Omiya
are still 4th while we should take no small amount of
confidence into the next few games with this performance. This was
Omiya's fifth straight defeat and signalled the end of manager Zdenko
Verdenik's time in charge after leaving Omiya in 4th place
(they have never finished above 12th in the top flight)
and going on a J.League record unbeaten run of 21 games. What's the
big idea? Omiya were league leaders back in April but apparently
there will be an announcement from the club later which will do well
to justify such a move. Moving swiftly on to more positive things and
the second goal is becoming Kakitani's trademark, assured first touch
and a calm finish. Simplicio put in a good shift today too. After
this game Cupli challenged Kakitani to stay near or on top of the
goalscoring charts and disappear in games less often while Kakitani
himself said he wants to win J1 with Cerezo. Home supporter tickets
are in very short supply for the next game against Shimizu S-Pulse on
the 17th. Enjoy the highlights below and for all who come
on Saturday, bring the noise!
Monday 12 August 2013
Friday 9 August 2013
Tut-tut, a bit of booing at the end of our loss to Ventforet Kofu
A
game were expecting to win but after a couple of poor results
hopefully Kakitani's goals will stop us from freefalling but we are in danger of missing one of our best chances in recent
seasons to finish with a spot in the ACL. Kusakami started his first
league game since joining us and was our most impressive player. We
tried or were instructed to intricately pass our way directly through
the Kofu team whilst on numerous occasions while our full-backs waved their
arms in despair. One of the key successes of our way if playing is
the width provided by our full-backs, which does leave us vulnerable
with four at the back, but we didn't use them enough today. Culpi
took off Kakitani and Kusukami a few minutes after Ventforet's Akito
Kawamoto put the away side a goal up with what proved to be the
winner. An odd change as Kusakami was looking dangerous throughout. A
change of tactics would have been better especially after the nth
attempt of playing through the middle was dealt with by Ventforet. A
few fans in Kincho Stadium were booing at the end despite this being a young team
needing support and, be fair to them, they aren't flirting with
relegation like last season.
Saturday 3 August 2013
Kakitani Documentary
Interesting, more so if you can understand the Japanese, sorry no plans to add English subtitles. But you get see how the hype started with a teenage Kakitani impressing at the U17 World Cup a few years back and the ups and downs of his career since then. This was shown before another great tournament performance from him in South Korea in the East Asian Cup.
Albirex Niigata 1 - 0 Cerezo Osaka
This
was a game we were expecting to at least come away from with a point
but after Edno spurned our best chance created by Kakitani we were
left with nothing as another bit of dodgy goalkeeping from Jin-Hyeon
presented the ball to a grateful Kentaro Ohi who wrapped up the 3
points for Albirex. This video shows highlights of the all the recent
J.League games with a focus on the returning heroes from the East
Asian Cup in South Korea where Zaccheroni was successful with an
experimental squad. Kakitani scored 3 goals in the two games he
started including a brace that sealed victory for Japan. Yamaguchi
was named player of the tournament while Ogihara also made his debut
for the national team. From a Cerezo point of view this has raised
the profile of the young players making it tougher to hold on to them
when foreign clubs start their approaches. But another way of looking
at it is that now they are under pressure to be consistent performers
which will only help us in the league this season. After that who
knows? The Cerezo highlights start at 03:24 on the video and are
followed by a chat with Kakitani.
Cerezo Osaka 4 - 1 Sagan Tosu
An
entertainingly open game and there could have been more goals but for
the woodwork and of course the goalkeepers. Spreading the goals
around a bit this game with the player of the East Asian Cup
tournament Yamaguchi scoring the first after Kakitani's persistence.
Sakemoto scored a bit of a fluke goal before Sagan Tosu scored their
only goal of the game. Yokoyama got our third and had a fine game in
a midfield lacking Simplicio anchored by him and Ogihara allowing
Yamaguchi to play further forward. Defender Yamashita scored the
fourth which was also a just reward for his recent performances
deputising for Moniwa.
Wednesday 17 July 2013
9 match unbeaten run ends in injury time away to Hiroshima
Champions and current 2nd place team Hiroshima kept going in a fairly even match with chances for both teams but a slight error in judgement from Jin-Hyeon in the 95th miniute delighted the home crowd. Prior to the game this was billed as a battle between Cerezo's Kakitani and Sanfrecce's Sato both of whom are in double figures for goals this season and both missed chances to add to their tallies. We remain in 6th and face Sagan Tosu who are just above the relegation spots in 15th at home on Wednesday. In other news Zaccheroni has named Yamaguchi, Ogihara and Kakitani in his East Asian Cup squad so let's hope they can win their first caps for the national team. The cup means a short break in the J1 schedule during which we will be facing the travelling Manchester United pre-season friendly circus.
Saturday 13 July 2013
Consistency in the league but knocked out of the Nabisco Cup
Zaccheroni was at
Kincho for this one as he saw Kakitani put us ahead with a typically
cool finish after he was put through superbly by Minamino who did
enough to ensure he'll be starting a few more games this season. We
looked fairly comfortable despite Yokohama hitting the woodwork on a
couple of occasions. Yokoyama came in to fill Ogihara's defensive
midfield position and did really well alongside Yamaguchi. Yamashita
worked hard in a defence that looked happy to tackle for once.
Jin-Hyeon was taken off just after the hour mark after a clash of
heads, something similar happened to him a couple of seasons back and he was
ruled out for a few weeks, but he should be back for our next game
this time. Simplicio picked his spot from outside the box to wrap up
the win despite Marquinhos's late header. Looking good in J1 then
although we limped out of the Nabisco Cup Quarter finals that hasn't
affected our run in the league. Next up is Hiroshima away.
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| No, no, no! No nicknames on kits please "Bomber" |
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| Yokohama fans brought the noise and someone had a cymbal to accompany the drums |
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| 13272 in attendance as a few sections were sold out |
Tatsuya's Tale part 1
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Hi
My name is Tatsuya. I'm 24 years old. I quit my job and came to
England to play football. I've played football in level 4 in Japan.
When I arrived England, I didn't belong to any team. So I needed to
look for teams first. I walked around to find a team everyday. Then I
found 2 teams. The first team was Wembley FC. This team was in the
news last year because they got some very famous old players to play
in the FA Cup last season. So I met Claudio Caniggia who played with
Maradona for Argentina in the World Cup and also Terry Venables who
played for Chelsea and managed FC Barcelona. I didn't know who they
were. When I found out I was surprised! Also I was surprised when I
arrived training ground, although they are amateur team, they have a
small stadium.
Then
my first training started. I was nervous. Because I don't understand
English yet. But I tried desperately to understand. I think technique
is no problem for me. But everyone is bigger than me. Also very
muscular. So I have to move more quickly. Also physical contact is
more severe compared to the J-league! I have not seen anything like
it in Japan.
The
second team was Wingate&Finchely FC. This team is level 7 in
England. They also have a stadium. Also If we want to watch the game,
even level 7 we have to pay money! My first goal is to play in level
7 in England. So I want to play in this team next season.
But
level 7 is a higher level than my team in Japan. Physical contact is
more severe, also the playing speed was very fast. So I have to move
while thinking very quickly.
But
I could play well. I think I will show my strong points. But I have
to train more. I haven't yet reached my final goal. I also tried to
play for Barnet FC which is level 4 in England. There Edgar Davids is
Player-manager. So I asked him if I could play.
Then he said to me 'Are you serious?' So I said 'Yes'
Then
he read my CV carefully. But I didn't play. But he read my CV. So
maybe he knows about me!
I've
been in England for 2 months now.
England
is the best football country. Everyone plays football in the park
everyday. So I can play football everyday. I'm happy to play football
in such a country. From now I'm going to play football!
こんにちは。藤岡辰弥と申します。24歳です。僕はサッカーをするために仕事を辞めイングランドへと渡りました。日本では地元の地域リーグでサッカーをしていました。ただイングランドにチームのコネがあるわけでも無く、何かツテがあるわけでもないので、まず最初にイングランドに着いてから自分でチームを探さなければなりませんでした。僕はチームを探す為に町中を歩き回りました。それから2つのチームを見つけました。最初のチームは、ウェンブリーFCというチームです。このチームは昨年イングランドで少しニュースになったチームで、昔の有名な選手を現役復帰させ、FAカップを戦ったからです。その中の一人がクラウディオ・カニーヒア選手です。彼はマラドーナと共にW杯でアルゼンチン代表として活躍した選手です。また指導者としてテリー・ヴェナブルズという人もいました。彼は選手時代はチェルシーなどでプレーし、引退後は指導者として、バルセロナ、トッテナム、イングランド代表監督など名将として知られているそうです。正直初めて見た時は、誰かわからなかったのですが、そのことを知って鳥肌が立ちました。ほんとにすごいです。さらにこのチームはアマチュアチームにも関わらず芝生で観客席付きの専用グラウンドを持っていて驚きました。それから、初練習ですが英語がまだわからないので、どうしたらいいのかあたふたしながらも必死に理解しようと努力しました。練習をしていくうちに思ったのはこのレベルの選手たちはテクニックはそんなに高くはない。でもみんな自分よりデカくてさらにマッチョ。。競り合いに至っては日本のＪリーグよりも激しかったです。こんなん日本で経験がなかったので正直最初ちょっとビビりました。
次のチームはWingate&Finchely FCです。このチームはイングランドの7部で、専用のグラウンドはもちろん、試合観戦には入場料が必要なくらいです。僕の第一目標は、イングランドの7部でプレーすることです。しかし7部といっても、日本で所属していたチームよりもレベルは高いと思います。競り合いも激しい上に、動き出しの速さ、考えるスピードも速く、いかに考えながら素早くプレーできるかを求められましたが、初練習の時、調子がすごく良く、自分の長所をアピールすることができたと思います。しかし僕の最終目標はここではないので、もっとトレーニングに励まなければなりません。実はもうひとつ、バーネットFCというチームを見つけたんですが、国内4部のプロチームで、駄目元で行っちゃえと思って履歴書持って行ったんですが、そこにはあの元オランダ代表のダーヴィッツ選手が選手兼監督でいました。ビビりながらもダーヴィッツ選手に話しかけここでサッカーがしたいと言うと、最初「お前マジか⁈」みたいな感じでした。まぁたしかにそうなるなと思いながらも「マジです！」と答えると、丁寧に僕の履歴書を読んでくれました。そこから色々あったんですが結果的には練習参加はできませんでした。でもまたいつか挑戦したいと思います。
イングランドに渡って2ヵ月が経ち、いつも思うことですが、さすがサッカーの母国だなと。なぜなら公園に行けば、必ず誰かがサッカーをしているからです。なのでサッカーがしたければ公園に行き'I want to play football'と言えば誰でもサッカーができます。そんな国でサッカーができることが幸せです。では練習にいってきます！
Early doors of the decade may be best for part-time Vale supporters
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English: Micky Adams (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
|
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| Vale Park, home of Port Vale F.C., July 2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
I know football fans are weird about lucky pants, shirts, hats, socks etc – but what about times .
For
a long time a group of us at Port Vale used to miss the kick-off
in an apparent protest at the Saturday kick-off time being moved from
3.15pm to 3.
It
probably actually had more to do with staying in the pub longer than
protesting but it was a bit shameful the number of times all the
turnstiles were shut and we had to pay a late gate and go down the
tunnel just as the players were coming off for half-time.
However,
the 2012-2013 season proved to be one of those early decade delights
(some statto will probably prove all this is nonsense) as Vale were
promoted from League Two to League One (really the Fourth Division to
the Third Division).
They
also finished as top scorers in the English divisions with the top
individual goal scorer all divisions – local boy Tom Pope (a bit
like a bargain basement Shinji Kagawa really).
.JPG) |
| Next time a Cerezo fan is in England we are obliged to pay a visit to Burslem |
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| Port Vale fans collected the money for club legend Roy Sproson's statue for 10 years |
Despite
these stats, as usual, Vale did not give us a smooth ride as ‘easy’
games were lost and goals given away at the death. To keep the roller
coaster going they would also win 5-2 at Fleetwood and beat Burton
Albion 7-1 at home. You never knew for certain which Vale would turn
up.
After
topping the division and then slipping Vale secured elevation to the
next division against promotion rivals Northampton Town with a last
minute own goal by former Vale player Lee Collins in a 2-2 last home
game of the season.
In
fact the ‘Law of the Ex’ – which holds that ex-players coming
up against you always stop you winning (keeper’s/defenders) or
score the goal that beats you (anyone really – was truly reversed
by Lee and by Burton’s ex-Vale keeper Stu Tomlinson in that
thrashing at Vale Park.
After
most players agreed new revised contracts and the ground finally got
safety certificates (following hard work by the fans) the first
non-friendly fixture ended in a 3-1 Capital One (League) Cup defeat –
albeit against Championship side Burnley.
Vale
also lost a behind-closed-doors friendly (because of the lack of
safety certificates in the chaos at the club) to Coventry City of
League One.
Things
looked better after a 3-0 first home win over Barnet but then there
was the 2-0 defeat at Accrington corrected by a 3-1 win at Morecambe.
We
were travelling around Japan to miss a truly purple patch as Vale won
2-0 in the Johnsons Paint Trophy (we call it the underpants or Paint
Pot cup unless we win it) at Tranmere, beat Rotherham 6-2 at home,
won 3-1 at Plymouth and 5-2 at Fleetwood.
Of
course the biggest home crowd of the season – 6,978 – turned up
to see now-promotion rivals Gillingham win 2-0 at Vale Park.
Winter
saw a series of wins and draws punctuated by the occassional defeat
take Vale to the top end of the table with Tom Pope banging in the
goals and keeper Chris Neal producing excellent form behind the
defence.
October
also saw the administrators name Sheffield businessman Paul Wildes
and partner Norman Smurthwaite as preferred bidders to take the club
out of administration.
Inbetween Vale had gone to old rivals – and bogey team – Walsall in the Paint Trophy and gone 2-0 down, come back to 2-2 and then won it with a penalty converted by young rookie keeper Sam Johnson after all outfield players on both sides had taken penalties in the shootout. Amazing.
Micky Adams was named League Two Manager of The Month and Tom Pope player of the month.
Even the programme front covers looked incredibly good with fantastic retro artwork by US artist Paine Proffitt from Burslem’s Barewall Art Gallery.
The back covers were not as impressive as Vale’s small squad took up much less space than their opponents – a result of administration, lack of money and restrictions on transfers in.
It couldn’t go on could it? Yes it could and by December the Vale fans’ excellent fanzine ‘Derek I’m Gutted’ was headlined ‘Another New Era”.
Inside ‘Derek’ led off: “Second in the table, still in the FA Cup, a mere three successful ties away from Wembley in the Paint Pot Trophy (aka the JPT) , and a brave new world about to arrive in the form of Paul Wildes’ takeover.”
Actually the takeover followed the usual winding Vale road of delays for FA clearance but the small squad of players had kept up the good work and the statue of the Vale player who had played the most games for the club – Roy Sproson – was finally unveiled after many delays.
The takeover went through hours before a 4-0 home win over Bristol Rovers and then goal-machine Pope signed a one year extension to his contract.
All was not smooth sailing though as. About 3,000 Vale fans went to League One Sheffield United in the FA Cup to see Vale lose a 1-0 lead in the 90th minute and concede another to lose the tie in the 95th minute.
A second cup exit came with a 2-0 home defeat in the Paint Pot against Bradford City. To be fair City were on a bit of a cup binge – beating Premiership Arsenal, Aston and Wigan in the League (Capital One) Cup before losing to another top tier team – Swansea – in the final at Wembley.
The New Year started badly with a 2-0 home defeat to Fleetwood (yes the same Fleetwood where Vale went to win 5-2 earlier in the season) but Micky Adams started to bring in players at last – in the shape of experienced centre half Darren Purse and ex-Vale (and ex-LA Galaxy and Trinidad and Tobago international) Chris Birchall.
A 4-0 home win over Plymouth was followed by the arrival of controversial striker Lee Hughes after he was released by Notts County. Fans somewhat ambivalent in view of him serving jail time for causing a death with his driving.
At Gillingham Vale got revenge for their home defeat with a 2-1 win before left back Danny Jones arrives from Sheffield Wednesday and the pattern continues of wins and draws punctuated by disappointing draws and defeats.
As the end of the season approaches Vale fans outnumber the home fans at Rochdale but concede a last minute goal for a draw and then it is on to the drama against Northampton.
English: Vale Park, Burslem. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Much joy as promotion is secured but that nagging feeling that all may not be well as Paul Wildes walks away from the club in the close season after disagreement with Norman Smurthwaite (Papa Smurf) and Norman is left running the show.
Most players have agreed to stay at the club except for club captain Doug Loft (at the time of writing) and Vale fans are looking forward to the higher division and games against local and local(ish) teams such as Wolves, Walsall, Coventry and Shrewsbury. It is still early the decade so perhaps it might not be quite the right time for the part-time supporter to disappear.
Saturday 1 June 2013
7 game unbeaten run in J1! Cerezo 2 - 1 Nagoya Grampus
Edno
scored his first goal in the J-League as we rode our luck a tad on
our way to getting 3 points. Another entertaining game and I'm glad
the Grampus fans got to see a Kennedy consolidation goal as they
really added to a fantastic atmosphere. Kakitani got our second after
a sublime first touch from Edamura's through ball. He's now joint top
of the J1 goalscorers charts with two other players. Grampus hit the
woodwork twice during the course of the game but it's now becoming
clear that Culpi may be close to replicating his ACL qualifying
formula before his first retirement a couple of seasons back. There's
now a one month break in J1 but we face Urawa Reds on the 23rd
and 30th this month in the quarter finals of the Nabisco
cup. This match was sold out possibly thanks to a half-time appearance from FC Nuremberg and former Cerezo midfielder Kiyotake.
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| Brilliant support from Nagoya |
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| Kincho Stadium sold out |
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| Where does one buy a Cerezo microphone? |
Saturday 25 May 2013
We finish top of our Nabisco Cup group! Cerezo 2 - 1 Kashima Antlers 1
A
very unexpected goal, he showed composure and a stunning finish in
the 2nd minute. Who am I talking about? Edno!
Congratulations on his first goal and actually looking like a
footballer. Culpi dropping him for a few games seems to have done
wonders although I would still like to see Sugimoto start for the
time being. Edno was subbed before the end of the match as his
reverted to his usual anonymous footballer role. Antlers, who started
the day at the top of the standings, then equalised but that man
Kakitani popped up again to ensure our passage to the league cup
quarter finals in pole position. To be fair he did more than just pop
up, he ran with the ball from our half and as the Antler's players
closed in smacked in the winner from just outside the box.
J1 Kashiwa Reysol 1 - 3 Cerezo Osaka May 18th
We
conceded first after another spell of choosing not to tackle anyone.
Yamaguchi equalised with a free-kick that the Reysol keeper misjudged
badly. Kakitani wrapped things up for us adding to his impressive
tally this season with a brace that keeps Cerezo hovering around the
ACL spots. Have we found consistency at last?
Cerezo Osaka 2 - 1 Sagan Tosu Nabisco Cup May 15th
A
poorly attended Wednesday week night cup match despite the promise of
a place in the quarter finals after this victory. Sagan Tosu scored
in the first minute but this actually gave us something to chase and
play for from the start so we did well. Maruhashi equalised with a
great free-kick and teenage sensation Minamio grabbed the winner to
leave us second in our group.
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| Nicest fans in Japan, the poor attendance revealed that away fans in Kincho now have seats instead of a grassy knoll |
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| Our view of the Maruhashi free-kick, he's the one just under the beer person's nose |
Kawasaki Frontale 2 - 2 Cerezo Osaka
Highlights of the match in J1 on May 11th with goals for Cerezo from Edamura and Simplicio. Ex-Cerezo favourite Okubo got a brace for Frontale and while his father was ill and sadly passed away the next day.
Saturday 11 May 2013
Cerezo Osaka 2 - 2 Urawa Reds
Both
teams were evenly matched and a draw was always on the cards but it
was by far the most entertaining game this season. Golden week,
discount tickets and Urawa Reds helped to fill Nagai Stadium with
32,378 people enjoying the match. The Reds supporters didn't cause
any problems this time except for their usual uncourteous (for
Japanese football fans) behaviour. Sugimoto's strike and all round
play means Edno will be on the bench for the foreseeable future. As
usual at home after taking the lead we always look like letting the
other team back into the game. Also our policy of not tackling or
defending corners properly allowed Urawa to take the lead. Yamaguchi
equalised and after that both he and Simplicio came close with long
range efforts. Very positive signs from this game although our lack
of width is worrying especially for Sugimoto who would thrive on some
decent crosses. Hopefully playing away at Kawasaki Frontale will give
us a chance to build on this performance and cement our position in
the top half of the table.
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| Football fans and/or wannabe hooligans |
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| They're not scarves BTW they're called "towel mufflers" |
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| Keeping things in order |
Monday 6 May 2013
Shonan Bellmare 0 - 3 Cerezo Osaka
Again
Edno didn't start and this time didn't come off the bench either so
I'm starting to wonder whether we night be loaning him out to a J2
team this season (he himself is on loan to us from the Mexican club
Tigres but we've done similar things before). But on to more positive
things we scored 3 great team efforts with Kakitani grabbing two to
put him on 6 league goals this campaign ( 6 more than Edno...sorry!)
and Yamaguchi getting the other. Sugimoto looked really comfortable
and was on the same wavelength as his team-mates as he was involved
in all of the goals. Next up this Golden Week Urawa Reds visit Nagai
Stadium and we're all hoping their fans are on their best behaviour after Shimizu.
Amazing 3 - 3 draw at the renamed Noevir Stadium in Kobe
Kobe
play in J2 this year which means no away trip with Cerezo to their
lovely stadium and my usual pre-match trip to the Hobgoblin pub,
Chinatown and the German beer and currywurst shop. As J2 games are
held on Sunday (when an English breakfast is 999yen) I went down and
saw a marvellous comeback from Fagiano Okayama as they scored 3 in
the space of 10 minutes with the last coming in injury time to leave
Kobe still leading J2 but their fans slightly miffed (there were boos
at the final whistle). Fagiano is the Italian for pheasant in case
you were wondering about Okayama's name. Noevir is a make-up company
as the stadium has it's third sponsorship change in as many years.
This is one that builds on the great women's team INAC Kobe Lionessa
which features many of the national team players. Fans that made
the trip were given a free sample of face cream. Kobe will welcome Gamba Suita at the Noevir for their Golden Week Kansai Derby.
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| The flag waving didn't put off the penalty taker although finally the Okayama fans went home happy |
The "Renewal Open" Kincho Stadium witnesses a goalless draw against Oita Trinita
Oita
Trinita currently languish at the bottom of J1 but left with a point
despite hitting the woodwork in quick succession. To be fair to
Cerezo they did manage a pretty decent 16 shots this game whilst always
looking susceptible to an Oita counter. Edno was dropped today for
the first time but looked lively when brought on. As usual our
brightest spark throughout was Kakitani who seems likely to leave
this summer with Dortmund being touted as one possible destination.
This was the first game this season in the slightly revamped Kincho
Stadium with a larger standing section behind the goal which our fans
celebrated by chipping in together to pay almost a million yen for a
new banner.
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| If you wear the away colours in this section you can't watch the game, new rules this season. |
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| Locals show their support |
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| Trinita supporters gave it their all to help lift their team |
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| Impressive! |
Cerezo Osaka 1 - 2 Omiya Ardija
League
leaders Omiya left with 3 points as they scored very early and very
late on with our only goal coming from Kakitani. Shin Kanazawa scored
from just past the halfway line after spotting Kim Jin-Hyeon off his
line about 22 seconds into the game. An expected result as we are
still trying to work out our best system (perhaps something with a
striker who can score would help?) while the squirrels on the other
hand are comfortably beating all comers at the moment.
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| Sitting, or standing in this case, pretty at the top of J1 |
Sunday 7 April 2013
Kashima Antlers 1 - 0 Cerezo Osaka
It's
been a while since Jin-Hyeon made this kind of blunder and
unfortunately it cost us today as we suffered our first defeat in the
league when it allowed Yasushi Endo to score the winner in the 58th
minute. Some of our early season performances haven't warranted the
points we've been getting so it's no surprise about the result
although the manner of the loss is frustrating. FC Tokyo visit Osaka
for a Nabisco Cup match on Wednesday night.
Saturday 16 March 2013
2nd with a 100% record...after 3 games
Didn't
make it to the game but these highlights (and commentary if you
understand Japanese) can't really do justice to a couple of crucial
offside decisions leading to a goal for Cerezo's Hotaru Yamaguchi and
one disallowed for FC Tokyo. Next game is in the Nabisco Cup
against Grampus in Nagoya. That's on Wednesday 20th at 4pm as it's a public holiday here in
Japan to celebrate the Vernal Equinox.
Friday 15 March 2013
Notching up 2 wins in 2
A
great start from us led to a Kakitani goal after some fine work from
Sugimoto early on. Leaving Hugo unmarked in the 6 yard box after a
corner could only mean a Kofu equaliser later in the 1st
half. Culpi might have been annoyed with the two Brazilians Edno and
Simplicio who both picked up yellow cards just before half time and
were taken off at the interval with Edamura and Minamino replacing
them. The promising teenager hit the post in the 79th
minute and Yamaguchi was well placed to slam home the rebound. This
was a vast improvement on what we saw last week. Not a great
performance though but we have a 100% record so no complaints! Next
up is another team with two wins in two, FC Tokyo. They travel down
from the vast overcrowded soulless metropolis that is Tokyo to the
vibrant, friendly, foodie Osaka.
Sunday 3 March 2013
A partridge amongst the pigeons
This obviously made me chuckle, nice subtitle and he's in pink and navy!
Cerezo kick off the season with a win
Kakitani's
calm finish secured an incredibly undeserved 3 points as Albirex will
be wondering how they are going home with nothing. No outfield player
for us performed particularly well as Jin-Hyeon had to be in top form
to keep us in the game. Worryingly our new no.9 Edno “the Rock”
lived up to his nickname by being a motionless inanimate object for
most of the game before being subbed. Hopefully Culpi will change the
starting line-up for the next game as quite a few players failed to
impress but Ogihara's introduction added some urgency and bite to the
midfield. An unexepectedly depressing moment came as we brought on
the re-branded Branquinho who now goes by “Branco”. This is a guy
we have on loan and we subsequently loaned to Yamagata in J2 as he
proved to be largely ineffective last year. As he came on looking at
his name on the scoreboard I thought it was a new signing until on
closer inspection it turned out to be our unsuccessful loaned loanee
sneaking back on to the pitch under a different name, very odd. In
other news congratulations to Shinji Kagawa who grabbed a hat-trick
in the early hours this morning for Man U against Norwich. Man U will
visit Osaka in the summer for a friendly bringing with them
overpriced tickets, an extra game in the middle of the J1 season and
the Japanese superstar we sold for 350,000 Euros. All said and done
we got 3 points but if we can't improve drastically we could well be
flirting with relegation again.
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Wednesday 13 February 2013
Highlights of the "Invitation Super Match 2013"
This match was against our Thai partner team Bangkok Glass FC as part of the pre-season training camp. It took place on the 7th of February in Thailand and finished 2-1 to us.
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| The "Glass Rabbits" Badge |
Saturday 2 February 2013
New uniform, 2013 fixtures and a reminder of why the number 8 is so important!
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| First match of the season in Nagai Stadium |
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| New kit revealed |
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| "Adventure" (Dancing Heart) Our slogan for this season |
| Here are the first set of fixtures in J1 with the kick off times available. The rest can be found here in Japanese. There's a pleasing number of Saturday afternoon games before summer and we start the season in Nagai Stadium. Golden week fixtures this year feature an away trip to Shonan Bellmare and Nagoya Grampus at home. Strange not seeing another Kansai team here as we keep our fingers crossed that Gamba can make it to the JFL this year. The new kits are looking good. New signing Kusukami has the number 10 while Kakitani inherits the number 8 once worn by club legend Hiroaki Morishima. No number 9 yet as the club have yet to finalise the Edno Cunha signing. Pre-season we're heading to Thailand to face our partner club Bangkok Glass on the 7th this month. Click here for more information on the partnership. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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