J-League, Let's Go!

[TheFourMarys]

J-League, Let's Go!

And I've just seen your latest J2 update which continues my good mood. V Varen in third. Oh yeah, rock on you Flying Dutchmen!

Have the crowds continued to be a problem? I'm guessing it's something of a surprise that they are doing this well?

It's just a shame the victory came at the expense of YFC as I have a big soft spot for the airmen and I'd love to see them up in J1 one day kicking Marino ass. I'm not holding my breath that that will happen anytime soon though.

Thanks as ever for your sterling work with the J-League insights.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

TFM - absolutely right that no-one expected Nagasaki to be doing so well. There's an argument for saying it's the story of the season so far in the J-League because it normally takes clubs a good few seasons to be genuinely competitive after moving into J2. For the derby against Kumamoto last weekend the crowd was just under 6000 -- I reckon their support is likely to fluctuate depending more on the perceived attractiveness of the opposition than how they're doing in the league. It just takes time for a football culture to become embedded in a small provincial city where it never used to exist.

As for the Saitama derby, not a classic to be sure, but indicative of just how much Zdenko Verdenik is managing to squeeze out of a modest Omiya squad. What made the win all the more pleasing was that it was achieved with two enforced changes, including one in central defence due to the suspension of Takahashi following his imbecilic sending off against Cerezo Osaka last week. Nobody really expected that the reserves were good enough to step up into the first team but as you'll have seen although Urawa had a lot of possession, especially after half time, they never really forced the Omiya keeper to make a save.

Anyway, the headline is that Omiya moved into second following their 1-0 Saitama derby win over Urawa Reds on Saturday. Zlatan Ljubijankic was on target again for the Mighty Squirrels, now the only remaining unbeaten club in the top division and indeed new holders of the record J1 unbeaten run at 18 matches. Yokohama F Marinos' winning start to the J1 season came to an end as after six straight wins they went down 1-0 at Albirex Niigata. Reserve forward Hideya Okamoto scored the goal for Albirex in the 78th minute, a powerful finish from 15 yards after good work by fellow substitute Kengo Kawamata.

Current champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima climbed into the top four as a result of their 2-0 win at struggling Jubilo Iwata thanks to a goal each by their dangerous strikers Hisato Sato and Naoki Ishihara. Lower down the table there was also good news for Kawasaki Frontale and promoted side Shonan Bellmare, who both picked up their first wins of the season against Vegalta Sendai and Oita Trinita respectively. Oita and Jubilo are now stuck at the foot of the standings with only a couple of points to show for their first seven matches.

J1 results

FC Tokyo 3-1 Nagoya
Jubilo 0-2 Hiroshima
Kashima 0-0 Kofu
Kawasaki 4-2 Sendai
Niigata 1-0 Marinos
Omiya 1-0 Urawa
S-Pulse 1-1 Cerezo
Shonan 2-1 Oita
Tosu 0-3 Kashiwa

J1 top six

1. Marinos 18pts
2. Omiya 17
3. Urawa 16
4. Hiroshima 13
5. Kashima 12
6. Nagoya 11

J1 bottom six

13. Niigata 7
14. Kawasaki 6
15. Tosu 6
16. Shonan 6
17. Oita 2
18. Jubilo 2

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

After the J2 games on Sunday it's beginning to look like Gamba Osaka have, like leaders Vissel Kobe, well and truly got the hang of second division football. Ten rounds into the season it's beginning to look like the two Kansai sides, both relegated at the end of last year, may be heading back to the top division at the first attempt. Gamba may have drawn half their matches so far but they've won the other half, the latest victory coming at Kataller Toyama, where Leandro contributed a hat-trick in a 4-0 win. Kobe maintained their five-point advantage at the top by beating Yokohama FC 2-1.

The mid-table bunching means that 15th-placed Consadole Sapporo are only two points off 6th and a play-off spot; in among that group of teams Tokushima Vortis picked up a useful three points in the Shikoku derby against Ehime FC, and three wins in the last week have helped Mito Hollyhock to leap up to 8th. Meanwhile the bottom six all lost, leaving FC Gifu trailing Thespakusatsu Gunma at the foot of the table.

J2 results

JEF 1-1 Fukuoka
Kitakyushu 0-2 Mito
Kyoto 3-0 Tottori
Matsumoto p-p Verdy
Nagasaki 0-0 Sapporo
Okayama 2-0 Gunma
Tochigi 2-0 Gifu
Tokushima 3-2 Ehime
Toyama 0-4 Gamba
Yamagata 1-0 Kumamoto
Yokohama FC 1-2 Kobe

J2 top six

1. Kobe 25pts
2. Gamba 20
3. Okayama 18
4. Nagasaki 18
5. Tochigi 17
6. Kyoto 15

J2 bottom six

17. Tottori 10
18. Yokohama FC 9
19. Kitakyushu 8
20. Kumamoto 7
21. Gunma 6
22. Gifu 5

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Given that this is a historic day I will treat myself to an extra post, because in the single Friday evening J1 match Omiya Ardija went to Kashiwa Reysol and hammered the Sun Kings 4-0. This not only extends the Squirrels' unbeaten run to 19 games but also takes them to the very top of the J-League for the very first time in their history. Admittedly they'll likely get overtaken again on Saturday when Yokohama F Marinos play their catch-up fixture, but hey.

This run of results is an absolutely incredible achievement by Omiya coach Zdenko Verdenik and his players. Since promotion to J1 in 2005 the club have never finished higher than 12th in an 18-team division, so for a consistently mediocre club of very modest stature -- living in the shadow of giants Urawa Reds, Omiya can't fill their 15,000-capacity home stadium -- the current state of affairs represents a massive leap forward.

The victory over Kashiwa means that the spotlight is now more on Ardija than ever before. The Japanese press are now falling over themselves to cover a club that up until a fortnight ago had never once appeared on the cover of a football magazine; many Squirrels fans after the game expressed astonished delight that their club was mentioned in the main sports news bulletin on state broadcaster NHK. But for the time being at least, Omiya are top of the fucking league.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

A scrambled equaliser by Ventforet Kofu defender Naoaki Aoyama five minutes into injury time denied Yokohama F Marinos the win that would have taken them back to the top of J1 on Saturday. The Sailors went into an early lead through a Shunsuke Nakamura free kick and then proceeded to bombard the Ventforet goal. But poor finishing meant the score stayed at 1-0 until 95th minute, when in a melee after a corner the ball rebounded down from the Marinos' bar, hit Aoyama on the head and went over the line.

Those two dropped points meant Marinos remained in second behind Omiya Ardija, the season's surprise package who had moved to the top after trouncing Kashiwa Reysol 4-0 on Friday night. Urawa Reds stay third despite losing at home to Shimizu S-Pulse and Kashima Antlers move into fourth, winners in an error-strewn match at Albirex Niigata. Meanwhile at the foot of the table an impressive 4-0 win over Shonan Bellmare, their first victory of the season, enabled Jubilo Iwata to climb off bottom spot -- highlights, including a superb volley by Ryohei Yamazaki to round things off, are here.

J1 results

Cerezo 0-0 Oita
FC Tokyo 2-0 Kawasaki
Jubilo 4-0 Shonan
Kashiwa 0-4 Omiya
Marinos 1-1 Kofu
Nagoya 1-1 Hiroshima
Niigata 2-3 Kashima
Sendai 1-1 Tosu
Urawa 0-1 S-Pulse

J1 top six

1. Omiya 20pts
2. Marinos 19
3. Urawa 16
4. Kashima 15
5. Hiroshima 14
6. FC Tokyo 12

J1 bottom six

13. Tosu 7
14. Niigata 7
15. Kawasaki 6
16. Shonan 6
17. Jubilo 5
18. Oita 3

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

No doubting whatsoever the game of the weekend in J2, where leaders Vissel Kobe were at home to third-placed -- and still unbeaten -- Fagiano Okayama. With ex-Kashima Antlers forward Yuzo Tashiro on particularly good form Kobe raced into a 3-0 half time lead, the Pheasants appearing to offer almost no threat. After the restart Vissel had chances to extend their lead but Okayama were able to start to turn the tide. Even so, when Fagiano forward Shingo Kukita fired in a loose ball from the edge of the penalty area to make it 3-1 in the 84th minute, it didn't look like much more than a consolation.

Less than sixty seconds later, however, the visitors were right back in it as an almighty defensive balls-up enabled Kukita to score again. In the last minute of normal time the same player volleyed just over the bar and it appeared as if Okayama were heading for their first defeat of the season. But in 93rd minute the Pheasants' Yuki Oshitani raced down the right-hand side and hit a shot that the keeper parried straight into the path of the inrushing Tomoyuki Arata, who crashed in the equaliser.

J2 results

Ehime 0-2 Nagasaki
Fukuoka 0-1 Matsumoto
Gamba 1-1 Tottori
Gifu 1-1 Yamagata
Gunma 4-1 Tokushima
Kitakyushu 0-2 Tochigi
Kobe 3-3 Okayama
Kyoto 3-3 JEF
Mito 2-2 Yokohama FC
Sapporo 1-3 Kumamoto
Toyama 1-1 Verdy

J2 top six

1. Kobe 26pts
2. Gamba 21
3. Nagasaki 21
4. Tochigi 20
5. Okayama 19
6. Kyoto 16

J2 bottom six

17. Tottori 11
18. Kumamoto 10
19. Yokohama FC 10
20. Gunma 9
21. Kitakyushu 8
22. Gifu 6

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Aside from a couple of J1 matches put back to the end of the month there was a full J-League programme on today's holiday Friday. In the top division second played fourth as Yokohama F Marinos hosted Kashima Antlers and it looked like Takuya Nozawa's goal would give Antlers the win until Fabio sneaked an equaliser under the crossbar in the fifth minute of injury time. Cerezo Osaka were the big winners of the day, 3-0 at struggling Shonan Bellmare -- some beautiful goals in that one, of which the highlights are here.

In J2, V Varen Nagasaki continued their excellent start to life in the J-League with a home win over Giravanz Kitakyushu which keeps them third. Gamba Osaka are the only remaining undefeated team in the division after Fagiano Okayama lost 1-0 at Tochigi SC. There was an impressive crowd of 15,000 at Tokyo Verdy where Yasutoshi Miura coached the home side against a Yokohama FC lineup featuring his younger brother, 46-year-old Kazu; Yokohama managed a surprise 3-1 to move away from the foot of the table.

J1 results

Kawasaki 2-1 Nagoya
Kofu 2-1 Jubilo
Marinos 1-1 Kashima
Oita 0-2 Omiya
S-Pulse 1-2 Niigata
Shonan 0-3 Cerezo
Tosu 2-3 FC Tokyo

J1 top six

1. Omiya 23pts
2. Marinos 20
3. Urawa 16
4. Kashima 16
5. FC Tokyo 15
6. Cerezo 15

J1 bottom six

13. Sendai 9
14. Kawasaki 9
15. Tosu 7
16. Shonan 6
17. Jubilo 5
18. Oita 3

J2 results

Fukuoka 0-0 Kobe
Gamba 2-0 Gifu
JEF 2-0 Ehime
Kumamoto 3-2 Mito
Matsumoto 1-1 Gunma
Nagasaki 1-0 Kitakyushu
Sapporo 0-1 Kyoto
Tochigi 1-0 Okayama
Tottori 0-1 Tokushima
Verdy 1-3 Yokohama FC
Yamagata 3-1 Toyama

J2 top six

1. Kobe 27pts
2. Gamba 24
3. Nagasaki 24
4. Tochigi 23
5. Kyoto 19
6. Yamagata 19

J2 bottom six

16. = Kumamoto 13
16. = Yokohama FC 13
18. Sapporo 13
19. Tottori 11
20. Gunma 10
21. Kitakyushu 8
22. Gifu 6

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Not much doubting the focus of attention in holiday Monday's full J-League programme, with new sensations Omiya Ardija at home to 2012 champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima. In the days running up to the game Hiroshima's star man Hisato Sato upped the ante by talking about bringing to an end Omiya's J1 record unbeaten run, which before kick-off stood at 20 matches. The first half was a cagey affair but it was apparent that Sanfrecce with their quick pass and move style were a team capable of causing problems for the leaders' resilient defence.

Ardija eventually took the upper hand halfway through the second half when Milivoje Novakovic headed in Tomoki Imai's pinpoint cross and the Squirrels then pushed for a second that would have won the game. Takuya Aoki's long-range shot was tipped on to the bar and over by Takuya Masuda, the young keeper making his pro debut for Hiroshima but from the resulting corner Sanfrecce broke upfield and Sato poked in the equaliser. With the game heading for a draw, the Sanfrecce defence failed to deal with a long kick upfield by Omiya keeper Takashi Kitano and speedy Squirrels starlet Takamitsu Tomiyama got his head to the high bouncing ball a fraction before Masuda.

Tomiyama's intervention diverted it into an empty net but his momentum led to an extremely nasty collision with the Sanfrecce keeper. After a delay of some minutes for treatment at the scene Tomiyama was stretchered off while an ambulance came onto the pitch to take away Masuda, who had been lying motionless on the turf. The final few minutes of the game was eventually played out in a sudden rainstorm, which added to the distinctly tempestuous atmosphere. Tomiyama was later treated for cuts to his face, the concussed Masuda will stay in hospital in Omiya tonight and hopefully will be fit to return to Hiroshima on Tuesday.

J1 results

Cerezo 2-2 Urawa
FC Tokyo 2-2 Jubilo
Kashima 1-0 Shonan
Kashiwa 2-1 Marinos
Nagoya 0-2 Sendai
Niigata 1-1 Kofu
Oita 2-4 Tosu
Omiya 2-1 Hiroshima
S-Pulse 1-2 Kawasaki

J1 top six

1. Omiya 26pts
2. Marinos 20
3. Kashima 19
4. Urawa 17
5. FC Tokyo 16
6. Cerezo 16

J1 bottom six

13. S-Pulse 12
14. Niigata 11
15. Tosu 10
16. Jubilo 6
17. Shonan 6
18. Oita 3

J2 results

Ehime 3-0 Tochigi
Gifu 0-1 JEF
Gunma 0-1 Verdy
Kitakyushu 1-2 Sapporo
Kobe 2-0 Gamba
Kyoto 0-1 Matsumoto
Mito 0-0 Nagasaki
Okayama 4-3 Yamagata
Tokushima 0-3 Kumamoto
Toyama 1-1 Tottori
Yokohama FC 0-1 Fukuoka

J2 top six

1. Kobe 30pts
2. Nagasaki 25
3. Gamba 24
4. Tochigi 23
5. Okayama 22
6. JEF 21

J2 bottom six

17. Tokushima 16
18. Yokohama FC 13
19. Tottori 12
20. Gunma 10
21. Kitakyushu 8
22. Gifu 6

[Anton Gramscescu]

J-League, Let's Go!

That is fucking unbelievable. Omiya six points clear is enough to restore one's faith in football.

Is it getting hard to find tickets? I;m trying to find a way to spend some time in Tokyo in the fall and would love to see a match again, but at this rate, they;ll be sold out long before i get there, no?

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

AG, the capacity is notionally 15,000 but I'm told that in reality the place was rammed with a crowd of about 13,300 against Sanfrecce. Obviously there is more of a clamour for tickets now, but if you have a little bit of advanced warning as to when you're going to be there I may be able to help. For your convenience the schedule in English is here.

Couple of interesting extras from the Hiroshima game; highlights are here and below is a picture of the Sanfrecce players thanking the Omiya fans for their chants in support of injured keeper Masuda. He was lying flat on the pitch for about 20 minutes before the ambulance took him away.

[Anton Gramscescu]

J-League, Let's Go!

That's something you don't see every day. Nice.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

What-the-hell-has-happened-at-Omiya article I wrote for WSC Daily is here.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

J1 is now taking a break until July and with all teams having played thirteen games it's Zdenko Verdenik's Omiya Ardija who'll be sitting atop the pile throughout June. The Squirrels' record-breaking unbeaten run finally came to and end in a 2-1 loss at Vegalta Sendai but Omiya subsequently bounced back with wins over a couple of the promoted sides, Shonan Bellmare and Ventforet Kofu.

Ardija's crosstown rivals Urawa Reds recorded two successive 6-2 victories to move into second place on goal difference, Kashiwa Reysol and last year's surprise successes Sagan Tosu falling victim to the Mihail Petrovic's improving Reds. Current champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima are also in contention after three straight wins.

At the bottom Jubilo Iwata named former Kawasaki Frontale and Japan Olympic coach Takashi Sekizuka as the successor to Hitoshi Morishita, sacked due to the team's terrible start to the year. Sekizuka's first game in charge was a vital one at fellow strugglers Oita Trinita and the scale of his task became apparent as the teams played out an eye-poppingly rubbish 1-1 draw. Mention should also be made of the decline under Dragan "Pixie" Stojkovic of Nagoya Grampus, now sitting just outside the relegation zone having lost all five of their league games in May.

Gamba Osaka have taken over from neighbours Vissel Kobe on goal difference at the top of J2, mainly due to Vissel being on the wrong end of probably the biggest shock result of the season so far. A 34th-minute header by Yuichi Kubo was enough to give a stunning 1-0 win at Kobe to minnows Gainare Tottori, who the previous week had been battered 6-0 at home by mid-ranking Montedio Yamagata.

Certainly rivalling Omiya as Team of the Year thus far, V Varen Nagasaki meanwhile confirmed their credentials with a recent hard-earned victory over contenders JEF United that serves to keep the league newcomers in an incredible third place.

J1 top six

1. Omiya 32pts
2. Urawa 27
3. Marinos 27
4. Kashima 25
5. Hiroshima 24
6. Cerezo 23

J1 bottom six

13. Kofu 14
14. Nagoya 12
15. Tosu 10
16. Shonan 9
17. Jubilo 7
18. Oita 7

J2 top six

1. Gamba 33pts
2. Kobe 33
3. Nagasaki 29
4. Kyoto 28
5. Tochigi 28
6. JEF 27

J2 bottom six

17. Yokohama FC 16
18. Toyama 16
19. Tottori 16
20. Kitakyushu 11
21. Gunma 11
22. Gifu 7

[Anton Gramscescu]

J-League, Let's Go!

Furtho wrote: J1 is now taking a break until July and with all teams having played thirteen games

So this is a regular thing and not just during World Cup years? What do the players do during the break?

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Most of them don't do much, but at various points throughout June there's a World Cup qualifier against Australia, a big charity game involving players from each J1 club and then the two-legged quarter finals of the Nabisco Cup. It's nice to see J2 get the chance to take more of a centre stage, though, as it continues throughout the month.

As part of the current J-League 20th Anniversary celebrations fans have voted for, among other things, their favourite goals scored in league matches. Clips of the ten that received the most votes are here; actually I reckon you can see half a dozen better scores in a typical month in the J-League, but you can't argue much with Keiji Tamada's extraordinary volley for Nagoya (number 5) or Yuichiro Nagai's one-man counter attack for Urawa (number 7). The atmosphere created by what sounds like thousands of screaming girls at number 6 is also a reminder of the heady days in the first few seasons of the league's history.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

With J1 now on its scheduled break for June attention has for the time being shifted to J2. In the weekend’s games the top three teams all won, Gamba Osaka comfortably seeing off Tochigi SC amid reports that star striker Leandro and midfielder Akihiro Ienaga are set to leave the club, Vissel Kobe beating Mito Hollyhock and V Varen Nagasaki narrowly overcoming Thespakusatsu Gunma. Fourth-placed Kyoto Sanga slumped to a shock defeat at home to Giravanz Kitakyushu.

Meanwhile fans of eccentric J-League marketing were salivating as Gainare Tottori promoted their game against Matsumoto Yamaga using the tagline "Lady's Paradise", complete with special merchandise aimed at female fans -- scrunchies and nail seals in appropriate shades of Gainare lime green, dark blue and white -- and special events like, er, Hawaiian hula dance demonstrations ("You'll also be tempted to dance!"). Despite the bad weather the match attracted a respectable gate of 3698 and Tottori nicked a somewhat unexpected 1-0 win to ensure the local ladies went home happy.

There were extraordinary scenes of a different nature at the Kyushu Derby between Avispa Fukuoka and Roasso Kumamoto. As well as leading 1-0 thanks to Go Nishida's 30th-minute goal, home side Avispa had by half time had three players yellow carded. Nishida was then sent off shortly after the restart and by the final whistle no fewer than six of his team-mates had been booked, compared with just one Kumamoto player.

But that wasn't all. Wasps keeper Yuichi Mizutani went off injured with all their subs having been used, meaning star forward Hisashi Jogo cemented his already legendary status by going in goal for the last fifteen minutes. And just when it looked as if Avispa were against all odds going to hold on for the win, Roasso's Fabio netted an equaliser… in the eleventh of nine injury time minutes.

And even that still wasn't all. After the final whistle the remaining Fukuoka players refused to shake hands with referee Takumi Shinoto, striker Osmar going a step further and giving a thumbs down gesture to the official - which resulted in the Brazilian being shown a red card. Phew. That's all.

J2 results

Fukuoka 1-1 Kumamoto
Gamba 3-0 Tochigi
Gifu 0-0 Okayama
Gunma 1-2 Nagasaki
JEF 1-3 Yamagata
Kyoto 1-2 Kitakyushu
Mito 0-2 Kobe
Tottori 1-0 Matsumoto
Toyama 2-1 Tokushima
Verdy 2-1 Ehime
Yokohama FC 0-2 Sapporo

J2 top six

1. Gamba 36pts
2. Kobe 36
3. Nagasaki 32
4. Kyoto 28
5. Tochigi 28
6. JEF 27

J2 bottom six

17. Tottori 19
18. Ehime 18
19. Yokohama FC 16
20. Kitakyushu 14
21. Gunma 11
22. Gifu 8

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Game of the weekend in J2 was second-placed Vissel Kobe's 2-2 draw with JEF United, illuminated in particular by an exemplary diving header by Kempes for JEF's first goal. Highlights are here. After looking a bit underwhelming for Cerezo Osaka in J1 last year the Brazilian striker has got the measure of the second flight this time around and currently tops the scorers' chart with an impressive 13. In the league standings, with Kobe in second Gamba Osaka are now two points clear after struggling to victory at Giravanz Kitakyushu, while V Varen Nagasaki hold on to third despite losing to the last kick of the match at bottom side FC Gifu.

The basic expectation for the season still is that Gamba and Vissel will occupy the two automatic promotion spots but the four play-off places are anyone's guess. Of the teams in those positions at the moment JEF and Kyoto Sanga are old school J-League members fighting to get back into J1, whereas Nagasaki and Tochigi SC are much smaller, newer clubs hoping to make the step up to the big time off the back of enthusiastic but extremely modest local support. Given that J2 is not quite at the halfway stage in the season there is still plenty of time for the likes of Tokyo Verdy, Avispa Fukuoka and Consadole Sapporo to move up the table, but this is hardly guaranteed.

J2 results

Ehime 3-2 Sapporo
Gifu 2-1 Nagasaki
Kitakyushu 0-1 Gamba
Kobe 2-2 JEF
Kumamoto 1-3 Kyoto
Matsumoto 1-0 Okayama
Tochigi 2-0 Fukuoka
Toyama 0-0 Gunma
Verdy 0-0 Mito
Yamagata 2-2 Tokushima
Yokohama FC 2-1 Tottori

J2 top six

1. Gamba 39
2. Kobe 37
3. Nagasaki 32
4. Kyoto 31
5. Tochigi 31
6. JEF 28

J2 bottom six

17. Toyama 20
18. Yokohama FC 19
19. Tottori 19
20. Kitakyushu 14
21. Gunma 12
22. Gifu 11

[TheFourMarys]

J-League, Let's Go!

Thanks as ever, Furtho.

Great to see VVN still up there. As you say, it's a long season, but maybe they can use the expectation of fading away to their advantage down the stretch.

The Avispa/Roasso clusterfudge sounds like the kind of mental game that has already entered J-League legend. I have a feeling a 'Ladies Paradise' night in San Jose would probably follow a different bent.

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Cheers TFM. Here's a look at V Varen's team coach as a special treat.

I reckon Kyoto will end up in the play-offs and I'd say the same about JEF too if they hadn't flattered to deceive every year since they got relegated. The JEF coach now is the guy who got sacked at Omiya to enable our current heroic leader to take over, so there's some local interest for me there. Otherwise it's anyone's guess. On the subject of the Avispa Fukuoka - Roasso Kumamoto game, I didn't mention this but one of the highlights was the Roasso defending for the Avispa goal. Two monumental errors, worth a look in the highlights, here. [ Edit: someone's also put together a separate clip of the bookings and sendings off in the same match, here .]

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Gamba Osaka brushed aside the absence on Confederations Cup duty of Yasuyuki Konno and Yasuhito "old man" Endo to beat Mito Hollyhock 2-0 on Saturday and go four points clear at the top of J2. Vissel Kobe stay second but dropped two points when in torrential rain Tochigi SC's Cristiano crashed home an equaliser two minutes from time. Elsewhere, Giravanz Kitakyushu -- struggling to rebuild following a huge turnover of players in the close season -- recorded an astounding 7-0 triumph over Kyushu neighbours Roasso Kumamoto, equalling the biggest ever win in J2 history. Thespakusatsu Gunma slipped to the bottom of the table, overtaken by an FC Gifu side who having scored only nine goals in the previous eighteen fixtures managed to beat Gainare Tottori 4-3.

J2 results

Gunma 2-2 Yamagata
JEF 1-1 Yokohama FC
Kitakyushu 7-0 Kumamoto
Kyoto 4-1 Ehime
Mito 0-2 Gamba
Nagasaki 2-1 Verdy
Okayama 1-1 Fukuoka
Sapporo 1-0 Toyama
Tochigi 2-2 Kobe
Tokushima 2-0 Matsumoto
Tottori 3-4 Gifu

J2 top six

1. Gamba 42pts
2. Kobe 38
3. Nagasaki 35
4. Kyoto 34
5. Tochigi 32
6. JEF 29

J2 bottom six

17. Yokohama FC 20
18. Toyama 20
19. Tottori 19
20. Kitakyushu 17
21. Gifu 14
22. Gunma 13

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Transfer-related oddities at the top of J2 to report this week, following the news that two key players are to depart after loan periods at divisional leaders Gamba Osaka. At the end of the month midfielder Akihiro Ienaga will return to Real Mallorca as star striker Leandro heads back to Al Sadd in Qatar… except that in fact Leandro is widely anticipated to be moving instead to none other than Gamba's closest J2 challengers, Vissel Kobe. Following Vissel's 2-0 win over V Varen Nagasaki today fans bade farewell to forward Popo on the understanding that he will leave the club in order to free up a foreigner spot for Leandro. For their part, Gamba have already signed a replacement in the shape of another Brazilian, Rocha, from Steaua Bucharest, with highly-rated youngster Takashi Usami moving back to the club after a spell in Germany.

On the pitch, the gap between Gamba and Vissel is down to two points following Vissel's defeat of V Varen and Gamba's 1-1 draw with Fagiano Okayama. JEF United moved more firmly in contention with a good win at Tokushima Vortis and there were big wins for Montedio Yamagata and Consadole Sapporo, who both lie a matter of a few points outside of the play-offs. Thespakusatsu Gunma managed their first away victory of the season at Roasso Kumamoto to move off the bottom spot and Giravanz Kitakyushu continued their climb away from the foot of the table by beating Gainare Tottori.

J2 results

Gamba 1-1 Okayama
Fukuoka 2-0 Ehime
Kobe 2-0 Nagasaki
Kumamoto 2-3 Gunma
Kyoto 0-1 Mito
Sapporo 4-0 Gifu
Tokushima 1-2 JEF
Tottori 2-3 Kitakyushu
Verdy 3-3 Tochigi
Yamagata 4-1 Matsumoto
Yokohama FC 2-1 Toyama

J2 top six

1. Gamba 43pts
2. Kobe 41
3. Nagasaki 35
4. Kyoto 34
5. Tochigi 33
6. JEF 32

J2 bottom six

17. Kumamoto 21
18. Kitakyushu 20
19. Toyama 20
20. Tottori 19
21. Gunma 16
22. Gifu 14

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

On the final weekend before the restart of the J1 campaign, J2 reached the midpoint of the 2013 season with the staging on Saturday of matchday 21. There's no evidence of any change coming soon to the long-held view that relegated sides Gamba Osaka and Vissel Kobe are headed straight back up to the top flight and indeed both completed routine wins against mid- to lower-table opposition. The gap between second-placed Vissel and V Varen Nagasaki in third now stands at eight points, as V Varen were held to a goalless draw by Kyushu neighbours Avispa Fukuoka. Tochigi SC and Kyoto Sanga stay in the play-off places following their exciting 2-2 draw but JEF United gained ground thanks to their late winner against Tokyo Verdy.

J2 results

Ehime 1-0 Tottori
Gamba 2-0 Tokushima
Gifu 3-1 Kitakyushu
Gunma 2-0 Sapporo
JEF 2-1 Verdy
Kumamoto 1-2 Kobe
Matsumoto 0-1 Yokohama FC
Mito 1-3 Yamagata
Nagasaki 0-0 Fukuoka
Tochigi 2-2 Kyoto
Toyama 0-0 Okayama

J2 top six

1. Gamba 46pts
2. Kobe 44
3. Nagasaki 36
4. Kyoto 35
5. JEF 35
6. Tochigi 34

J2 bottom six

17. Toyama 21
18. Kumamoto 21
19. Kitakyushu 20
20. Gunma 19
21. Tottori 19
22. Gifu 17

[Magik]

J-League, Let's Go!

A certain Daisuke Matsui has arrived in Gdansk and will possibly join my local club. Anything on him Furtho? Official and unofficial stuff - i'm deputising for a collague in a local rag so let me know pls what's his story. Thanks

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Oh, he's actually famous, Magik - one of the more impressive members of the 2010 World Cup team that came within an ace of reaching the last 8. He's a very hardworking wide midfield player. Check his extensive English-language Wikipedia page here. I remember after the World Cup there was a lot of talk to the effect that he was bound to be able to get himself a deal with a better club than Grenoble, who at that time had just been relegated from L1. But he ended up signing for Tom Tomsk, when I seem to recall rumours that Espanol were interested. This is typical: his club career has been so bitty and patchy. I'm not sure why this is, maybe his agent is just useless. At 32 he isn't part of the national team set up anymore, but he's been a decent player and obviously is experienced and knows his way around.

[Edit: I just found contemporary Japanese reports which say a move to Sporting Lisbon fell through after WC2010 because a fee was agreed but then Grenoble went back asking for more money.]

[Furtho]

J-League, Let's Go!

Just a bit of time to cover a couple of other stories that will be of interest to, er, me.

Following the Japan national team's disappointing showing in the Confederations Cup many fans have been mulling over the newly-significant East Asian Cup finals, to be staged in South Korea at the end of July. Normally this is a tournament that wouldn't receive much more than fleeting local attention, but now it's being regarded as one of the last opportunities for players to stake a claim for a place in the squad for Brazil 2014.

Readers of the El Golazo football paper voted on who they wanted to see chosen next month by Alberto Zaccheroni, the survey results being an interesting mixture of discarded veterans and some of the J-League's bright young things. Of the former group, centre back Marcus Tulio Tanaka of Nagoya Grampus is arguably most likely to see a recall and indeed in recent interviews Tulio has made none-too-subtle remarks to the effect that the Japanese defence in the Confederations Cup seemed to him to be lacking in, whaddya know, experience.

Not surprisingly, though, it's the thought of good young players getting a run out for Japan that has exercised many supporters. High up in the survey results, for instance, are the two most recent products of the Cerezo Osaka conveyor belt which has in recent years churned out Shinji Kagawa, Takashi Inui and Hiroshi Kiyotake. Yoichiro Kakitani is a razor sharp forward with something of a wayward history who initially burst onto the scene with this goal from inside the centre circle against France in the U17 World Cup. In the current Cerezo team he has a foil in dynamic midfielder Hotaru Yamaguchi, the two combining to offer the Cherries an at times lethal cutting edge.

While some still put forward the view that the Japan national side lacks a goalscorer, the El Golazo poll draws attention to two players who may just end up giving the lie to that idea. As a close-range finisher Sanfrecce Hiroshima's diminutive Hisato Sato has scored goals throughout his career -- you have to go back to 2003 for the last season in which he failed to score 10 league goals -- and he's now arguably at the peak of his powers. Sato has in the past had the merest sniff of international football but the fact that he's now the wrong side of 30 obviously doesn't count in his favour. That's unfortunate: Hisato Sato's a great player.

Yohei Toyoda couldn't be much more different from Sato if he tried. A strapping six-footer, the 28-year-old is more of an all-round front player in stylistic terms and up until 2010 was threatening to see out his career as a journeyman pro flitting between the two divisions of the J-League. On joining long-term J2ers Sagan Tosu, however, it all fell into place. In 2011 he scored 23 goals to fire the Kyushu minnows to an unexpected but deserved promotion, a feat Toyoda followed up with 19 in an extraordinary debut J1 campaign in which he and Tosu bloodied many a nose on the way to a fifth-place finish.

It certainly isn't going so well for the club this year -- they're skirting the relegation zone -- but again Toyoda can't be faulted for his individual contribution, having already netted 8 in 13 games. It remains to be seen whether he, Sato, Kakitani or any of the other supporters' favourites can find a way into Zaccheroni's plans, although the coach would do well to understand the level of frustration among fans at the national team's lack of progress since winning the Asian Cup in 2011.

Meanwhile in the J-League, the end of June marks a key milestone in the development of the new J3 that's scheduled to begin next season. It's by the end of the month that interested teams have to have submitted their application for J-League associate membership -- a requirement for J3 entry -- and the last few days have seen a sudden rush of trips to the post office as secretaries of ambitious non-league sides up and down the land mail the paperwork to J-League HQ. The results of these applications are set to be announced in September with confirmation in December of the J3 line-up.

As things stand 19 clubs either already are associate members or have applied to be so, those teams playing variously in the current third tier JFL, the Regional Leagues and even one from straight outta left field in the Prefectural Leagues -- Japan's equivalent of county football. It's anticipated that 10 or so of these clubs will make it into the new division for next year with a further one likely to be relegated from J2 to round out the numbers. Machida Zelvia as ex-J-Leaguers relegated from J2 last year are also expected to be in the mix.

Longer term, by which I mean in accordance with the J-League's own 100-Year Plan, the intention seems to be to expand J3 to 20 clubs and then regionalise so that ultimately there are roughly 60 teams spread across western, central and eastern divisions. More immediately the most probable outcome is that the existing associate members plus Machida will become J3 founder members, together with a handful of the recent batch of applicants from across the pyramid. The list of runners and riders below gives an early indication of some of the names heading towards J3.

Associate members

AC Nagano Parceiro (JFL)
Blaublitz Akita (JFL)
Kamatamare Sanuki (JFL)
SC Sagamihara (JFL)
Zweigen Kanazawa (JFL)

Applied

Azul Claro Numazu (Regional League)
FC Ryukyu (JFL)
FC Suzuka Rampole (Regional League)
Fujieda MyFC (JFL)
Fukushima United (JFL)
Grulla Morioka (Regional League)
MIO Biwako Kusatsu (JFL)
Nara Club (Regional League)
Renofa Yamaguchi (Regional League)
Tochigi UVA (JFL)
Tonan Maebashi (Regional League)
Vanraure Hachinohe (Regional League)
Veertien FC (Prefectural League)
YSCC (JFL)