new recruit Bare to thank for their 1-0 victory.

Signed from Ventforet Kofu in the close season, the Brazilian striker came off the bench after 64 minutes and grabbed the winner just two minutes from time following tenacious work by Akihiro Ienaga. Bare's left-foot shot from the edge of the box bounced into the turf and looped over Omiya keeper Hiroki Aratani, denying the visitors a point for new Dutch manager Robert Verbeek, brother of South Korea's head coach, Pim Verbeek.

Shimizu S-Pulse, fourth last season, scored after only six minutes with a back-post header from Naoaki Aoyama and held on for a 1-0 win at home to promoted Vissel Kobe.
Kobe's former national team member, Atsuhiro Miura, was denied an equaliser by a brilliant point-blank save from S-Pulse keeper Yohei Nishibe.

Yokohama F Marinos also opened with a 1-0 home win, this time over Kofu. The goal came early, after only five minutes, and was a brilliant individual effort from Koji Yamase. Collecting the ball just inside the Kofu half, Yamase showed tremendous acceleration and ball control to slice through the Kofu defence and flick a left-foot shot into the corner.


Sato

The most impressive performance of the opening day came from Sanfrecce Hiroshima, whose dynamic strikeforce of Hisato Sato and Brazilian Ueslei demolished FC Tokyo 4-2 in the capital.
Sato, a national squad member, showed all his finishing prowess to score twice inside the opening 19 minutes, and the prolific Ueslei made it 3-0 after 27 minutes.

Although FC Tokyo pulled one back early in the second half through Brazilian striker Lucas, Ueslei's second after 52 minutes made it 4-1 to the visitors and ended the contest. A second goal for Lucas just after the hour was only a consolation for FC Tokyo, whose high-profile winter season, Costa Rica's Paulo Wanchope, spent the match on the bench.

At Oita Trinita, Albirex Niigata took the lead early in the second half with a back-post volley from forward Kisho Yano, before the home team equalised seven minutes from time with a header from defender Yuki Fukaya after the ball had come back off a post.

On Sunday, Kashiwa Reysol marked their return to the first division in sparkling style by thumping an out-of-sorts Jubilo Iwata 4-0. Brazilian forward Franca and midfielder Minoru Suganuma both scored twice for the home team, with three of the goals coming in a one-sided second half after Franca had headed the home team into the lead on 24 minutes.

At Nagoya, Grampus Eight beat JEF United Chiba 2-0 with two goals in the last 14 minutes from Kim Jung Woo and Keisuke Honda.


1st Day 03 Mar 14:05 Yokohama F¥Marinos 1-0 Ventforet Kofu Nissan S 24,466

1st Day 03 Mar 14:03 F.C.Tokyo 2-4 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Ajinomoto 25,257

1st Day 03 Mar 14:05 Oita Trinita 1-1 Albirex Niigata Kyushu Oil.D 20,039

1st Day 03 Mar 15:00 Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 Kashima Antlers Todoroki 20,295

1st Day 03 Mar 15:03 Shimizu S-Pulse 1-0 Vissel Kobe Nihondaira 18,333

1st Day 03 Mar 16:03 Urawa Reds 2-1 Yokohama FC Saitama.S 57,188

1st Day 03 Mar 19:04 Gamba Osaka 1-0 Omiya Ardija Expo'70 18,355

2nd Day 04 Mar 16:00 Kashiwa Reysol 4-0 Jubilo Iwata Kashiwa 10,960

2nd Day 04 Mar 16:04 Nagoya Grampus Eight 2-0 JEF United Chiba Mizuho A. 18,410


Goals and highlights from Week 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ7__jWWCDE

Results


2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 2nd Sec

Home Away Venue Attendance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Day 10 Mar 14:04 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1-1 Kashiwa Reysol Hiroshima B. 12,891

1st Day 10 Mar 14:04 Ventforet Kofu 0-2 Nagoya Grampus Eight Kose 11,791

1st Day 10 Mar 15:04 Jubilo Iwata 2-1 Oita Trinita Yamaha 11,452

1st Day 10 Mar 16:05 Omiya Ardija 0-2 F.C.Tokyo Saitama.S 17,023

1st Day 10 Mar 19:03 Yokohama FC 1-0 Yokohama F¥Marinos Mitsuzawa 13,737

1st Day 10 Mar 19:04 JEF United Chiba 1-3 Shimizu S-Pulse Fukuda A 15,373

2nd Day 11 Mar 14:03 Kashima Antlers 0-1 Gamba Osaka Kashima 18,406

2nd Day 11 Mar 16:01 Albirex Niigata 2-2 Urawa Reds Tohoku Den.S 40,524

2nd Day 11 Mar 16:03 Vissel Kobe 1-1 Kawasaki Frontale Home's 14,664

Week 3 English Roundup (took their time :4: )



March 18, 2007: The J.League's most successful club, Kashima Antlers, picked up their first point of the season with a pulsating 3-3 draw away to JEF United Chiba on Saturday.


JEF's Hiroki Mizumoto holds off Antlers' striker Marquinhos

After losing their first two games without scoring a goal, Kashima ended the barren spell by sharing six in a match that flowed from end to end.
The four-time league champions took the lead on 23 minutes when Brazilian striker Marquinhos finished off a sweeping right-wing move, but Chiba hit back immediately through Naotake Hanyu, whose shot from the edge of the box found its way through a crowded penalty area and into the net for 1-1.
The celebrations of the Chiba supporters inside a noisy Fukuda Denshi Arena had hardly died down when the home team scored again after 27 minutes. Hanyu played a big part in this one, too, picking out the unmarked Tatsunori Arai on the left wing. Arai's cross eluded forwards and defenders alike, allowing right winger Koki Mizuno to drive home at the far post for 2-1.
Now it was Kashima's turn to fight back, and midfielder Masaki Chugo pulled them level 2-2 with a curling free kick five minutes before the break.
Like Kashima, JEF United had lost their first two games of the season, but sensed victory when new Serbian defender Nenad Djordjevic pounced from close range early in the second half to make it 3-2.
Antlers were far from finished, though, and Marquinhos was in the right place at the right time again to bundle home a low cross from captain Atsushi Yanagisawa for 3-3.

Both teams pushed hard for a winner in the closing stages, but had to settle for a draw and their first point of the season.
Kashima's new Brazilian manager, Oswaldo Oliveira, had mixed emotions after the final whistle.
"At least we did not lose the third game," he said, "but we should have won. We started the game commanding the action. We played with more confidence in the opponent's side and were moving the ball well.
"But as soon as we scored we lost the attention and gave an easy chance to the opponent to score two minutes after our goal. I was very surprised when we conceded the first goal."
Oliveira said the most important point was to find the right balance between attack and defence.
"Although we lost the last two games, our defence was more solid. Today our defence was not strong and aggressive like before, and we gave too much space. I do not like this.
"The good point for us was scoring three goals. They had a feeling they could not score in the last two games, but now they are relaxed about that. Yanagisawa played much better today. I think he is coming back to his best performance."


Kengo Nakamura leads the Frontale celebrations

There were also six goals at Todoroki Stadium on Saturday night -- all of them for Kawasaki Frontale at home to promoted Yokohama FC in a Kanagawa derby.
Brazilian forward Juninho and fellow striker Masaru Kurotsu both scored twice, and there was one each for Kazuhiro Murakami and Brazilian Magnum. Frontale still managed to win 6-0, despite playing much of the second half with only 10 men following the dismissal on 61 minutes of right winger Yusuke Mori for his second yellow card.

Promoted Vissel Kobe won 4-1 at Yokohama F Marinos with two apiece for Yoshito Okubo and Leandro. Marinos, who had goalkeeper Tetsuya Enomoto dismissed after 37 minutes, replied through Yoshiharu Ueno.

Kashiwa Reysol won 1-0 at Shimizu S-Pulse thanks to a second-half header from Olympic team forward Tadanari Ri, and defending champions Urawa Reds beat Ventforet Kofu 2-0 at Saitama Stadium 2002 with two goals from Brazilian forward Washington. Kofu slipped to their third straight defeat, as did Omiya Ardija, who went down 3-1 at Oita Trinita. Takashi Miki, Shota Matsuhashi and Daiki Takamatsu put Trinita in command before substitute Kota Yoshihara grabbed a consolation goal for the visitors.

The 2005 champions, Gamba Osaka, made it three wins out of three by disposing of Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3-0 at home with goals from Takahiro Futagawa, Yasuhito Endo and Brazilian Bare.
Nagoya Grampus Eight also won their third straight, and moved to the top of the table on goal difference by beating Albirex Niigata 2-0 at home on Sunday afternoon. Frode Johnsen and Kim Jung Woo scored the goals for Grampus to maintain their perfect start.


Jubilo captain Hideto Suzuki tussles with Sota Hirayama of FC Tokyo

In Sunday's other match, Jubilo Iwata pulled off an unlikely 1-0 victory at FC Tokyo, surviving the first-half dismissal of Brazilian midfielder Fabricio to score the only goal of the game, seven minutes from time, from the head of captain Hideto Suzuki. In front of national team coach Ivica Osim, Jubilo keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi made a string of fine saves to keep out an increasingly desperate FC Tokyo attack.


2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 3rd Sec


Home Away Venue Attendance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Day 17 Mar 13:04 Oita Trinita 3-1 Omiya Ardija Kyushu Oil.D 16,870

1st Day 17 Mar 14:02 Urawa Reds 2-0 Ventforet Kofu Saitama.S 39,494

1st Day 17 Mar 15:04 Shimizu S-Pulse 0-1 Kashiwa Reysol Nihondaira 11,460

1st Day 17 Mar 16:03 JEF United Chiba 3-3 Kashima Antlers Fukuda A 14,814

1st Day 17 Mar 16:05 Yokohama F¥Marinos 1-4 Vissel Kobe Nissan S 16,657

1st Day 17 Mar 19:03 Gamba Osaka 3-0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Expo'70 14,123

1st Day 17 Mar 19:05 Kawasaki Frontale 6-0 Yokohama FC Todoroki 18,621

2nd Day 18 Mar 14:03 Nagoya Grampus Eight 2-0 Albirex Niigata Mizuho A. 11,620

2nd Day 18 Mar 16:03 F.C.Tokyo 0-1 Jubilo Iwata Ajinomoto 27,046

Yokohama, April 1, 2007: Nagoya Grampus Eight overcame the early loss of goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki and fought back from a goal down to beat Yokohama FC 2-1 and jump to the top of J1 on Sunday afternoon.

The former national team keeper was hurt in a collision with one of his own defenders and was carried off on a stretcher after only 10 minutes. He was replaced between the posts by former JEF United Chiba keeper Ryo Kushino.

Chasing a fourth straight win in the league from the start of the season, Grampus fell behind on 62 minutes when Yokohama FC forward Hiroaki Namba scored from close range following a left-wing corner from Daisuke Oku.

The goal came against the run of play as Grampus had dominated long spells of the game with their patient, possession football, and conceding a goal put some extra bite into their attack.

Within two minutes they were back on level terms, and two minutes later the visitors were ahead 2-1. It was a lead they would keep to the final whistle, despite a desperate late rally from the home team.


Keita Sugimoto

Keita Sugimoto scored the equaliser on 64 minutes with a flashing near-post header to a left-wing cross whipped in by defender Takahiro Masukawa, and midfielder Kei Yamaguchi finished off a speedy Sugimoto-led counter attack shortly after.

Both Grampus goals were scored into the goal behind which the bulk of the away fans were assembled at the compact Mitsuzawa Stadium, and when the final whistle blew the away support could celebrate overtaking Gamba Osaka on goal difference at the top of the table. Only Grampus and Gamba have the maximum 12 points from four games.

Looking back on the victory, Nagoya's Dutch manager, Sef Vergoossen, said that falling behind was the critical moment of the match for his team. Up until that point, he explained, there was some doubt as to whether they should simply control the game or play with more aggression in attack.

"At that moment you know exactly what you have to do," he said. "You have to make the step forwards, and to come back to 1-1 directly after 1-0 was very important. That is the only moment we were lucky today, that we could score directly for 1-1. I was always sitting on the bench with a good feeling."

Vergoossen said Narazaki, who received a badly brusied thigh, could be out for three days or three weeks. "The doctor said it is impossible to take a decision now. Maybe three weeks, maybe three days, but I think it will be a long time."

While Grampus were recording their fourth win in a row, Yokohama FC -- last season's J2 champions -- were slipping to a third defeat in four outings. They have only the three points from their derby day win over Yokohama F Marinos to show for their efforts in the top flight, although right back Takumi Wada almost snatched a draw against Grampus with the last kick of the game. But he could not control his shot and the ball flew over the bar.


Daiki Takamatsu of Oita gives the thumbs up

In the only other J1 game on Sunday, Oita Trinita denied 2006 champions Urawa Reds all three points by scoring a late equaliser through Yuki Fukaya in a 2-2 draw.
After Daiki Takamatsu had given Oita an early lead, Urawa's winter recruit from JEF United, Yuki Abe, scored twice before half time to put the visitors in front. The draw left Reds in sixth place with eight points, four off the pace.

Gamba Osaka had recorded their fourth straight win of the season on Saturday, 2-1 at Ventforet Kofu, to move on to a maximum 12 points.
Kofu went in front through Alberto, but Gamba struck back with goals from substitute Ryuji Bando and Magno Alves. Brazilian forward Bare, signed from Kofu in the winter, played a large part in Gamba's stirring comeback.

Albirex Niigata shocked Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 at home in torrential rain thanks to headed goals from Kisho Yano and Edmilson, and Jubilo Iwata beat struggling JEF United 1-0 at home with a neat early finish from Olympic team striker Bobby Cullen.

Like Kofu, Omiya Ardija are still waiting for their first point after slipping to a 2-1 defeat at home to Shimizu S-Pulse. Takuma Edamura and Fernandinho put S-Pulse in control before Omiya pulled one back late on through substitute centre forward Hiroshi Morita.


Marinos celebrate getting back on track

Yokohama F Marinos lifted the gloom of a troubled start to the season by winning 3-1 at Sanfrecce Hiroshima. The visitors went behind to a trademark poacher's goal from Sanfrecce's prolific Brazilian forward Ueslei but came back strongly with two goals from Hideo Oshima and another for Koji Yamase.

Kashiwa Reysol continued their impressive start on their return to the top flight with a 2-0 home win over FC Tokyo. Minoru Suganuma scored his fourth league goal of the season and new signing Masahiro Koga added a second to increase the misery on Tokyo.

Vissel Kobe and Kashima Antlers drew 1-1 at Kobe. Yoshito Okubo netted his third league goal of the campaign from the penalty spot to give Vissel the lead, only for Antlers to equalise with a magnificent swerving free kick from 35 metres by Brazilian central defender Fabao.

After four rounds of games, Grampus and Gamba have 12 points, followed by Reysol with 10. Shimizu S-Pulse and Jubilo Iwata both have nine, and Urawa Reds are sixth with eight.


Results

2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 4th Sec


Home Away Venue Attendance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Day 31 Mar 14:00 Albirex Niigata 2-0 Kawasaki Frontale Tohoku Den.S 31,500
Yano 73' Edmilson 87' (A)

1st Day 31 Mar 14:04 Jubilo Iwata 1-0 JEF United Chiba Yamaha 12,379
Cullen 06' (J)

1st Day 31 Mar 14:04 Ventforet Kofu 1-2 Gamba Osaka Kose 13,064
Alberto 37' (V), Bando 73' Magno Alves 83' (G)

1st Day 31 Mar 16:00 Omiya Ardija 1-2 Shimizu S-Pulse Komaba 7,737
Morita 86' (O), Edamura 35' Fernandinho 44' (S)

1st Day 31 Mar 18:05 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1-3 Yokohama F¥Marinos Hiroshima B. 9,337
Ueslei 09' (S), Oshima 10' 51' K. Yamase 46' (M)

1st Day 31 Mar 19:04 Kashiwa Reysol 2-0 F.C.Tokyo Kashiwa 10,793
Suganuma 34' Koga 49' ®

1st Day 31 Mar 19:04 Vissel Kobe 1-1 Kashima Antlers Home's 10,518
Okubo 44' (V), Fabao 44' (A)

2nd Day 01 Apr 14:00 Yokohama FC 1-2 Nagoya Grampus Eight Mitsuzawa 10,225
Namba 62' (Y), Sugimoto 64' Yamaguchi 66' (G)

2nd Day 01 Apr 16:04 Oita Trinita 2-2 Urawa Reds Kyushu Oil.D 27,163
Takamatsu 11' Fukaya 89' (O), Abe 30' 35' (U)

2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 5th Sec

Home Away Venue Attendance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Day 07 Apr 13:01 Ventforet Kofu 4-3 Vissel Kobe Kose 8,373
Fujita 05' Shigehara 71' 75' Hosaka 89 (V), Kondo 44' 44' Tanaka 48' (K)

1st Day 07 Apr 14:03 Gamba Osaka 2-2 Kawasaki Frontale Expo'70 18,587
Myojin 38' Yamaguchi 83' (G), Taniguchi 13' Magnum 41' (F)

1st Day 07 Apr 14:03 Nagoya Grampus Eight 2-3 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Toyota.S 16,825
Yamaguchi 22' Masukawa 62' (G), Ueslei 24' 77' Sato 72' (S)

1st Day 07 Apr 14:04 F.C.Tokyo 1-3 Albirex Niigata Ajinomoto 21,092
OG 61' (T), Sakamoto 21' Marcio Richardes 52' Edmilson 55' (A)

1st Day 07 Apr 16:00 Kashima Antlers 0-0 Omiya Ardija Kashima 10,234

1st Day 07 Apr 16:00 Yokohama F･Marinos 0-2 Kashiwa Reysol Nissan S 18,960
Suzuki 08' Sato 89' ®

1st Day 07 Apr 19:04 Urawa Reds 2-1 Jubilo Iwata Saitama.S 45,025
Washington 39' Ponte 79' (U), Cullen 32' (J)

2nd Day 08 Apr 16:03 Shimizu S-Pulse 2-0 Oita Trinita Nihondaira 13,225
Ichikawa 62' Cho 65' (S)

2nd Day 08 Apr 16:03 JEF United Chiba 4-0 Yokohama FC Fukuda A 15,584
Mizuno 27' Maki 65' Hanyu 70' Yamagishi 73' (J)

Saitama, April 14, 2007: Omiya Ardija moved off the foot of J1 with their first league win of the season on Saturday, 1-0 at home to Nagoya Grampus Eight.
After losing four and drawing one of their opening five games, Omiya finally collected three points thanks to a first-half goal from Brazilian forward Salles at sun-baked Komaba Stadium.
The only goal of the game was well crafted and came after 26 minutes. Right back Takuro Nishimura released captain Chikara Fujimoto down the wing, and his pinpoint cross was headed home expertly by Salles six metres out.


Ardija's Salles gets in a header

Omiya's Dutch coach, Robert Verbeek, had looked a worried man before kick-off, and was clearly relieved after the final whistle to record his first league win.
"It cannot be better...the right moment against a strong team," said Verbeek, who is in his first season with the club.
"The motivation, the spirit and the confidence of my players must grow now."
Verbeek said they had worked hard on the move that brought them the goal during Friday's training session.
"We sent over a lot of crosses for Salles from the right side and left side, but I didn't see him scoring in training," said Verbeek.
"But today it was an excellent goal, the right moment, in the air. He was looking a little frustrated yesterday, but that's football. There is always tension and pressure but you must live with it."
Verbeek stressed that the clean sheet in the 1-0 win was equally as significant.
"We scored, we won one-zero, and the zero is also very important," he said.
"You cannot expect a miracle directly next week, but it must give us something extra."

Nagoya's Dutch coach, Sef Vergoossen, watched his team slip to a second consecutive loss after starting the league campaign with four straight wins to set the early pace.
"Today we met an opponent who was very defensive, and our task was to create space and chances -- but we were not able to do that," said Vergoossen.
"Our passing was not good, our crossing was not good and our speed was not good. We must play at a higher tempo."


Antlers' Yanagisawa celebrates his goal

Kashima Antlers also recorded their first win of the season, 1-0 away to Yokohama FC at Nissan Stadium thanks to a smart, left-foot finish from captain Atsushi Yanagisawa.

Antlers had drawn three of their previous five matches, but Yanagisawa's first league goal of the campaign earned them all three points and sent Yokohama tumbling to the bottom of the table.

In other Saturday games, improving Albirex Niigata inflicted a first league defeat of the season on Gamba Osaka, 2-1 at home.
Goalkeeping errors at both ends allowed Yasuhito Endo to put Gamba in front and Brazilian playmaker Silvinho to equalise for Albirex, before Kisho Yano settled the issue with a close-range header for the home team eight minutes from time.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Ventforet Kofu. Sanfrecce's Brazilian marksman Ueslei laid on the opening goal for strike partner Hisato Sato and scored the second himself direct from a left-wing corner for his sixth league goal of the season. Kofu replied on both occasions through Takehito Shigehara.

Vissel Kobe beat JEF United Chiba 2-1 at home with goals from Yoshito Okubo and Yusuke Kondo, before the visitors replied through Serbian defender Nenad Djordevic, and Sho Naruoka was on target for Jubilo Iwata in a 1-0 home win over Yokohama F Marinos.


Washington of Reds leads the chase

Sunday brought a change at the top of the table, with Urawa Reds beating Kashiwa Reysol 2-0 at National Stadium in Tokyo.
It was supposed to be a home game for Reysol, but their fans were outnumbered by the Reds hordes in a crowd of over 35,000.
A masterful display of contolled and incisive football by Reds in the first half brought goals for Washington and Shinji Ono, and they were able to hold off a resurgent Reysol after the break to preserve their two-goal advantage.
Reds, the defending champions, lead the standings on 14 points from six games, ahead of Reysol and Gamba, who both have 13.

In Sunday's other matches, Kawasaki Frontale fought back from a goal down at home to Shimizu S-Pulse to win 2-1 with second-half strikes from substitute Masaru Kurotsu and Brazilian forward Juninho in the space of three minutes. Shinji Okazaki had given S-Pulse the lead on 32 minutes.
At Oita, Trinita were held to a 0-0 draw by FC Tokyo.

2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 6th Sec

Home Away Venue Attendance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Day 14 Apr 13:00 Omiya Ardija 1-0 Nagoya Grampus Eight Komaba 6,584

1st Day 14 Apr 14:03 Yokohama FC 0-1 Kashima Antlers Nissan S 19,367

1st Day 14 Apr 14:04 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-2 Ventforet Kofu Hiroshima B. 7,181

1st Day 14 Apr 15:01 Vissel Kobe 2-1 JEF United Chiba Home's 10,983

1st Day 14 Apr 15:04 Albirex Niigata 2-1 Gamba Osaka Tohoku Den.S 32,686

1st Day 14 Apr 16:00 Jubilo Iwata 1-0 Yokohama F･Marinos Yamaha 11,864

2nd Day 15 Apr 15:00 Kawasaki Frontale 2-1 Shimizu S-Pulse Todoroki 21,208

2nd Day 15 Apr 15:05 Kashiwa Reysol 0-2 Urawa Reds National 35,013

2nd Day 15 Apr 16:04 Oita Trinita 0-0 F.C.Tokyo Kyushu Oil.D 17,431

2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 7th Sec


Home Away Venue Attendance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Day 21 Apr 14:04 F.C.Tokyo 1-0 Yokohama FC Ajinomoto 22,168
Konno 46' (T)

1st Day 21 Apr 16:03 Nagoya Grampus Eight 2-0 Vissel Kobe Mizuho A. 10,363
Johnsen 40' Sugimoto 41' (G)

1st Day 21 Apr 16:03 Urawa Reds 1-2 Kawasaki Frontale Saitama.S 50,531
Horinouchi 64' (U), Ganaha 50' Magnum 56' (F)

1st Day 21 Apr 16:03 JEF United Chiba 1-0 Omiya Ardija Fukuda A 9,481
Kudo 59' (J)

1st Day 21 Apr 18:34 Ventforet Kofu 3-2 Kashiwa Reysol Kose 11,437
Ishihara 38' Hosaka 84' 86' (V), Kurakawa 33' Ri 78' ®

1st Day 21 Apr 19:05 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0-0 Albirex Niigata Hiroshima B. 8,326

1st Day 21 Apr 19:04 Shimizu S-Pulse 1-2 Kashima Antlers Nihondaira 12,738
Ichikawa 39' (S), Yanagisawa 32 46' (A)

2nd Day 22 Apr 16:01 Yokohama F･Marinos 5-0 Oita Trinita Nissan S 17,219
Y. Yamase 11' Sakata 41' 54' Kawai 58' K. Yamase 88' (M)

2nd Day 22 Apr 16:03 Gamba Osaka 5-2 Jubilo Iwata Expo'70 14,495
Bare 07' 23' Sidiclei 14' Hashimoto 80' Futagawa 86' (G), Murai 69' 78' (J)


Some J-League crowds, Montedio have been shown on UK football show 'Soccer AM' before if you recognise it:

Montedio Yamagata - Blue Is The Colour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxgGrlsoMHU...ted&search= :clp

Montedio Yamagata - Over The Rainbow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwst1r_pR4s

Urawa Reds - Great Escape: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHa99gWFfuY

Yokohama F-Marinos - Ole: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rf9Dpfb1zk

April 30, 2007: Kashiwa Reysol returned to winning ways in J1 with a 2-0 victory at home to Nagoya Grampus Eight on Saturday.

In a match delayed 49 minutes by a thunderstorm, Reysol scored twice in the first half and held the visitors at bay in the second, despite playing the last 19 minutes with only 10 men.

The three points moved them on to 16 from eight matches, leaving Grampus behind on 15, and was their first victory in three outings after losing their previous two league games.

Reysol manager Nobuhiro Ishizaki praised the application of his players following the long delay, during which thunder rolled and lightning flashed around Hitachi Stadium, and gale-force winds and driving rain completed the perfect storm.
"I was a little bit worried about the concentration of my players because of the delay with the thunderstorm," Ishizaki said in the official post-match press conference.
"But overall I thought it was our most spirited performance of the season."

Commenting on the dismissal of Brazilian midfielder Alceu for his second yellow card after 71 minutes, the Reysol manager said: "We had played with only 10 men for a while against Kofu last week, so had learned our lesson. We were able to adjust this time, so it was not a problem for us."

Reysol had their two Olympic squad members to thank for their first-half goals.


Lee Chun Son of Reysol battles with Grampus' Kei Yamaguchi

Tadanari Ri put them in front when he stabbed home a loose ball following an inswinging corner from the right by Tomonori Hirayama after 25 minutes, and Ri then set up a wonderful second goal for Minoru Suganuma five minutes before the break. Ri intercepted a Grampus clearance and headed the ball into the path of Suganuma, who was breaking in the inside-right channel. The midfielder took one touch to control the ball before firing it into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box for his fifth league goal of the campaign.

Reysol never allowed Grampus to settle, and rushed them into mistakes with their aggressive pressing style in all areas of the pitch.

The red card for Alecu, however, gave Grampus hope, and the visitors pounded the home defence for the rest of the match.

Ishizaki responded by sending on towering central defender Kazunari Okayama to mark Nagoya's Norwegian striker Frode Johnsen, and the last throw of the dice from Grampus boss Sef Vergoossen was to hand a J.League debut to Yuki Maki with eight minutes to go. Maki is the younger brother of JEF United Chiba's 2006 World Cup striker Seiichiro Maki and joined Grampus from Komazawa University.

There were goals galore in other games around the country on Saturday.

The biggest winners were Yokohama F Marinos, who thrashed Albirex Niigata 6-0 away. Daisuke Sakata scored twice for the second successive weekend, and there was one apiece for the Yamase brothers, Yukihiro and Koji, and for Takayuki Yoshida and Hideo Oshima. Marinos had beaten Oita Trinita 5-0 at home the previous weekend, and now have 12 points with this fourth win of the season.


Robert Cullen scores for Jubilo

There were also six goals at Yamaha Stadium in Iwata, Shizuoka Prefecture, as Jubilo beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima 4-2 in an open, end-to-end contest.
Robert Cullen pounced twice for Jubilo, his second a marvellous diving header, and Kentaro Oi and Sho Naruoka also scored with headers, while Hisato Sato and strike partner Ueslei, from the penalty spot, replied for the visitors.

Gamba Osaka strengthened their grip on top spot with a resounding 4-0 win at struggling Oita Trinita. Satoshi Yamaguchi and Magno Alves gave Gamba a 2-0 lead within eight minutes at Kyushu Oil Dome, before substitute Ryuji Bando and Magno Alves, with his second of the game, added two more in the last 20 minutes.

Ventforet Kofu won 2-1 at Omiya Ardija to continue their climb up the table. Daisuke Sudo headed Kofu into the lead after 36 minutes but the home team equalised with a Chikara Fujimoto penalty on 56 minutes. Four minutes later, Kentaro Hayashi headed the winner for the visitors to take them on to 10 points, six ahead of Omiya.

Bottom-placed Yokohama FC joined Omiya on four points after a 1-1 draw at home to Shimizu S-Pulse, who had gone in front with a clever piece of skill and cool finish from Brazilian playmaker Fernandinho, and the Vissel Kobe-FC Tokyo match ended goalless.

On Sunday, in-form striker Chong Tese headed Kawasaki Frontale into the lead at home to JEF United midway through the second half, before the visitors equalised nine minutes from time when a Koki Mizuno free kick from the left eluded attackers and defenders alike and crept in at the far post. The match ended 1-1.


Urawa celebrate their goal

At Kashima, defending champions Urawa Reds won 1-0 with a second-half goal from Robson Ponte to move into second place in the table, two points behind Gamba.

After eight rounds of matches, Gamba lead the table with 19 points, followed by Reds with 17, Reysol 16, and Frontale, Grampus and Jubilo all on 15.

_________________________________________________________________________

2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 8th Sec


Home Away Venue Attendance

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1st Day 28 Apr 13:03 Yokohama FC 1-1 Shimizu S-Pulse Nissan S 15,008
OG 75' (Y), Fernandinho 28' (S)

1st Day 28 Apr 15:05 Oita Trinita 0-4 Gamba Osaka Kyushu Oil.D 20,806
Yamagushi 05' Magno Alves 07' 77' Bando 71' (G)

1st Day 28 Apr 16:00 Omiya Ardija 1-2 Ventforet Kofu Komaba 6,628
Fujimoto 56' (O), Sudo 36' Hayashi 60' (V)

1st Day 28 Apr 16:03 Vissel Kobe 0-0 F.C.Tokyo Home's 9,213

1st Day 28 Apr 16:53 Kashiwa Reysol 2-0 Nagoya Grampus Eight Kashiwa 11,077
Ri 25' Suganuma 40' ®

1st Day 28 Apr 19:04 Jubilo Iwata 4-2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Yamaha 10,131
Cullen 04' 68' Oi 38' Naruoka 86' (J), Sato 46' Ueslei 81' (S)

1st Day 28 Apr 19:01 Albirex Niigata 0-6 Yokohama F･Marinos Tohoku Den.S 41,283
Y. Yamase 36' K. Yamase 38' Yoshida 47' Sakata 51' 56' Oshima 69' (M)

2nd Day 29 Apr 15:05 Kawasaki Frontale 1-1 JEF United Chiba Todoroki 21,804
Chong 66' (F), Mizuno 81' (J)

2nd Day 29 Apr 16:00 Kashima Antlers 0-1 Urawa Reds Kashima 36,146
Ponte 56' (U)


Oita Trinita v Gamba Osaka: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adv6aahdkhk
Omiya Ardija v Ventforet Kofu: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSeKNPGxDYc
Kashiwa Reysol v Nagoya Grampus Eight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUaK1VWBo8M
Albirex Niigata v Yokohama F Marinos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSXWDwRURJs
Yokohama FC v Shimizu S-Pulse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y43pDbhXKes
Jubilo Iwata v Sanfrecce Hiroshima: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4il1VES_4g

May 6, 2007: Vissel Kobe produced the perfect away display to beat Yokohama FC 3-0 at rainswept Mitsuzawa Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The visitors scored twice in the first half and added a third near the end to underline their all-round superiority, especially in front of goal.

Park Kang Jo netted twice for Vissel and Yoshito Okubo scored the other, and all three goals were set up by precision passes which split the home defence.

Park put Vissel in front on 33 minutes with a fine finish after being released on the right by playmaker Botti, and Okubo doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time. This time it was Leandro who put him in the clear, and Okubo used the outside of his right foot to delicately guide the ball beyond the advancing keeper.

This second goal put Kobe firmly in control of a match contested by two teams which came out of the second division last season, and Yokohama were unable to find a way back after the break.

With the away fans already celebrating three points, Park fired in his second of the afternoon after being put through by Leandro.

The result left Yokohama stranded at the foot of the table with four points, but moved Vissel up to 11th with 13 points.


Yoshiyuki Kobayashi of Ardija battles with Reds' Keita Suzuki

In other matches on the last day of the Golden Week holiday fixtures, the Saitama derby between Omiya Ardija and Urawa Reds at Saitama Stadium ended 1-1, although underdogs Ardija could regard themselves as moral victors.

Yoshiyuki Kobayashi gave Ardija the lead after 38 minutes with a neat finish following good work on the left by Kota Yoshihara, and Reds had to wait until the 73rd minute to equalise through Washington. Keita Suzuki knocked over a deep cross from the right, and Tulio's downward header rebounded off the post into the goalmouth, where the Brazilian forward reacted quicker than his marker Leandro to head the ball home from close range.

The orange-clad home fans were heavily outnumbered by their regional rivals in red, but had much more to cheer about after the final whistle.

Omiya's Dutch manager, Robert Verbeek, said: "Of course you play to win, but I think after the game you can say I am happy with 1-1.

"In the first half we played very well, and in the second we knew Urawa must come at us, so we must fight for the draw. I think the boys did a very good job. In the second half they were very tired; it was a tough game for us."


Reysol and JEF players contest a set piece

Later in the day, the Chiba derby between JEF United and Kashiwa Reysol also ended 1-1 at United's Fukuda Denshi Arena.

Tatsuya Yazawa fired Reysol into the lead five minutes into the second half after running half the length of the field, but Satoru Yamagishi secured a point for the home team when he met Koki Mizuno's low cross from the right to score the equaliser at the far post.

Leaders Gamba Osaka were also held to a 1-1 draw, at home by Shimizu S-Pulse. Olympic team member Akihiro Ienaga gave Gamba the lead midway through the second half with a neat sidefoot volley, only for former Gamba striker Fernandinho to equalise for S-Pulse with another individual masterpiece, twisting and turning the Gamba defence inside out before firing into the corner.

Robert Cullen scored the only goal of the game as Jubilo Iwata beat Nagoya Grampus Eight 1-0, and Edmilson was on target twice in Albirex Niigata's 3-1 victory at home to Ventforet Kofu after Takehito Shigehara had shot the visitors into an early lead. Masaki Fukai completed the second-half comeback with Niigata's third goal.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima's dynamic strike pair of Hisato Sato and Ueslei both scored in their team's 2-1 win at Oita Trinita, who replied with a header from 18-year-old Mu Kanazaki.

The Kashima Antlers-Yokohama F Marinos match ended 1-1, Masaki Chugo cancelling out Takayuki Yoshida's opener for the in-form visitors.


Masahiro Ohashi celebrates a goal with his Frontale teammates

At Todoroki, Kawasaki Frontale routed FC Tokyo 5-2 after a first-half blitz of spectacular goals. Masahiro Ohashi scored twice, and there was one apiece for Masaru Kurotsu and Kazuhiro Murakami as Frontale turned round 4-0 ahead. Juninho made it 5-0 before Tokyo restored a little bit of pride with late goals for Lucas, from the penalty spot, and Naohiro Ishikawa.

After 10 rounds, Gamba lead the table with 21 points, followed by Urawa with 19, and Frontale, Reysol and Jubilo all on 18.

2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 10th Sec


Home Away Venue Attendance

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1st Day 03 May 14:04 Ventforet Kofu 1-0 Yokohama FC Kose 16,279

1st Day 03 May 14:04 Urawa Reds 1-1 JEF United Chiba Saitama.S 57,440

1st Day 03 May 16:03 Nagoya Grampus Eight 1-2 Oita Trinita Mizuho A. 14,146

1st Day 03 May 16:04 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-1 Omiya Ardija Hiroshima B. 13,220

1st Day 03 May 16:05 F.C.Tokyo 1-2 Kashima Antlers Ajinomoto 30,436

1st Day 03 May 16:05 Kashiwa Reysol 0-0 Albirex Niigata Kashiwanoha 13,481

1st Day 03 May 16:03 Vissel Kobe 2-2 Gamba Osaka Home's 22,236

1st Day 03 May 19:04 Yokohama F･Marinos 2-1 Kawasaki Frontale Nissan S 33,498

1st Day 03 May 19:05 Shimizu S-Pulse 2-1 Jubilo Iwata Nihondaira 20,318

2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 11th Sec


Home Away Venue Attendance

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1st Day 12 May 14:05 Yokohama F･Marinos 0-2 Nagoya Grampus Eight Nissan S 19,074

1st Day 12 May 14:04 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0-2 Yokohama FC Hiroshima B. 13,636

1st Day 12 May 15:04 Shimizu S-Pulse 3-1 Albirex Niigata Nihondaira 12,197

1st Day 12 May 16:04 Kashiwa Reysol 2-0 Oita Trinita Kashiwa 9,374

1st Day 12 May 19:00 Kashima Antlers 2-1 Jubilo Iwata Kashima 13,259

1st Day 12 May 19:04 F.C.Tokyo 4-1 JEF United Chiba Ajinomoto 21,821

2nd Day 13 May 14:04 Ventforet Kofu 1-3 Kawasaki Frontale Kose 12,686

2nd Day 13 May 15:03 Vissel Kobe 0-0 Omiya Ardija Home's 7,769

2nd Day 13 May 16:03 Urawa Reds 1-1 Gamba Osaka Saitama.S 55,258

Table: http://www.j-league.or.jp/data/view.php?d=...NEW0100&l=E

Top scorers: http://www.j-league.or.jp/data/view.php?d=...NEW0100&l=E

Very close at the top. Most notable thing about this weekend was that Japanese legend Kazu Miura scored his first goal for two years at the age of 40 for Yokohama FC at Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

May 20, 2007: An inspired substitution by FC Tokyo manager Hiromi Hara helped his team collect all three points from a 1-0 win away to Yokohama F Marinos on Sunday.


Tokyo forward Lucas brushes past two Marinos defenders

After 68 minutes and the game still goalless, Hara sent on midfielder Takashi Fukunishi for forward Lucas -- and, just seconds later, Fukunishi sent the large away following behind the goal into raptures with a brilliant long-range strike.

Collecting the ball near the right touchline, just inside the Marinos half, Fukunishi drifted inside and advanced towards goal. With few options in front of him, the World Cup midfielder decided to go it alone, and his left-foot drive from 25 metres into a stiff breeze sailed over Marinos keeper Tetsuya Enomoto and dropped under the crossbar for the only goal of the game.

It was FC Tokyo's second straight win in J1 and moved them up into 13th place in the 18-team table with 14 points from 12 games. Marinos are just one place above them with 16 points after slipping to their second successive home defeat.

Fukunishi, who has struggled to settle at FC Tokyo after his close-season move from Jubilo Iwata, was the centre of attention after the game.

"We were not getting many shots on their goal, so when I came on I wanted to do something about it," Fukunishi said.
"The first time I got the ball I saw their keeper was coming off his line, so I decided to have a go."
It proved to be the right decision, as the goal earned all three points for an improving Tokyo team.
Captain Yasuyuki Konno was outstanding in the centre of defence, Under-22 national team skipper Masahiko Inoha broke up a constant flow of Marinos attacks with his astute reading of the game as the midfield anchor, and the attacking triumvirate of Costa Rica's Paulo Wanchope and Brazilian duo Lucas and Rychely caused all sorts of problems for the home defence.


Leandro celebrates his winner with his teammates

In Sunday's other game, Fukunishi's former team, Jubilo Iwata, lost 3-2 at home to Vissel Kobe.
Yusuke Kondo and Leandro fired Kobe into a two-goal lead inside 15 minutes, only for Robert Cullen and Sho Naruoka to pull Jubilo level before the break.
Leandro's second of the game, after 76 minutes, proved to be the winner, and lifted Vissel into ninth place with 17 points, one point and one position behind Jubilo.

On Saturday, Gamba Osaka opened up a two-point lead at the top of the table by beating Kashiwa Reysol 2-1 at home.
Magno Alves, such a lethal striker for Gamba, turned creator to set up the first goal for fellow Brazilian Bare, who showed his strength and touch to put the home side ahead after 23 minutes.
Gamba doubled their lead 15 minutes later with a fierce strike from Takahiro Futagawa, whose left-foot drive from 25 metres flew into the top corner.
Although Reysol pulled one back before the interval through Olympic team striker Tadanari Ri, Gamba claimed all three points to move on to 25, two more than defending champions Urawa Reds.

Urawa won 2-1 away to Nagoya Grampus Eight, thanks to a clinical strike from Brazilian forward Washington six minutes from time.
Defender Nene had headed Reds into the lead after 27 minutes, only for Grampus to equalise with a far-post finish from Norwegian international Frode Johnsen.


Ueslei shows us his trademark 'bowman' goal celebration

A former Nagoya striker, Ueslei, was in the news again on Saturday by scoring the eighth hat trick of his J.League career in Sanfrecce Hiroshima's 3-1 win at struggling JEF United Chiba. Three of those hat tricks have come against JEF United, and Ueslei now has scored one more treble than Jubilo Iwata's Masashi Nakayama.
All three goals came in the first half, taking his tally for the season to 11 and his career total to an impressive 108 goals in 156 J1 appearances.
His first came from the penalty spot; his second was a low cross from the left which crept in at the near post; and his third was a brilliant finish after racing clear of the JEF defence.
United pulled one back through Olympic team winger Koki Mizuno in the second half, but another home defeat sent JEF tumbling into the bottom three with only 10 points.

Elsewhere, Oita Trinita sprung a surprise by beating Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 in a bad-tempered match. Frontale's Brazilian forward, Juninho, was dismissed for his second yellow card just before the break, and seven other players were booked -- five from Oita.
The home team's goals came from Augusto and Serginho, and lifted Trinita on to 12 points.

In the basement battle between the bottom two teams, Omiya Ardija sneaked a 1-0 victory at home to Yokohama FC in a match that was halted after 20 minutes due to heavy rain. Play resumed after a 20-minute delay, and the home fans had to wait until the 83rd minute for the goal to lift Omiya off the foot of the table.
Hayato Hashimoto's outswinging corner from the left was met at the near post by the head of central defender Daisuke Tomita, who rose between two Yokohama defenders to guide the ball into the far corner.
Omiya improved to nine points, and dropped Yokohama into last place with seven.

The two other games on Saturday were drawn.
At Niigata, Kashima Antlers took an early lead with a flying header from Daiki Iwamasa, but former Antlers striker Masaki Fukai equalised for Albirex shortly after with a superb individual goal.
The evening encounter between Ventforet Kofu and Shimizu S-Pulse, dubbed the "Fujiyama Derby", ended 0-0.

After 12 of the 34 rounds, Gamba lead the table with 25 points, followed by Reds on 23 and Frontale, Reysol and S-Pulse all on 21. Then there is a three-point gap to Grampus, Sanfrecce and Jubilo on 18.

Yokohama FC are in last place with seven points, two behind Omiya. JEF United complete the bottom three with 10 points.

_____________________________________________________________

2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 12th Sec


Home Away Venue Attendance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Day 19 May 13:00 Gamba Osaka 2-1 Kashiwa Reysol Expo'70 13,765

1st Day 19 May 14:02 Nagoya Grampus Eight 1-2 Urawa Reds Toyota.S 34,347

1st Day 19 May 14:04 Albirex Niigata 1-1 Kashima Antlers Tohoku Den.S 38,268

1st Day 19 May 14:05 Oita Trinita 2-0 Kawasaki Frontale Kyushu Oil.D 15,371

1st Day 19 May 16:00 JEF United Chiba 1-3 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Fukuda A 10,983

1st Day 19 May 16:00 Omiya Ardija 1-0 Yokohama FC Komaba 9,466

1st Day 19 May 19:04 Ventforet Kofu 0-0 Shimizu S-Pulse Kose 12,422

2nd Day 20 May 15:04 Jubilo Iwata 2-3 Vissel Kobe Yamaha 12,149

2nd Day 20 May 16:01 Yokohama F･Marinos 0-1 F.C.Tokyo Nissan S 25,811

2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 13th Sec


Home Away Venue Attendance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Day 26 May 13:03 Yokohama FC 2-1 Oita Trinita Mitsuzawa 4,935

1st Day 26 May 15:03 Vissel Kobe 2-1 Kashiwa Reysol Home's 9,173

1st Day 26 May 15:04 F.C.Tokyo 0-1 Nagoya Grampus Eight Ajinomoto 22,679

1st Day 26 May 16:03 Kashima Antlers 2-0 Ventforet Kofu Kashima 10,081

1st Day 26 May 19:04 JEF United Chiba 1-2 Gamba Osaka Fukuda A 14,405

1st Day 26 May 19:04 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-1 Shimizu S-Pulse Hiroshima B. 10,514

2nd Day 27 May 15:00 Kawasaki Frontale 1-1 Omiya Ardija Todoroki 14,033

2nd Day 27 May 15:04 Urawa Reds 1-1 Yokohama F･Marinos Saitama.S 51,829

2nd Day 27 May 16:03 Jubilo Iwata 2-4 Albirex Niigata Yamaha 11,734

I'll take that point at Urawa, particularly after some recent shoddy displays.

2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 14th Sec


Home Away Venue Attendance

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1st Day 09 Jun 13:04 Kashiwa Reysol 0-0 Omiya Ardija Kashiwanoha 12,730

1st Day 09 Jun 14:05 Gamba Osaka 2-1 Yokohama FC Expo'70 19,752

1st Day 09 Jun 15:00 Oita Trinita 2-2 Kashima Antlers Kyushu Oil.D 21,804

1st Day 09 Jun 15:04 Albirex Niigata 3-1 Vissel Kobe Tohoku Den.S 38,667

1st Day 09 Jun 19:04 Nagoya Grampus Eight 2-2 Kawasaki Frontale Toyota.S 21,190

1st Day 09 Jun 19:03 Yokohama F･Marinos 1-0 JEF United Chiba Nissan S 23,028

2nd Day 10 Jun 14:02 Ventforet Kofu 1-6 Jubilo Iwata Kose 11,389

2nd Day 10 Jun 16:04 Shimizu S-Pulse 1-3 F.C.Tokyo Nihondaira 15,322

Appreciate the updates JJ

I'm just glad Marinos seem to have turned the corner, although in the J-League it all changes very quickly.

Result


2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 15th Sec


Home Away Venue Attendance

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1st Day 16 Jun 13:03 Vissel Kobe 1-3 Oita Trinita Home's 13,966

1st Day 16 Jun 14:05 Kawasaki Frontale 0-0 Kashiwa Reysol Todoroki 15,244

1st Day 16 Jun 15:04 Shimizu S-Pulse 1-1 Yokohama F･Marinos Nihondaira 15,078

1st Day 16 Jun 16:04 Gamba Osaka 3-1 Nagoya Grampus Eight Expo'70 20,473

1st Day 16 Jun 16:00 Kashima Antlers 5-1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Kashima 10,524

1st Day 16 Jun 19:00 Omiya Ardija 2-1 Albirex Niigata Komaba 16,795

1st Day 16 Jun 19:04 Yokohama FC 1-2 Jubilo Iwata Nissan S 13,605

2nd Day 17 Jun 16:04 F.C.Tokyo 0-2 Urawa Reds Ajinomoto 38,439

2nd Day 17 Jun 16:03 JEF United Chiba 3-2 Ventforet Kofu Fukuda A 13,229

Urawa's win was their first for eight games.

Indeed

Curse you Gamba Osaka!

I liked the Gamba side from 2005, one of my favourites, they are always strong.

No Place For Inamoto, Nakata In Japan Squad

Japan announced their preliminary squad for the Asian Cup, one that doesn’t include European-based stars Koji Nakata and Junichi Inamoto.

Inamoto has just joined Galatasary while Nakata plays for Swiss club Basel.

"I didn't call them (Inamoto and Nakata) up not because of their performance in the Kirin Cup," said Japan coach Ivica Osim.

"But Inamoto needs time to fit in at his new club and Nakata still has to find where to join next season."

The Bosnian, who coached Yugoslavia at the 1990 World Cup, will name his final squad late as the J-League is in action until the end of June.

"Among the participating countries, Japan are the only one where a league competition is still being played and we don't have enough time to prepare. It's a big disadvantage."

"Because of the new tournament regulations, we can finalise the squad as late as July 5. We have three J. League games before the tournament, and I have to consider the possibility of injuries to our players. But that has made my work difficult as I cannot fix our squad to 23.”

"I hope this squad is well balanced with a mixture of specialists and those who are capable of playing at more than two positions," added Osim.

"I have also put our opponents, the climate and the venues into consideration in making my decisions."

Japan are going for a third straight title and have been drawn in Group B along with co-hosts Vietnam, Qatar and UAE.

Japan Squad:

Goalkeepers: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata), Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus Eight), Yohei Nishibe (Shimizu S-Pulse), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale)

Defenders: Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama Marinos), Keisuke Tsuboi (Urawa Red Diamonds), Akira Kaji (Gamba Osaka), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Urawa Red Diamonds), Yuichi Komano (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Hiroki Mizumoto (JEF United Chiba)

Midfielders: Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic/SCO), Hideo Hashimoto (Gamba Osaka), Naotake Hanyu (JEF United Chiba), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Keita Suzuki (Urawa Reds), Yuki Abe (Urawa Reds), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Satoru Yamagishi (JEF United Chiba), Yoshiaki Ota (Jubilo Iwata), Masahiko Inoha (FC Tokyo), Koki Mizuno (JEF United Chiba), Keisuke Honda (Nagoya Grampus Eight), Akihiro Ienaga (Gamba Osaka)

Forwards: Naohiro Takahara (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER), Ryuji Bando (Gamba Osaka), Seiichiro Maki (JEF United Chiba), Ryoichi Maeda (Jubilo Iwata), Hisato Sato (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Kisho Yano (Albirex Niigata)

I like what Osim has done with the squad, selecting the big names who actually play well (Shunsuke Nakamura being the anomoly I would say as he slows the play down too much for my liking) and the less proven players who are doing well in the J-League.

is it a great squad

It is the best squad he could pick put it that way. He has picked the more experienced players who are playing well and the form youngsters too.

Results

Week 16: http://www.j-league.or.jp/data/view.php?d=...;y=2007&l=E

Week 17: http://www.j-league.or.jp/data/view.php?d=...;y=2007&l=E

Week 18: http://www.j-league.or.jp/data/view.php?d=...;y=2007&l=E

Table: http://www.j-league.or.jp/data/view.php?d=...NEW0100&l=E

C'mon Marinos, a bit of a resurgence here, a top 3 or 4 finish would be a vast improvement.

Week 14 re-arranged fixture:

3rd Day 14th Sec 19:32 Urawa Reds 4-1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Saitama.S 38,682

I get the feeling Gamba Osaka is going to win it with Urawa finishing close behind.

August 12, 2007: Yokohama F Marinos had been thirsting for revenge since suffering an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at the hands of city rivals Yokohama FC early in the season.
On Saturday they got it -- eight times over.

In front of a bumper crowd of 53,916 at Nissan Stadium, Marinos thrashed J1's bottom club 8-1, with seven of the nine goals coming in a wild second half.


Oshima gets a strike in on goal

Centre forward Hideo Oshima chose the perfect time to score four goals, as national team manager Ivica Osim was watching from the main stand.

Oshima headed the opening goal on the half-hour mark, and fellow striker Daisuke Sakata added the second before the break when his low shot from the edge of the box found the corner of the visitors' net.

With Osim on the lookout for more firepower, Oshima showed his qualities in front of goal by scoring three times in the second half to take his season's tally to eight. Koji Yamase added two, and younger brother Yukihiro Yamase also got on the scoresheet during a one-sided demolition derby.

Yokohama FC's sole reply came from Kazuki Hiramoto on 82 minutes with his team already down 7-0.

The three points moved Marinos into sixth place with 29 points from 19 games. Yokohama FC, promoted to the top flight as J2 champions last season, look destined for a swift return as they prop up the table with just 10 points, seven adrift of Omiya Ardija in 17th place.

At the top of the table, Gamba Osaka extended their lead over second-placed Urawa Reds to four points. After a goalless first half at home to third-placed Albirex Niigata, Gamba had no trouble winning 3-1 to move on to 44 points, while Reds were held to a 1-1 draw at home by mid-table Kashiwa Reysol and now have 40.


Bare celebrates his goal for Gamba

Gamba needed a stroke of luck to break the deadlock three minutes into the second period when Albirex defender Mitsuru Nagata diverted a low right-wing cross past his own keeper for an own goal, but there was nothing fortunate about Gamba's next two.
Brazilian striker Bare collected a pass from national team midfielder Yasuhito Endo before turning his defender and hitting the target with a powerful right-foot drive, before right back Akira Kaji cut inside and sent a left-foot shot whistling into the top corner. With the three points in the bag, Gamba conceded a late goal to Albirex's Brazilian midfielder, Marcio Richardes.

At Saitama Stadium 2002, Reds began the day two points behind Gamba but without injured leading scorer Washington, who had returned to Brazil for treatment.
Missing his burly presence up front, it took Reds 60 minutes to open the scoring thanks to some typically swashbuckling play from central defender Tulio. The lead lasted only nine minutes, though, as the unmarked Masahiro Koga headed home Reysol's equaliser from a free kick on the left.

Kawasaki Frontale closed to within nine points of second-placed Reds by inflicting another home defeat on struggling JEF United Chiba.
After Naotake Hanyu had given United a first-half lead, the JEF defence crumbled in the second period. This allowed livewire striker Juninho to help himself to a masterful hat trick, and take his season's tally to 12.


Vissel golden boy Okubo turns away in celebration

Vissel Kobe crushed Jubilo Iwata 4-0 with two goals from Leandro and one apiece for Park Kang Jo and captain Yoshito Okubo. After Leandro had put Kobe in front midway through the first half following a sumptuous long ball from Okubo, Jubilo midfielder Fabricio was shown a straight red card for serious foul play on 59 minutes.
Kobe capitalised on the extra man for the last 30 minutes, scoring three times to clinch their seventh league win of the campaign.

Oita Trinita fell behind early to FC Tokyo at Ajinomoto Stadium, but came back in the second half to win 2-1 and seal three points in their fight to avoid relegation.
Takashi Fukunishi headed the home side into the lead after only three minutes, but the visitors scored twice in the space of 10 second-half minutes through a Daiki Takamatsu header and cool Daisuke Takahashi finish to spring a surprise.

The other game Saturday ended in a 2-2 draw between Shimizu S-Pulse and Omiya Ardija.
Playing under new manager Satoru Sakuma for the first time, Ardija made the perfect start with a fifth-minute free kick from Daigo Kobayashi that crept in at the near post.
Korean striker Cho Jae Jin capitalised on poor defending to make it 1-1 five minutes later, only for Kota Yoshihara to restore Omiya's lead on 18 minutes with a neat finish.
S-Pulse equalised for the second time eight minutes into the second half with a low shot from Fernandinho, leaving Omiya in the second automatic relegation place of 17th.

The two Sunday games both ended with away wins.


Antlers' Nozawa celebrates with teammate Yanagisawa

Kashima Antlers, with Mitsuo Ogasawara back in the team after returning from Messina in Italy, won 1-0 at Ventforet Kofu thanks to a first-half goal from Takuya Nozawa on his 26th birthday. Although Atsushi Yanagisawa was sent off on 65 minutes for his second yellow card, Antlers held on to jump into third place with 33 points, still 11 behind Gamba.

At Hiroshima, visiting Nagoya Grampus Eight beat Sanfrecce 3-1 with a double from Norwegian striker Frode Johnsen and a late clincher from substitute Keita Sugimoto. Johnsen's first was a trademark header and his second came from the penalty spot, after Sanfrecce had made it 1-1 with an own goal.

After 19 games, Gamba lead the table with 44 points, followed by Reds with 40, Antlers 33, Albirex 32 and Frontale 31. At the bottom, Yokohama FC are 18th with 10, seven behind Omiya in the second automatic relegation spot. Kofu have 18 points and occupy 16th place, which will meet J2's third-placed team in the promotion-relegation play-off.


2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 19th Sec

Home Away Venue Attendance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Day 11 Aug 19:03 Shimizu S-Pulse 2-2 Omiya Ardija Nihondaira 15,047

1st Day 11 Aug 19:02 Urawa Reds 1-1 Kashiwa Reysol Saitama.S 47,359

1st Day 11 Aug 19:00 Yokohama F･Marinos 8-1 Yokohama FC Nissan S 53,916

1st Day 11 Aug 19:03 Gamba Osaka 3-1 Albirex Niigata Expo'70 18,112

1st Day 11 Aug 19:04 JEF United Chiba 1-3 Kawasaki Frontale Fukuda A 16,070

1st Day 11 Aug 19:05 Vissel Kobe 4-0 Jubilo Iwata Home's 12,624

1st Day 11 Aug 19:04 F.C.Tokyo 1-2 Oita Trinita Ajinomoto 20,689

2nd Day 12 Aug 18:34 Ventforet Kofu 0-1 Kashima Antlers Kose 14,316

2nd Day 12 Aug 18:04 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1-3 Nagoya Grampus Eight Hiroshima B.

8-1, get in!

YFC were lucky in that last game and it seemed they were more up for the derby, ok 8-1 does not show the comparison in a fair light but Marinos were due a big win this season and who better to get it against.

Elsewhere I would say other results went pretty much to plan, aside perhaps from Vissel's thumping of Jubilo. Vissel have some excellent players but Jubilo are traditionally stronger.
Okubo was a real coupe for Vissel. It is also nice to see Ogasawara back in the J-League, alonsgide another Italy failure Yanagisawa, also I think Oguro will be on his way back soon.

Urawa have battled, but I think Gamba Osaka have simply been better. Still been a good season, appreciate the continued updates JJ.

These results just in today:


J-League Week 20

Home Away Venue Attendance

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1st Day 15 Aug 19:04 Kashiwa Reysol 2-0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Kashiwa 10,636
Franca 44' Ota 56' ®

1st Day 15 Aug 19:03 Kashima Antlers 3-1 JEF United Chiba Kashima 19,600
Araiba 25' Ogasawara 31' 85' (A), OG 19' (J)

1st Day 15 Aug 19:03 Gamba Osaka 0-1 Urawa Reds Expo'70 20,982
Nagai 62' (U)

1st Day 15 Aug 19:00 Omiya Ardija 1-3 Vissel Kobe Komaba 6,440
Yoshihara 20' (O), Leandro 30' 73' Okubo 88' (V)

1st Day 15 Aug 19:05 Oita Trinita 3-4 Shimizu S-Pulse Kyushu Oil.D 20,391
Takamatsu 11' Fujita 34' Kanazaki 86' (O), Fernandinho 35' 68' Ichikawa 44' Yajima 53' (S)

1st Day 15 Aug 19:01 Albirex Niigata 4-0 Nagoya Grampus Eight Tohoku Den.S 42,015
Homma 11' Yano 34' Edmilson 48' 79' (A)

1st Day 15 Aug 19:00 Kawasaki Frontale 1-2 Yokohama F･Marinos Todoroki 18,095
Chong 85' (F), Oshima 36' K. Yamase 62' (M)

1st Day 15 Aug 19:03 Yokohama FC 0-2 Ventforet Kofu Mitsuzawa 5,606
Sudo 11' 85' (V)

1st Day 15 Aug 19:04 Jubilo Iwata 5-2 F.C.Tokyo Yamaha 14,854
Ota 20' Marquinhos Parana 64' Ueda 68' Naruoka 72' Maeda 84' (J), Hirayama 89' Akamine 89' (T)

Huge win there for Reds in the top of the table clash.

Another win for Marinos

Week 20 Table:



Top scorers: http://www.j-league.or.jp/data/view.php?d=...NEW0100&l=E

2007 J.LEAGUE Division 1 21st Sec


Home Away Venue Attendance

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Day 18 Aug 18:05 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-0 Oita Trinita Hiroshima B. 10,402

1st Day 18 Aug 18:34 F.C.Tokyo 0-1 Kashiwa Reysol Ajinomoto 25,373

1st Day 18 Aug 18:34 Ventforet Kofu 1-4 Urawa Reds National 36,756

1st Day 18 Aug 19:03 Shimizu S-Pulse 3-1 Kawasaki Frontale Nihondaira 19,073

1st Day 18 Aug 19:03 JEF United Chiba 3-2 Jubilo Iwata Fukuda A 16,718

1st Day 18 Aug 19:03 Nagoya Grampus Eight 0-3 Yokohama F･Marinos Mizuho A. 15,703

1st Day 18 Aug 19:05 Yokohama FC 1-1 Gamba Osaka Mitsuzawa 8,426

2nd Day 19 Aug 18:01 Omiya Ardija 1-2 Kashima Antlers Kumagaya A 13,889

2nd Day 19 Aug 19:05 Vissel Kobe 0-1 Albirex Niigata Kobe Univ 9,116

_________________________________________

Gamba are throwing away points, YFC are rubbish! Another win for Marinos though

League table: http://www.j-league.or.jp/data/view.php?d=...NEW0100&l=E
Scorers: http://www.j-league.or.jp/data/view.php?d=...NEW0100&l=E

Watched this week's Gambare (weekly J-League highlight show on US TV) and Urawa looking very good, we're going to win the league! Again!

We have that show over here too, even though they clearly call it Gambare it is dubbed the J-League Show.

Japan 2-0 Cameroon



Marcus Tulio Tanaka celebrated his international return with a goal and substitute Koji Yamase opened his national team account as Japan beat Cameroon 2-0 on Wednesday in their first match since last month's Asian Cup flop.

Forced to miss Japan's failed bid for a third straight continental title in Southeast Asia through injury, Tulio put the hosts in front in the 25th minute of a scrappy friendly with a well-taken header in sticky conditions at Kyushu Oil Dome.

The home side were forced onto the back foot for long periods of the second half after a flurry of substitutions but Yamase sealed victory with a powerful drive a minute from time.

Coach Ivica Osim made a handful of changes to the side that lost to South Korea in the Asian Cup 3rd-place playoff in Indonesia, with Tatsuya Tanaka and debutant Ryoichi Maeda starting up front and returnee Yoshito Okubo behind them in an attacking midfield role.

The fleet-footed Tanaka proved to be a handful for the Africans in the early stages and he earned the free kick that led to his Urawa Reds teammate's goal after a foul by Stephane Bikey.

Yasuhito Endo stepped up to whip in the dead ball from the left side of the box and Tulio was on hand to beat Cameroon goalkeeper Hamidou Souleymanou with a glancing header.

Cameroon nearly hit back two minutes later as Stephane Mbia dragged his shot across the face of goal after rounding Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi but Joseph Desire Job's 41st-minute effort failed to properly test the Japan goalkeeper.

The Indomitable Lions moved up a gear in the second period but were guilty of poor finishing, substitute Idrissou Mohamadou spurning their best chance when, with space and time, he fired over after 67 minutes.

The miss proved costly as Yamase drilled home from the edge of the area after coming on to win his second cap.

"This was a good experience for the fans and the team. The match gave us an idea of what level we are at and I am pleased that we were able to win against such a strong opponent," said Japan boss Osim.

Tulio added, "It was a good ball in (for the free kick) and I was able to play a part. You wouldn't think the Cameroonians are human, such is the physical ability they possess. But we managed to keep them out and didn't allow them so many chances."

Japan were denied an Asian Cup three-peat after crashing out of the tournament with a semifinal defeat to Saudi Arabia. They subsequently lost to the South Korea on penalties in the playoff, a result that cost them an automatic berth for the 2011 Asian Cup.


Japan 2-0 Cameroon
M. Tanaka 25'
K. Yamase 89'

Japan: Kawaguchi, Kaji, M. Tanaka, Nakazawa, Komano (Konno 46'), K. Suzuki (Hashimoto 74'), Abe, Endo (K. Nakamura 63'), T. Tanaka (Sato 59'), Okubo (K. Yamase 50'), Maeda (Takamatsu 59').

Cameroon: Hamidou, Song, Bikey (Feutchine 53'), Matoukou, Atouba, Makoun (N'Guémo 63'), M'Bami (Idrissou 46'), M'Bia, Douala (Ngom Kome 59'), Eto'o, Job (Ateba 74).

Referee: M. Choi

Attendance: 37,240 (Tokyo)

An encouraging win against a very strong Cameroon side.
This will take the pressure off Osim somewhat.

What happened to the Brazilian guy Alex?

And why do you take a interest in Japanese football? Like why them?

Highlights: (Japanese commentary)

He plays in Austria, Osim seems to like Komano more than him and Japan have other left backs who should make the squad who don't.


I lived their for a while, their passion for football is infectious and they play the game and support their sides in a dignified way.

Oh I see, any chance I can entice you to follow the A-league...

A bunch of criminals and players who wouldn't get in English Conference sides, no thanks

Hey!!! we gave the japs a run for their money. Watch this season A-league teams will dominate the Asian Champions League. Urawa Reds were pretty poor in both of our encounters, we were unlucky because our coach was sacked and we released players as our campaign began but we were still the btter team in both encounters.

Plus the Young player of the year was just bought by Fulham while another was just bought by Sheffield Utd!! So much for conference aye!!

The only way Aussie teams will win those games is to bully the J-League sides, but the WCC is a bit of a joke tournament anyway isn't it really?
Aussie players will clearly go to England because there is not much difference in culture, no difference in language and the football is played in a similar way.
Totally different in Japan, not to mention the lack of European passports which Aussies have.

Alvin Ceccoli who is a former Sydney FC player is tearing it up there in Japan, and thats a generalisation when you talk about our league. We no longer import british players (lol briane deane), our imports are south american. The league is starting to become more technical with the brazilian and dutch influences.

Darren Bazeley, players like that. They would be playing in the Conference in this country. He was released from Walsall who were in League 2 at the time.
Leagues always grow, plus as more money is put into it it should grow.
I would worry about having too many foreigners though, it would be better if Aussie players are developed.
The A-League is still seen as a bit of a place to go for retirement by players over here, a bit like the MLS is considered to an extent. You also have a bit of that in Japan, but it tends to be big names towards the end of their careers or Brazilians who did well in Brazil but poor in Europe.
Alvin Ceccoli? The guy is 33 and is playing for Avispa in J-League 2 (2nd division), the standard is way off the J-League 1.

Hey Alvin is still tearing it up and Avispa are on a winning streak.

Yes Darren Bazely came here but the team he played for came second because of their poor recruitment of players and he couldnt cut it here. that team eventually was disbanded. I would hardly say the a-league is a 'retirement village' because there isnt that much money in the game here. As the game is 4th after Rugby Union, Rugby League and AFL.

We have 12 Brazilians here, with the likes of Jardel (yes the Porto one) and Juninho. This to move away from the shitty english style of football. However, there is a limit of 4 foreigners per team.

The standard here would be like lower league 1 now.