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.
Took the overnight ferry called the "Sunflower" from Osaka to Beppu for this one. Hot springs and 3 points awaited. The "Big Eye" was used in the 2002 World Cup.
The "Big Eye" makes more sense from here
Bumbaclot!! Random and insulting. Well done Trinita, thumbs up for this banner.
Oita is not a convenient place to get to!
Looks like a UFO from here
The home supporters doing their team proud by filling up a big section
This game was over after 15 minutes. I spent the rest of the match swatting away some silly insects which reminded me that this is J2. As did the local flavour of things and the need to get a bus to the stadium. Anyway I remembered the last time we were in J2. So good to see Kusukami doing what he can surely do very well (in J2) after seeing flashes of his skill for the last two seasons. Will he keep his place though? Kazuki Ganaha scored the goal of the game for Sanuki after being teed up beautifully by Hotaru Yamaguchi (he played in the last World Cup for Japan). I was one of the few from Osaka not to sample the famous udon of which the "Kamatama" version appears on the club crest.
How far away is that? A short but steep walk to get to Marugame Castle which looks like it has a mustache, and glasses.
Close to the Boy's Festival so the carp streamers were out on display
A Cerezo fan scratches his head as he realises it wasn't that far away, just very a small castle surrounded by some impressive stone walls.
Not a bad view from the castle although one of our group commented that the area on the right out of picture looks like Sakai City which if you know of it is no compliment.
Marugame Mascots, this is Japan (in J2)
Ikkaku was the top ranked restaurant on Tripadvisor in this area. Marugame is also famous for chicken as well as Sanuki Udon. I found out on my 5 hour train journey that this place is a chain and has a shop in Shinsaibashi, the heart of Osaka.
The Udon didn't make the cut for this poster of famous things in Marugame.
This mascot is working hard judging by the sweat/grease/oil dripping from his (bone-in) chicken leg head. The other more important banner behind and to the left could well be advertising a game between the New Zealand and Japan women's teams but I got distracted by the chicken bone header.
Marugame Stadium
A nice stand there but...
...the grassy knolls behind the goals served to remind us all it was in J2
New manager Yuji Okuma started with a win against Jubilo Iwata who are 3rd in J2 and as we are currently 3rd from bottom in J1 that should make us pretty evenly matched right? Just over 4000 people turned up for this in a stadium that was used in a World Cup so you can imagine it looked a bit odd. Kusukami started and showed what he can bring to the team by setting up Minamino who finished well for the first. Ryo Nagai worked tirelessly all night and was rewarded with a goal he took thanks to his speedy footwork and thinking. Our injured captain Yamaguchi wasn't missed as we got our first meaningful win in a long time. Everyone put a decent shift in tonight compared to our performances in the league. I'm hoping Okuma doesn't feel pressured to bring back any big names, match-fit or not, for the next game on Saturday against 6th place Kashiwa Reysol. Kagawa has returned to Dortmund recently but in bigger news Mitch Nichols quietly joined Perth Glory on loan after a ridiculously wasted (first?) spell in Osaka.
The unusually sparsely populated I4
This is what a world cup stadium looks like for a dry Wednesday night Emperor's Cup game in Osaka
Someone's sitting there mate
The acoustics are great in Yanmar Stadium so their efforts were heard
Lonely jobs, all of them, cameraman (or woman?), manager and linesman (or woman or assistant referee?)
New gaffer Yuji Okuma gets nervous as he is surrounded...by drink bottles lined up and ready to spring the offside trap
World Cup returnees Yamaguchi, Kakitani, Forlan and Okubo were presented with flowers before the game at which point I realised that Kakitani wouldn't be starting his last game before joining FC Basel and Forlan would be a spectator. This game was sold out and fans got to see the new gaffer play a 4-1-4-1 formation and give Minamino the responsibility of starting in central midfield. Never one to shy away from a scrap Takumi was shown a straight red. It wouldn't be a red in most other leagues but the ref could argue he kicked Oshima's arse then got up and shoved him after a bit of a tussle. A well worked goal with a tidy finish from the otherwise ineffectual Ando saw us take the lead before a soft penalty conceded by Fujimoto let Okubo equalise and sub Kanakubo ensured Frontale left with 3 points with an opportunistic shot. Kakitani came on for a cameo and there was the standard ceremony Cerezo fans are used to as he now leaves for FC Basel. He has promised to return as a better player but I don't want to think about that. He's gone now so until he comes back I don't care. The club stuck by Kakitani when we loaned him out instead of getting rid of him and he then promised to stay with Cerezo and win a title here. Perhaps I'm a tad jaded after seeing us turn into a feeder club with no trophies to show for all our young talent. Still, as always, things will be interesting here as Pezzaiuoli looks to reshape our team for the future.
The fans behind the goal were in amazing form that the team couldn't quite match
Standard German manager's fashion style overshadowed by a banner about Kakitani and a coach with a schoolboy approach to bench use. The first kanji character means to charm or bewitch.
Do I not like that red card, although there is yet another impressive banner in the background.
Glad we got the points obviously but this was a poor quality game at the Pocari Sweat Stadium. Thanks to a great free kick from Yamaguchi and an own goal by Chiyotanda we came away from Tokushima with 3 points. This was Tokushima's first home game in J1 and they may struggle to stay up based on this performance. Cerezo will also need to find another gear when we come up against better teams. Fans were treated to an Awa Odori show at halftime showcasing Tokushima's famous festival of dance. Serbian Gojko Kacar started his first game at centre-back and looked comfortable. On Tuesday we face Shandong Luneng in the ACL.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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"
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.
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.
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.
Gamba
squeezed through past Ossie Ardiles' Machida Zelvia who were rooted
to the bottom of J2 for most of the season and find themselves in the
JFL (Japan Football League) next season. Shame for Ossie, I was
hoping to catch a game to see the Spurs legend but it looks like the
Ardiles experiment has backfired for Machida. We knocked four past
Shimizu to progress. Special mention goes to “one for the future”
(ie. expect him to leave for Germany if he fulfils his potential) 17
year old Takumi Minamino with a great finish for our first and his
first senior goal. In the second half Hotaru Yamaguchi made it two
connecting with a nice cross from Sakemoto. Kenyu Sugimoto settled
the nerves further in an open game with a good finish in off the
post. Speed demon Kurata finished things off calmly when he found
himself through with only the keeper to beat. The score flattered to
deceive but let's see if we can knock out Gamba Suita in the next
round. Exciting stuff awaits this Sunday in Nagai Stadium!
Worth watching to see a 17 year old kid's first senior goal. The Cerezo youth system continues to produce gifted players.
Kiyotake had a hand in both goals against Malaysia and he's making progress for the full national side too this year. Great pass for the first goal and he picked out someone in the box for the second. From Cerezo Yamaguchi and Ogihara also made appearances.
Athough Bando started he couldn't add to his goals scored this season. We ended winning up 3-1 in a packed Nagai Stadium. Particularly pleasing were the contributions from the younger squad members including goals from Hotaru Yamaguchi and Takahiro Ogihara both of whom are members of the Japanese squad aiming to qualify for the Olympics next year.
Great atmoshpere and superb support as usual from the Urawa Reds fans
