(Extended highlights from the Osaka Expo ’70 stadium, as Kashiwa Reysol inflict their biggest defeat on Gamba since 1998, a 6-2 scoreline leaving Gamba mired in the relegation places. The Sun Kings are now in fourth place in the table after a sixth win in seven games, and will be undefeated for two months when the next round of matches takes place on 7 July)
15 games. Just one win. Only ten goals scored, but 36 conceded. Four points. This is the current record of Consadole Sapporo, currently languishing at the bottom of J.League Division 1, a team which shows no sign of making any kind of recovery. Their average of 0.27 points per game, should it continue along the same trajectory, would seem them finish the 2012 campaign with an historic low of nine points. Even the most cursory of glances at the league table will confirm that the J.League’s sole representatives from Hokkaido are having a terrible season, but the question posed here is whether are they on course to become the worst side to have ever appeared in the top flight of Japanese professional football.
(Highlights from the 2004 Suntory Championship second-leg featuring Urawa Red Diamonds and Yokohama F-Marinos at the Saitama Stadium 2002)
On June 26, in the fifteenth and final round of matches in the First Stage of the 2004 J.League season, Yokohama F-Marinos defeated Kashima Antlers 1-0 courtesy of a 61st minute goal from South Korean striker Ahn Jung-Hwan to clinch qualification to the Suntory Championship. The win proved vital to Marinos pursuit of the title, Jubilo Iwata’s 4-2 victory over Sanfrecce Hiroshima, including a fifth goal of the season for 22-year old forward Ryoichi Maeda, ensuring they finished just two points behind and with a superior goal difference.
Marinos would go on to collect their third, and to date, last J.League title, defeating Urawa Red Diamonds at the Saitama Stadium 2002 on penalties in the second leg of the Suntory Championship final, both teams winning 1-0 at their respective stadia.
