It's a blog (in English mostly) all about football...in Japan with the J-League and Cerezo Osaka, in the English Premier League with Spurs and anywhere else the football takes us.
It's the hope isn't it? For so so long we looked comfortable especially after Minamino's deflected effort gave us the lead. Then Jin-Hyeon was called upon a couple of times to keep us in it. But eventually new boy Cacau, who had shown some nice touches, lost the ball for the move that led to old boy Simplicio (why did we let him go?) equalizing before we were finished off in injury time with Morioka slotting home despite an army of pink shirts around him. Changes in the management structure loom while I have to put up with Gamba fans remembering my insults as they slipped down to J2 and fellow Cerezo fans just worried, furrowed brows everywhere.
They left happy but they would have been disappointed not to leave without 3 points against relegation candidates
The scoreboard indicates why the Kobe fans were happy leaving behind so many disappointed fans in Osaka
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!
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.
No, no, no! No nicknames on kits please "Bomber"
Yokohama fans brought the noise and someone had a cymbal to accompany the drums
13272 in attendance as a few sections were sold out
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.
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.
Football fans and/or wannabe hooligans
They're not scarves BTW they're called "towel mufflers"
Dodgy
defending from both sides contributed to another exciting Kansai
derby at the beautiful Home's Stadium in Kobe with 12,868 in
attendance. We were two down after 17 minutes thanks to goals from
Ogawa and Soma for Vissel. Fabio Simplicio pulled one back after some
clumsy gaolkeeping in the first half as both sides spurned some good
chances. The turning point for us came in the 2nd half and
oddly enough it was thanks to our left-back Maruhashi receiving his
marching orders in the 60th minute after a dangerous
looking but probably unintentional lunge. Culpi took off the
profligate Kempes for Sugimoto who promptly headed against the bar
from a set piece. Simplicio scored his second from a well delivered
Kakitani cross in the 73rd minute. Culpi then threw on
S-Pulse loanee Edamura who scored a cracking goal to give us the 3
points and leapfrog over Vissel up to 12th and looking
pretty safe. Enjoy the highlights!
An entertaining
game, bad defending meant we had lots of chances. Kempes missed after a defensive
error in the first minute and hit the post twice but did get on the
score sheet using his head which was his seventh goal in the league. Kakitani continues to add to his goal
tally this season with his eighth in the J-League. Star signing Simplicio made
up for giving away a penalty with his first goal since his move from
Serie A, he had an almost identical effort ruled out for offside
minutes earlier. A great result against a S-Pulse team in transition.
We're not out of danger yet but it's nice to write about a match and
not say "we were poor" for once. Kansai derby up next and
it's a big one with Vissel Kobe needing points to avoid being dragged
into the relegation dogfight. Genki Omae with a penalty and Alex Brosque form a free kick scored for S-Pulse. Brosque has just signed for Al Ain FC in the UAE where he joins Asamoah Gyan. Shinji Ono also left S-Pulse to join the Western Sydney Wanderers as their marquee signing.
Fans behind the goal did a great job of trying to put Omae off his penalty
Culpi a lot less animated than usual after his return from retirement
Well
we sold Kiyotake to Nuremberg for a pittance considering his status
but we got a fair price for Bo Kyung from cash rich Cardiff City and
their rebranding Malaysian owners. Branqhuino who has been average at
best has gone on loan to Montedio Yamagata in J2. Also this week we
signed Brazilian midfeilder Heberty on loan from Thespa Kusatsu in
J2. He joins fellow newbies Yokoyama, Edamura and Simplicio. Here are
a few of Heberty's goals in J2, don't get too excited, remember
anyone can look good on a Youtube highlights compilation but here's
hoping he can be good enough to help us avoid relegation.
This
game saw starts for two of our new signings, Edamura on loan from
Shimizu S-Pulse and Simplicio arriving after a few seasons in Serie
A. The money we got from Bo Kyung's sale to Cardiff could well be
going mostly towards Simplicio's wages, he's been capped once for
Brazil and played 30+ games a season in Serie A which much makes him
one of our best imports in recent years. He showed his experience and
also the kind of foreign players we should always try and sign on his
debut. He was dictating things in midfield and was telling players
where to go, where to pass, and what tempo to play. A good debut but
I think you would expect that from a player with his credentials.
Edamura showed a couple of nice touches but couldn't really get into
the game. The scoreline was flattering, Jin Hyueng had to pull off a
couple of fine saves and earn his clean sheet. Sapporo missed the
best chance of the game before we scored. Murata the speed merchant
got a start today and the first goal from Simplicio's pass. Kakitani
got the second and is showing he's got the ability and goals to keep
us in J1. Kempes came off the bench to provide some glorious
entertainment. He tried, but I think failed, to connect with a header
and it looked like a clear own goal but he was credited with it and
he certainly celebrated like it was his as he leapt into the crowd.
Most people in the stadium on seeing the replay agreed it was an own
goal and had a bit of laugh at his over the top celebration. There
was more to come from Kempes though. Kakitani won a penalty and (the
fastest I've ever seen Kempes move) before anyone could argue Kempes
had picked up the ball and placed it on the spot. I don't know how
good his Japanese is but even just from the atmosphere he must have
known most people weren't too happy with this. Anyway fairplay to him
for having the guts to try...and fail. His tame effort was saved by
the Consadole keeper. This led to more complaining from our fans of
course, it's lucky for him that it wasn't an important penalty or I
think I might have witnessed for the first time Cerezo fans booing
one of their own. Consadole heads were down throughout the 2nd
half despite a decent 1st half showing and Kempes managed
to tuck away his (possibly!) second of the game in what proved to be
an eventful substitute appearance. So after a long run of depressing
games (and not wanting blog about about them!) a decent victory
against what we must remember is a team bottom of J1 with one of the
worst records at this stage in the history if J1, oh and they beat us
in Sapporo. The 2nd leg of our Nabisco Cup tie kicks off
tonight against Kashima Antlers who we currently trail 2-1.
Consadole fans bravely sung throughout and for some reason
decided to congregate on the right side of the away section rather
than the traditional behind the goal patch of grass.
Confused school kids help out at half time
Only in Japan? Cerezo ponchos were prepared for those
with a front row seat for the random half time summer madness
Kempes perhaps realising his eagerness to take the
penalty may have been misguided just before his effort
The moment I found out Kempes is in fact left footed, previously
he's been so bad with both feet it was impossible to tell
