Japan v Latvia Friendly Result (Kirin Challenge Cup 2013)

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Football Japan

The Samurai Blue eased to victory against very poor opposition in the shape of Latvia, but it wasn’t until the 41st minute that they took the lead. Shinji Okazaki stretched to divert Atsuto Uchida’s wayward shot into the net via the upright to give Japan a 1-0 advantage at half-time.

Two further goals were added in the space of teo minutes in the second period, both created by Shinji Kagawa. First on 59 minutes Keisuke Honda bent the ball beyond the reach of Vanins in the Latvia goal, before Okazaki doubled his tally and scored his 31st overall in 59 appearances for the national team, rounding Vanins and rolling the ball into the empty net. Okazaki now sits just seven goals behind Hiromi Hara in the all-time goal scoring table for his country, and continuing at only a marginally improved goals per game ratio could see him reach Hara in third position before the close of the year.

With such bare resistance offered by their opponents it took little effort on the Samurai Blues’ part to dismantle the visitors, but they can be satisfied with a reasonable performance and in having achieved the expected and required comfortable win.

Japan
Okazaki 41′, 61′
Honda 60′

Latvia

Japan: Kawashima; Uchida (Gotoku Sakai, 62′), Konno (Inoha, 66′), Yoshida, Nagatomo; Hasebe, Hosogai (Endo, 45′); Kiyotake (Maeda, 45′), Honda (Inui, 62′), Kagawa; Okazaki (Otsu, 81′)
Substitutes: Hayashi, Gonda; Inoha, Gotoku Sakai, Mizumoto, Hiroki Sakai; Endo, Takahashi; Inui, Otsu; Maeda

Latvia: Vanins; Bulvītis, Ivanovs, Gorkšs, Rugins; Laizāns (Žigajevs, 65′), Cauna (Sinelnikovs, 88′), Višnakovs (Zjuzins, 65′), Fertovs; Kamešs (Maksimenko, 72′), Gauračs (Verpakovskis, 71′)
Substitutes: Doroševs, Mālins, Maksimenko, Klava, Kurakins, Smirnovs, Žigajevs, Zjuzins, Sinelnikovs, Verpakovskis

92nd Emperor’s Cup Final

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Football Japan

Masakatsu Sawa’s snap shot after a pass from Leandro Domingues was turned away well by Gamba Osaka goalkeeper Yohei Takeda. From the resulting corner, however, bent away from goal by Jorge Wagner, Yasuhito Endo could not climb high enough to divert the ball away from goal, and Masakatsu Sawa rose to plant a firm header beyond Takeda to score the only goal of the game for Kashiwa Reysol. which ended Gamba Osaka’s hopes of appearing in their sixth consecutive AFC Champions League. Reysol join Australia’s Central Coast Mariners, Guizhou Renhe from China and South Korea’s Suwon Samsung Bluewings in Group H, taking the final place reserved for a Japanese side in the competition. Gamba now have the opportunity to focus primarily on gaining immediate promotion back to the top-flight of Japanese football, but whether they are able to rely on the talents of senior internationals Endo and Yasuyuki Konno, together with the potent attacking abilities of Leandro and Akihiro Ienaga is a matter which will be decided in the coming weeks.

Gamba Osaka

Kashiwa Reysol
Watanabe 35′

92nd Emperor’s Cup: Semi-Final Results

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Football Japan

(Yasuhito Endo’s 23rd minute cross flew over Hitoshi Sogahata and into the Kashima Antlers’ net, but the fortuitous nature of the strike shouldn’t undermine a performance in which his Gamba Osaka side came closest to adding to the number of goals scored, and reached the 92nd Emperor’s Cup final. Endo struck the bar later in the first period, while Akihiro Ienaga also went close with a flying volley as Sogahata’s handling deserted him. Yuya Osako found the woodwork with a thumping header for Antlers, but it is Gamba who will have the opportunity to qualify for the 2013 AFC Champions League, and provide the best possible case for Endo and fellow Samurai Blue Yasuyuki Konno to remain with the Suita side as they seek immediate promotion to J.League Division 1)

Gamba Osaka Endo 23′	1	Kashima Antlers	0
Yokohama F-Marinos	0	Kashiwa Reysol Kudo 23′	1

Matches played 29 December. Gamba Osaka and Kashiwa Reysol will meet in the 92nd Emperor’s Cup Final, to be played on 1 January 2013 at the National Olympic Stadium, kick-off 14:00 JST.

92nd Emperor’s Cup: Quarter-Final Results

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Football Japan

(Highlights of the 92nd Emperor’s Cup quarter-final between Nagoya Grampus and Yokohama F-Marinos. The sides couldn’t be separated after 120 minutes, and the tie came down to penalty kicks. After Jungo Fujimoto put Grampus’s first spot-kick wide of the left upright, players from both sides all converted until Yuji Ono stepped up in the fifth round to win the contest for F-Marinos. Seigo Narazaki, however, guessed correctly and dived low to his left to save. The match wouldn’t be decided until the eighth round of penalties, as Yuji Nakazawa confidently placed his penalty into the bottom left corner, and Grampus’s Hayuma Tanaka saw his spot-kick saved, sending F-Marinos into the semi-finals for a meeting with Kashiwa Reysol)

Cerezo Osaka Kakitani 49′	1	Gamba Osaka Endo 19′ Ienaga 112′	2
JEF United Chiba	0	Kashima Antlers Osako 64′	1
Nagoya Grampus	0 (6)	Yokohama F-Marinos	0 (7)
Omiya Ardija Ueda 11′ Cho 23′	2	Kashiwa Reysol Sawa 59′ Masushima 83′ Kudo 90′	3

(Matches played 23 December. Scores in parentheses indicate result of penalty kicks)

The All-Time J.League Best XIs

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Football Japan

The 2012 J.League awards ceremony was held on 3 December, Hisato Sato, a number of his teammates and manager Hajime Moriyasu rightly honoured as one of the most impressive, inventive and attractive sides of recent years claimed the league title. The inclusion of a number of players in the 2012 J.League Best XI caused some surprise, however, not the least of which was Vegalta Sendai’s Wilson being named ahead of either Leandro or teammate Shingo Akamine. Nonetheless, with 2012 also being the 20th anniversary of the instigation of Japan’s professional football league, it is time to reflect upon the selection of those players who were considered the best in their positions for each of those twenty years, and devise an “All-Time Best XI” comprising exclusively Japanese players and a further wholly foreign team. Owing to the likelihood of a number of positions featuring players to have been included an equal number of times, certain tie-breaking criteria were determined as follows:

Number of Times in Best XI; If equal
Number of Times named MVP; If still equal
Number of Title Wins; If still equal
Player’s Regular Position

Gamba Osaka’s Leandro – the best goal scorer in the J.League

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Football Japan

(Leandro nets a brace in Gamba Osaka’s 5-0 mauling of Urawa Red Diamonds at the Saitama Stadium on Matchday 26, his second an exquisite, improvised flick coming in the 60th minute)

On 3 December 2012, Hisato Sato of Sanfrecce Hiroshima was very fittingly awarded the J.League MVP, Top Scorer and Individual Fair Play awards, the culmination of an excellent season and evening for both player and squad, as Hajime Moriyasu collected the Manager of the Year award, Toshihiro Aoyama accepted the Team Fair Play award, and three squad members in addition to Sato and Aoyama were named to the 2012 J.League Best XI.

However, one name in particular was noticeable by its inclusion in the team selection for the wrong reasons, Vegalta Sendai forward Wilson bafflingly chosen when several candidates appeared more worthy of selection. This analysis looks at the players to have scored a minimum of ten goals in the 2012 season, and ranks them on the basis of a number of key criteria, most notably goals scored per minute of playing time, first goal scored as a percentage of team goals and shots to conversion ratio. The conclusion confirms the names of two players who would be worthier candidates to join Sato and Sagan Tosu’s Yohei Toyoda in completing the forward line.

J.League Division 1: 2012 Final Standings

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Football Japan

Gamba Osaka went into the final day of the 2012 season in 16th position, and while at the mercy of results elsewhere in the table to remain in J.League Division 1, sought victory at the Yamaha Stadium to ensure the best possible prospect of survival. Masanobu Matsunami’s men began the match in poor fashion, conceding inside the first five minutes as Yosuke Fujigaya added to a litany of goalkeeping blunders, fumbling a low cross against defender Sota Nakazawa. Akira Kaji made a desperate attempt at a goal line clearance, but could only divert the ball against Jubilo striker Ryoichi Maeda for the opening goal of the game.

Shu Kurata’s superb footwork enabled Gamba to draw level in the 53rd minute, firing high into the Jubilo net from a tight angle for a much needed equaliser, but although Leandro headed against the bar in the 79th minute, and less than two minutes later Yasuhito Endo saw his goal disallowed for a very marginal offside decision, they were unable to find a second goal. Instead, midfielder Yuki Kobayashi exchanged passes with Maeda, then rifled a shot past Fujigaya to hand the home side their first league victory since 15 September and send the Suita outfit into the second division for the first time in their history. Only Kashima Antlers, Yokohama F-Marinos, Nagoya Grampus and Shimizu S-Pulse now remain of the sides never to have set foot outside the top flight.

Highlights of all of the final round of matches in J.League Division 1 can be found at this link.

Home

Away

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Sanfrecce Hiroshima (C)	34	10	2	5	32	16	9	5	3	31	18	+29	64
2	Vegalta Sendai (ACL)	34	9	6	2	34	17	6	6	5	25	26	+16	57
3	Urawa Red Diamonds (ACL)	34	8	6	3	23	18	7	4	6	24	24	+5	55
4	Yokohama F-Marinos	34	7	7	3	24	15	6	7	4	20	18	+11	53
5	Sagan Tosu	34	11	3	3	26	12	4	5	8	22	27	+9	53
6	Kashiwa Reysol	34	6	5	6	28	30	9	2	6	29	22	+5	52
7	Nagoya Grampus	34	8	3	6	22	19	7	4	6	24	28	-1	52
8	Kawasaki Frontale	34	7	2	8	25	26	7	6	4	26	24	+1	50
9	Shimizu S-Pulse	34	6	7	4	23	21	8	0	9	16	19	-1	49
10	FC Tokyo	34	8	1	8	30	22	6	5	6	17	22	+3	48
11	Kashima Antlers	34	8	3	6	36	21	4	7	6	14	22	+7	46
12	Jubilo Iwata	34	9	5	3	31	19	4	2	11	26	34	+4	46
13	Omiya Ardija	34	6	5	6	17	20	5	6	6	21	25	-7	44
14	Cerezo Osaka	34	6	3	8	26	28	5	6	6	21	25	-6	42
15	Albirex Niigata	34	3	6	8	15	21	7	4	6	14	13	-5	40
16	Vissel Kobe (R)	34	5	3	9	19	21	6	3	8	22	29	-9	39
17	Gamba Osaka (R)	34	4	7	6	36	35	5	4	8	31	30	+2	38
18	Consadole Sapporo (R)	34	3	2	12	13	34	1	0	16	12	54	-63	14

J.League Division 1: Matchday 34 Results

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Football Japan

(Kazuyuki Morisaki’s 52nd minute penalty without reply gave Sanfrecce Hiroshima three points at the HOME’s Stadium, and combined with Albirex Niigata’s comprehensive 4-1 victory over Consadole Sapporo, condemned Vissel Kobe to relegation after six consecutive seasons in J.League Division 1. Vissel join Gamba and Consadole in the second tier of Japanese professional football, and they will hope to return in similar fashion to 2006, when a third-placed finish was sufficient to secure an immediate return to J1 after relegation in the previous season)

Kashima Antlers Osako 41′, 68′	2	Kashiwa Reysol	0
Urawa Red Diamonds Kashiwagi 23′ Makino 59′	2	Nagoya Grampus	0
FC Tokyo Lucas 8′, 17′ Jang H-S 49′ Watanabe 56′ Vucicevic 82′, 90′+2	6	Vegalta Sendai Akamine 35′ Muto 90′+5	2
Yokohama F-Marinos Nakamura 53′	1	Sagan Tosu	0
Albirex Niigata Tsubouchi 8′ Bruno Lopes 43′, 80′ Alan Mineiro 71′	4	Consadole Sapporo Sakaki 53′	1
Shimizu S-Pulse	0	Omiya Ardija	0
Jubilo Iwata Maeda 5′ Yuki Kobayashi 85′	2	Gamba Osaka Kurata 53′	1
Cerezo Osaka Yokoyama 63′, 90′+5	2	Kawasaki Frontale Nakamura 17′ Kobayashi 84′	2
Vissel Kobe	0	Sanfrecce Hiroshima Morisaki Kazuyuki 52′	1

(Matches played 1 December 2012)

J.League Division 1: Matchday 33 Table

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Football Japan

(Sanfrecce romp to a 4-1 victory against visitors Cerezo Osaka in front of a season-high crowd of 32,724 at the Hiroshima Big Arch. The hosts took an insurmountable 3-0 lead before half-time as Yojiro Takahagi, Toshihiro Aoyama and Hisato Sato found the net, and Hironori Ishikawa rounded off the scoring five minutes after the re-start. Takuma Edamura reduced the deficit but not the outcome, and the defeat leaves Cerezo among one of four clubs who face a nervy final day of the 2012 season, two of whom will join Consadole Sapporo in Division 2 next year. Vegalta’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of struggling Albirex Niigata kept Albi’s hopes of a great escape intact, while ending the Sendai side’s chances of forcing the battle for into December. Sanfrecce claimed their first J.League title in history, and their first major trophy since 1970 in a former incarnation as Toyo Kogyo SC, and in the process became the sixth different club in the last eight seasons to become champions.)

Home

Away

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Sanfrecce Hiroshima (C)	33	10	2	5	32	16	8	5	3	30	18	+28	61
2	Vegalta Sendai	33	9	6	2	34	17	6	6	4	23	20	+20	57
3	Sagan Tosu	33	11	3	3	26	12	4	5	7	22	26	+10	53
4	Kashiwa Reysol	33	6	5	6	28	30	9	2	5	29	20	+7	52
5	Urawa Red Diamonds	33	7	6	3	21	18	7	4	6	24	24	+3	52
6	Nagoya Grampus	33	8	3	6	22	19	7	4	5	24	26	+1	52
7	Yokohama F-Marinos	33	6	7	3	23	15	6	7	4	20	18	+10	50
8	Kawasaki Frontale	33	7	2	8	25	26	7	5	4	24	22	+1	49
9	Shimizu S-Pulse	33	6	6	4	23	21	8	0	9	16	19	-1	48
10	FC Tokyo	33	7	1	8	24	20	6	5	6	17	22	-1	45
11	Kashima Antlers	33	7	3	6	34	21	4	7	6	14	22	+5	43
12	Jubilo Iwata	33	8	5	3	29	18	4	2	11	26	34	+3	43
13	Omiya Ardija	33	6	5	6	17	20	5	5	6	21	25	-7	43
14	Cerezo Osaka	33	6	2	8	24	26	5	6	6	21	25	-6	41
15	Vissel Kobe	33	5	3	8	19	20	6	3	8	22	29	-8	39
16	Gamba Osaka	33	4	7	6	36	35	5	4	7	30	28	+3	38
17	Albirex Niigata	33	2	6	8	11	20	7	4	6	14	13	-8	37
18	Consadole Sapporo (R)	33	3	2	12	13	34	1	0	15	11	50	-60	14

2014 FIFA World Cup Qualification: Group B Result and Table

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Football Japan

Japan departed the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex with three valuable away points, but were very fortunate to leave with a win that leaves them all but assured of a berth at the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals. The Samurai Blue will automatically qualify in the next round of matches provided they beat Jordan away on 26 March, or secure a point and Australia and Oman share the spoils in their qualification game on the same day.

Shinji Okazaki scored the winning goal in the 89th minute, Gotoku Sakai’s burst of acceleration down the left flank allowing him to whip a cross which Yashuhito Endo got a foot to, and the VfB Stuttgart made sure of the finish from two yards. Okazaki’s 29th goal for his country came in his 58th appearance, mirroring precisely the ratio of Hiromi Hara, who sits one place above him in the goalscoring charts for Japan with 38 from 76.

Precisely ten minutes had been played when Fawzi Bashir wasted a glorious opportunity to give the hosts the lead, Japan’s lack of concentration allowing him to ghost in towards the back of the penalty area after Ismail Al Ajmi’s run wasn’t tracked from a quickly taken throw-in, but with goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima going to ground, the Omani midfielder could only direct his shot over the crossbar.

Hiroshi Kiyotake instead put the visitors in front ten minutes later, rifling a left-footed shot into the net after Abdul Al Makhaini diverted Yuto Nagatomo’s cross into his path.

Al Ajmi’s superb header with ten minutes remaining of the first period deserved better, but instead it found the left upright, bouncing against Kawashima and dribbling agonisingly along the goalline until Nagatomo cleared away.

The home side had their reward in the 77th minute, Ahmed Mubarak’s 20-yard free-kick curling under Japan’s defensive wall and beyond the outstretched hand of the Japan goalkeeper. Okazaki would have the last word, however, and Japan now sit eight points of their nearest challengers, undefeated and having conceded just two goals in total.

Oman
Mubarak 77′

Japan
Kiyotake 20′
Okazaki 89′

(Match played 14 November 2012)

	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
Japan	5	4	1	0	13	2	+11	13
Australia	4	1	2	1	4	4	+0	5
Iraq	5	1	2	2	4	5	-1	5
Oman	5	1	2	2	4	7	-3	5
Jordan	5	1	1	3	4	11	-7	4

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