Japan claims World Cup spot with victory over Uzbekistan

Takeshi Okada's Japan claimed a World Cup spot with 1-0 victory over Uzbekistan.

The Blue Samurai opened the scoring nine minutes in when Shimizu S-Pulse striker Shinji Okazaki’s got on the end of Kengo Nakamura through ball and after his initial attempt was saved he managed to head the rebound in. With the exception of the early goal, Japan displayed a masterful plan that nullified Uzbeks dangerous attacker Server Djeparov (FC Bunyodkor) and rarely allowed a legitimate effort towards 'keeper Seigo Narazaki until late. Finally in the last stages of the match the Uzbeks started to apply pressure but efforts by Djeparov and Islom Tuhtahujaev (Neftchi Farg'ona) were unable to find the net.

Following the match the manager said:

“It was a tough game, as we had expected, and our players fought hard until the very end of the game. They showed their mental toughness when our opponents wouldn’t let us play our brand of football. This is just the start for us. I’m grateful that we have got this opportunity.”

Japan defeats Chile 4-0

The Blue Samurai's opening match in the Kirin Cup Wednesday evening at Nagai Stadium in Osaka ended with a solid 4-0 trouncing of Chile.

Chile's Jean Beausejour, who plays his for Club América of the Primera División de México was a menace for Japan early. However at twentieth minute Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse) capitalized on a rebound of Keisuke Honda (VVV-Venlo) to send the ball in from ten metres. Only four minutes later Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F. Marinos) accepted a long ball and then provided Okazaki a perfect set-up to notch his second of the night from just inside the area, giving the Blue Samurai a 2-0 lead. Seven minutes after the break Japan extended its lead as Yasuhito Endo's (Gamba Osaka) corner from the right was headed-in to the near post by Yuki Abe (Urawa Red Diamonds). Now up by three Chile was the more controlling of the sides through much of the match but were unable to break onto the score-sheet and deep into added-time Kisho Yano (Albirex Niigata) and Naoki Yamada (Urawa Red Diamonds) linked up to provide Keisuke Honda for the fourth and final goal.

The match marked the debut of Urawa Red Diamonds eighteen year-old midfielder Naoki Yamada in his first international appearance. Pleased with the performance Blue Samurai coach Takeshi Okada said following the match:

“Our players played as we intended them to, so I’m very happy about that.”

Japan faces Belgium on Sunday at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

J-League week 6 summary

Week 6 of the J-League concluded with Kashima Antlers and Urawa locked at the top of the table.

Kashima Antlers were disappointed at home as they played Yokohama F. Marinos to a scoreless draw with the visitors creating the majority of scoring opportunities. The drop allowed the Urawa Red Diamonds to fight to top of the table with their 1-0 defeat of Kyoto Sanga 1-0 at Saitama Stadium. The lone strike of the match came eight minutes in from Edmilson after being played through by Ponte.

Gamba Osaka came back to beat Montedio Yamagata 2-1 at home with Japan international Yasuhito Endo and Leandro striking in the final twenty minutes. Kim Byung Suk had given Yamagata the lead just before the break as Tatsuya Ishikawa's corner came to him before sending in.

Kashiwa Reysol's difficult start continued they lost 2-1 at home to Nagoya Grampus. Davi had given Grampus the lead at the half hour before Minoru Suganuma leveled the match on the hour. However Davi snatched the victory in added-time.

Albirex Niigata and Sanfrecce Hiroshima to a six goal draw with Junior netting all three for Niigata in the first half. Hisato Sato gave Hiroshima the lead quarter of the hour before Junior went on his rampage. Leveling the match midway of the half nodding in Mitsuru Chiyotanda's, he added his second on the half hour before volleying in Kisho Yano's cross two minutes before the break. However Hiroshima came storming back after the restart with Yosuke Kashiwagi bringing to within one at the fifty-fifth minute. Hideo Oshima's own goal with eighteen minutes left brought the exciting match even.

Kawasaki Frontale defeated Omiya Ardija 3-1 in a shocking finish. After Frontale took control of the match early Naoki Ishihara gave visiting Ōmiya the lead at the half hour the match after being played through by veteran Chikara Fujimoto. Chong Tese found the equalizer two minutes past the hour after being provided the ball by Kengo Nakamura on a fast counter-attack. However with three minutes left Hiroyuki Taniguchi headed-in Yusuke Igawa's cross only to be followed-up with Juninho's close range goal to make it 3-1.

JEF United Ichihara-Chiba found its win of the year as they defeated FC Tokyo 2-1 in a late rally. After Naohiro Ishikawa had given the Gas Men the lead nineteen minutes in it looked to heading for a victory for the home side. However Seiichiro Maki and Masaki Fukai struck as time wound down for JEF in a shocking conclusion.

In the Shizuoka derby Júbilo Iwata overwhelmed Shimizu S-Pulse 3-0 at home coming from three goals after the break. Without the services of Gilsinho, suspended for the match, South Korea international Lee Keun Ho hit the mark eleven minutes after the restart with a close range goal set-up by Yohei Nishibe. He doubled the margin with sixteen minutes left via 'keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi's long ball, flicked on by Ryoichi Maeda. Maeda added an insurance goal with nine minutes remaining striking from just inside the box.

Ōita Trinita's horrible start continued with a 3-2 loss to Vissel Kobe. Yasuhito Morishima gave Ōita the lead at the eighth minute before Hiroto Mogi drew it level eleven minutes later. The see-saw affair continued as Yosuke Ishibit returned Kobe's lead at strike of the hour but Ōita's Ueslei squared it up with nineteen minutes remaining. With the match now even Hideo Tanaka found the winner for Kobe with eleven minutes left on the clock and remarkably Ōita sits at the bottom of the table.

J-League media clips are available here

J-League week 6	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	P
Kashima Antlers 鹿島アントラーズ	6	4	1	1	9	5	13
Urawa Red Diamonds 浦和レッズ	6	4	1	1	7	4	13
Albirex Niigata アルビレックス新潟	6	3	2	1	11	7	11
Gamba Osaka ガンバ大阪	6	3	1	2	14	9	10
Montedio Yamagata モンテディオ山形	6	3	1	2	9	5	10
Nagoya Grampus 名古屋グランパスt	6	3	1	2	9	8	10
Omiya Ardija 大宮アルディージャ	6	2	3	1	10	10	9
Kyoto Sanga 京都サンガF.C.	6	3	0	3	5	5	9
Sanfrecce Hiroshima サンフレッチェ広島	6	2	2	2	16	13	8
Kawasaki Frontale 川崎フロンターレ	6	2	2	2	9	7	8
Shimizu S-Pulse 清水エスパルス	6	2	2	2	3	6	8
Vissel Kobe ヴィッセル神戸	6	2	1	3	6	11	7
Yokohama F Marinos 横浜Ｆ・マリノス	6	1	3	2	11	9	6
JEF United Ichihara-Chiba ジェフユナイテッド千葉	6	1	3	2	5	8	6
FC Tokyo ＦＣ東京	6	2	0	4	6	11	6
Júbilo Iwata ジュビロ磐田	6	1	2	3	8	13	5
Ōita Trinita 大分トリニータ	6	1	1	4	5	8	4
Kashiwa Reysol 柏レイソル	6	0	4	2	9	13	4

Japan defeat Bahrain 1-0

Japan's World Cup qualifying hopes advanced with a 1-0 defeat of Bahrain at Saitama Stadium. The win moves the Blue Samurai one point above Australia who have a match in-hand and face Uzbekistan next Wednesday.

Takeshi Okada deployed a more aggressive 4-3-3 using Tatsuya Tanaka 田中　達也 (Urawa Red Diamonds), Keiji Tamada 玉田　圭司 (Nagoya Grampus) and Yoshito Ōkubo 大久保　嘉人 (VfL Wolfsburg) up top with Makoto Hasebe 長谷部　誠 (VfL Wolfsburg), Yasuhito Endō 遠藤 保仁 (Gamba Osaka) and Shunsuke Nakamura 中村　俊輔 Celtic in the midfield. The back-line of Atsuto Uchida 内田　篤人 (Kashima Antlers), Yuji Nakazawa 中澤　佑二 (Yokohama F. Marinos), Marcus Tulio Tanaka 田中 マルクス闘莉王 (Urawa Red Diamonds) and Yuto Nagatomo 長友　佑都 (F.C. Tokyo) was anchored with Seigo Narazaki 楢崎　正剛 (Nagoya Grampus) between the posts.

After a scoreless first half in which the Blue Samurai's best chance to score came from Yasuhito Endō's corner was headed on but Yuji Nakazawa header was cleared off the line, Takeshi Okada's side took the lead two minutes into the new half. Following a foul on Keiji Tamada, Celtic's Shunsuke Nakamura free kick from twenty-five metres took an opportunistic bounce off Bahrain defender Abdulla Marzooq and into the net giving the Blue Samurai the 1-0 lead. Japan should have increased the margin seven minutes later when Atsuto Uchida was alone in front but his effort didn't materialize and four minutes later the Kashima Antlers defender had another chance but this type it shook the crossbar. With Bahrain barely able to launch an threatening attack, Japan cruised through the remaining minutes for a 1-0 victory.

Photo Credit: AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA

Blue Samurai ready for Bahrain

Takeshi Okada's step towards his lofty World Cup goals continue on Saturday as the Blue Samuria face Bahrain at Saitama Stadium. At present Japan is in second place of Group B and know that a win is desperately needed to advance but know they have a difficult test as Bahrain, led by Cxech coach Milan Máčala, have upset Japan in two of the last four meetings.

The Japan coach said of the match:

"All matches are important, but this is the one where we really have to fight for the win.

"As we haven’t won our home games in the final-round qualifiers so far, we would love to win this time round.

"I know how they play and don’t think they will deviate much from that.

"They try to frustrate their opponents, but we’d like to focus on our own game."

Along with captain Yokohama F. Marinos's Yuji Nakazawa 中澤 佑二 and Gamba Osaka's Yasuhito Endo 遠藤 保仁, the European contingency of Celtic’s Shunsuke Nakamura 中村 俊輔, St. Etienne’s Daisuke Matsui 松井 大輔 and VfL Wolfsburg duo Makoto Hasebe 長谷 部誠and Yoshito Ōkubo 大久保 嘉人 return to the fold.

Goalkeepers—Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus), Ryota Tsuzuki (Urawa Reds), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale)

Defenders—Shuhei Terada (Kawasaki Frontale), Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F. Marinos), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Urawa Reds), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata), Yuki Abe (Urawa Reds), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers)

Midfielders—Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Hideo Hashimoto (Gamba Osaka), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Daisuke Matsui (St. Etienne), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Makoto Hasebe (VfL Wolfsburg), Mu Kanazaki (Oita Trinita), Shinji Kagawa (Cerezo Osaka)

Forwards—Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus), Yoshito Ōkubo (VfL Wolfsburg), Tatsuya Tanaka (Urawa Reds), Kisho Yano (Albirex Niigata), Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse)

Japan defeats Finland in light paced friendly

Leading into next weeks important World Cup qualifying match against Australia, Japan defeated a young Finnish side 5-1 in a friendly.

Following the match Blue Samurai manager Takeshi Okada said:

"This is a test match. But Australia are a stronger team than Finland and we still have some more days to improve.

"First of all, we must eliminate their chances off set-piece plays. Hopefully, we can play our best football next week."

Ruining the party, Finland used the friendly as a chance introduce nine new players and only two regulars, so this was effectively an easy going workout.

Shimizu S-Pulse striker Shinji Okazaki added two goals both on long counters, the first coming from Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers) fifteen minutes in and the second coming two minutes pass the half hour from Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale). Nineteen year old Shinji Kagawa of Cerezo Osaka made it 3-0 before the break with a great bit of ball handling and finishing.

Roni Porokara scored five minutes after the restart before Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F. Marinos) scoring just past the hours and . Substitute Michihiro Yasuda (Gamba Osaka) adding the fifth goal with four minutes left.

Gamba Osaka continue to build adding Kazumichi Takagi

Gamba Osaka continue to build on their squad as they have added Kazumichi Takagi from Shimizu S-Pulse. The twenty-eight year defender earned his first cap for Japan this past summer and will make a strong impression on Gamba's backline.

Takeshi Okada has big plans for 2010

Takeshi Okada has set the bar high for the 2010 World Cup stating that he believes a final-four finish is possible:

"We will seriously aim to finish in the top four at the World Cup. Some people may laugh it off but I think it is possible."

His lofty goals will be put to test this February 11 as Japan faces unbeaten Group A leaders Australia in a critical qualifying match.

semi-finals of Emperor’s Cup set

With Gamba Osaka's 2-1 quarter-final victory over Nagoya Grampus the semi-finals of The Emperor's Cup is set. On Monday evening (local) Kashiwa Reysol will play FC Tokyo in Shizuoka while Gamba face Yokohama F. Marinos in Tokyo in the other semi's. Of the remaining clubs, none has won the Cup although Yokohama's predecessor clubs, pre-merger "Marinos" and "Flügels", hoisted hardware in 1992 and 1993 respectively.

J-League final week summary

Kashima Antlers defeated relegation condemned Consadole Sapporo 1-0 giving the Antlers their second consecutive J-League title. The lone goal came from Takuya Nozawa nine minutes before the break as he thundered home a strike from outside the area.

Kashima Antlers coach Oswaldo Oliveira commented of winning the title:

"It's not easy to win the title for a second straight year, so I'm really happy to achieve such a difficult goal. We have many excellent players and we were able to play in good conditions. This is a victory that remains in my mind throughout my life. We played some high-level games. That's why we were solid even when the times were tough," he added.



A product of the Antler system, Takuya Nozawa said after the match:

"We also won the title by winning the last game last season, but I feel something different in today's victory. We had some tough times and everybody did his best to get past those times with a strong will to win the title."



It was a sad day for Tokyo Verdy 1969 as they lost to Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 who finished second in the table. The match was decided with goals from Renatinho five minutes past the hour and Kengo Nakamura as time wound down. The loss for Verdy, combined with JEF's victory returns them to the purgatory of J-2. Nagoya Grampus Eight and Ōita Trinita played to a scoreless draw with the clubs finishing third and fourth respectively. Shimizu S-Pulse finished their season with a solid 3-1 victory over Kyoto Purple Sanga with Takuro Yajima opening the scoring with seven minutes before the break and Masaki Yamamoto doubling the margin within a minute. Kyoto pushed forward but Kazuki Hara made it 3-0 at the eighty-first minues with Atsushi Yanagisawa adding a consolation goal with five minutes remaining in the season. While few may have took notice, JEF United Ichihara-Chiba 4 - 2 defeat of six-place finisher FC Tokyo must be one of the great clutch performances of the season. With twelve minutes remaining and looking at relegation, JEF came back from a two goal deficit Tatsunori Arai scored with twelve minutes remaining, only to Tatsuya Tanizawa level within the minutes. The onslaught continued as Reinaldo scored three minutes later before Tatsuya added his second of the match with five minutes remaining. The stunning turnaround of JEF complete, with the victory they avoid relegation. While JEF can talk of a great finish, the Red Diamonds will look to the future as Yokohama F. Marinos humiliated them 6-1 at Saitama. Following Shingo Hyodo's goal at the twenty-third minute, Yokohama erupted with five unanswered goals after the break, two by Takanobu Komiyama and Ryuji Kawai each and a further by Hideo Oshima. Albirex Niigata defeated Gamba Osaka 3-2 with Jun Uchida adding the winner in added time. In a mid table battle Kashiwa Reysol defeated Vissel Kobe 2-0 Fereira Popo opening the scoring just before the other and the second coming moments later with an unfortunate own-goal. Júbilo Iwata defensive approach fell short as they lost to Omiya Ardija 1-0 as Daigo Kobayashi scored with fourteen minutes remaining. The loss forces Júbilo into the nerve-racking sixteenth position where they will now have to fight in a playoff battle to avoid relegation.

J-League final standings	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
Kashima Antlers 鹿島アントラーズ	34	18	9	7	56	30	63
Kawasaki Frontale 川崎フロンターレ	34	18	6	10	65	42	60
Nagoya Grampus 名古屋グランパス	34	17	8	9	48	35	59
Ōita Trinita 大分トリニータ	34	16	8	10	33	24	56
Shimizu S-Pulse 清水エスパルス	34	16	7	11	50	42	55
FC Tokyo ＦＣ東京	34	16	7	11	50	46	55
Urawa Red Diamonds 浦和レッズ	34	15	8	11	50	42	53
Gamba Osaka ガンバ大阪	34	14	8	12	46	49	50
Yokohama F Marinos 横浜Ｆ・マリノス	34	13	9	12	43	32	48
Vissel Kobe ヴィッセル神戸	34	12	11	11	39	38	47
Kashiwa Reysol 柏レイソル	34	13	7	14	48	45	46
Omiya Ardija 大宮アルディージャ	34	12	7	15	36	45	43
Albirex Niigata アルビレックス新潟	34	11	9	14	32	46	42
Kyoto Purple Sanga 京都サンガF.C.	34	11	8	15	37	46	41
JEF United Ichihara-Chiba ジェフユナイテッド千葉	34	10	8	16	36	53	38
Júbilo Iwata ジュビロ磐田	34	10	7	17	40	48	37
Tokyo Verdy 1969 東京ヴェルディ	34	10	7	17	38	50	37
Consadole Sapporo コンサドーレ札幌	34	4	6	24	36	70	18

J-League week 32 summary

With only two weeks left to go in the J-League season Kashima Antlers looks poised to win the championship with a two-point advantage over Nagoya Grampus. The Antlers defeated Ōita 1-0 with Blue Samurai Atsuto Uchida goal ten minutes after the break.

With the hardware in sight, Antlers coach Oswaldo Oliveira said:

"Although the score was 1-0, we created many chances. If we had scored earlier, it would have been easier for us to play. We must steady ourselves and keep our concentration for the remaining two games."

Nagoya Grampus kept pace with a stunning 3-2 victory over Kyoto Purple Sanga. Veteran Atsushi Yanagisawa of fifty-eight international caps for Japan scored twice for Sanga but Frode Johnsen added a penalty strike for Grampus five minutes into added time for the important three points. Shimizu S-Pulse disappointed the exuberant supporters in Saitama as they defeated
Urawa Red Diamonds 2-1. Takuma Edamura gave the visitors the lead twenty-two minutes into the match before Marcus Tulio Tanaka's heroics brought the match level with twenty-two minutes remaining. However with seven minutes remaining Takuro Yajima shocked the home crowd and gave S-Pa the victory. Possibly the biggest surprise of the weekend was Kawasaki Frontale complete detonation of Gamba Osaka with a 4-0 victory.

Elsewhere in the J-League:

Jubilo Iwata 3
Kashiwa Reysol 3

Vissel Kobe 1
FC Tokyo 1

JEF United Ichihara-Chiba 0
Yokohama F. Marinos 3

Tokyo Verdy 1969 1
Consadole Sapporo 1

Albirex Niigata 2
Omiya Ardija 2

J-League week 32	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	P
Kashima Antlers 鹿島アントラーズ	32	16	9	7	54	30	57
Nagoya Grampus 名古屋グランパス	32	16	7	9	45	34	55
Kawasaki Frontale 川崎フロンターレ	32	16	6	10	59	42	54
Urawa Red Diamonds 浦和レッズ	32	15	8	9	49	35	53
Oita Trinita	32	15	7	10	31	24	52
FC Tokyo ＦＣ東京	32	15	7	10	47	42	52
Shimizu S-Pulse 清水エスパルス	32	14	7	11	44	39	49
Vissel Kobe ヴィッセル神戸	32	12	11	9	39	32	47
Gamba Osaka ガンバ大阪	32	13	8	11	43	46	47
Kashiwa Reysol 柏レイソル	32	12	7	13	46	45	43
Yokohama F Marinos 横浜Ｆ・マリノス	32	11	9	12	35	31	42
Kyoto Purple Sanga 京都サンガF.C.	32	11	7	14	35	42	40
Omiya Ardija 大宮アルディージャ	32	11	6	15	34	44	39
Albirex Niigata アルビレックス新潟	32	10	9	13	29	43	39
Tokyo Verdy 1969 東京ヴェルディ	32	10	7	15	38	46	37
Jubilo Iwata ジュビロ磐田	32	10	7	15	40	49	37
JEF United Ichihara-Chiba ジェフユナイテッド千葉	32	9	8	15	30	48	35
Consadole Sapporo コンサドーレ札幌	32	4	6	22	35	66	18

J-League stars lead Blue Samurai to victory

Lead by goals from Urawa Red Diamonds Tatsuya Tanaka and Marcus Tulio Tanaka and Nagoya Grampus Keiji Tamada, Japan defeated Qatar 3-0 in World Cup qualifying. Takeshi Okada’s Blue Samurai opened the scoring at the nineteenth minute as twenty year-old Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers) crossed to Tatsuya Tanaka (Urawa Red Diamonds) who nutted Qatar ‘keeper Mohamed Saqr. Showing great patience the Blue Samurai controlled play and didn’t allow a reasonable goal scoring attempt towards veteran ‘keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Júbilo Iwata) throughout the balance of the half. Two minutes after the restart Wolfsburg’s Makoto Hasebe found an open Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus) who drove the ball to the back of the net from the top of the area. The Nippon attack thirsted for more goals, with Yoshito Okubo (Vissel Kobe) narrowly missing just before the hour mark but with twenty-one minutes remaining Celtic’s Shunsuke Nakamura crossed perfectly to Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Urawa Red Diamonds), who subsequently nodded into the back of the net to make it 3-0. Japan continued to press for more goals but they fell short and the match concluded with a powerful 3-0 victory.

Blue Samurai win easy over Qatar

The build-up for Qatar match didn’t materialize into the challenge anyone was expecting as Takeshi Okada’s Blue Samurai easily defeated Qatar 3-0 with goals from J-League Urawa Reds Tatsuya Tanaka and Marcus Tulio Tanaka and Grampus’ Keiji Tamada. Japan took the lead at the nineteenth minute at twenty year-old Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers) crossed to Tatsuya Tanaka (Urawa Red Diamonds) who nutted Qatar ‘keeper Mohamed Saqr. Showing great patience the Blue Samurai controlled play and didn’t allow a reasonable goal scoring attempt towards veteran ‘keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Júbilo Iwata) throughout the balance of the half. Two minutes after the restart Wolfsburg’s Makoto Hasebe found an open Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus) who drove the ball to the back of the net from the top of the area. The Nippon attack thirsted for more goals, with Yoshito Okubo (Vissel Kobe) narrowly missing just before the hour mark but with twenty-one minutes remaining Celtic’s Shunsuke Nakamura crossed perfectly to Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Urawa Red Diamonds), who subsequently nodded into the back of the net to make it 3-0. Japan continued to press for more goals but they fell short and the match concluded with a powerful 3-0 victory.

Qatar match preview

As Takeshi Okada leads his Blue Samurai forces against Qatar he knows with both squads tied two points behind Australia a victory is an absolute must to avoid the disaster of not qualifying for the World Cup. However without a victory over Qatar in the past and with so much on the line, they have a massive task.

Takeshi Okada said of the match:

"We are well prepared for this match. I am happy with the way we have approached this match. I am extremely happy to find the weather so much to our liking. In fact, I am quite surprised that it is so pleasant."

The Blue Samurai are troubled with a number of injuries including Celtics Shunsuke Nakamura who is questionable.

Takeshi Okada would not reveal his lineup only to say:

"We will see how things go in our last training session. I will decide on the playing 11 after the final training session on Tuesday evening."

Many consider this match as the definitive point for Takeshi Okada's career heading up Japan as without a win he will feel enormous pressure to step down.

Enjoy the match and I will be providing regular updates throughout.

Kazumichi Takagi and Ryuta Tsuzuki called up for Blue Samurai

Due to recent injuries Takeshi Okada has called Shimizu S-Pulse defender Kazumichi Takagi and Urawa Red Diamonds 'keeper Ryuta Tsuzuki to the Blue Samurai for the upcoming friendly against Syria.

J-League week 31

With only two matches remaining in the J-League season another round of upsets tightened up the race even more and left you wondering if anyone really wants to win the championship.

In possibly the biggest surprise of the weekend, table leaders Kashima Antlers were held to a scoreless draw by relegation threatened Albirex Niigata. It is a shocking result that could cost Oswaldo de Oliveira's club the title and now leaves now room for mistakes against Ōita in their next match. Lucky for the Antlers they weren't the only club unable to stay focused on the title as the top of the table was full of clubs gasping into the final matches.

Elsewhere Oita Trinita title efforts took a significant turn for the worse as once again Alex Miller's JEF United Ichihara-Chiba were the spoiler holding Ōita off and the match ended in the nil draw. Within the theme of shocking conclusions, Omiya Ardija staring at the face of relegation, defeated Kawasaki Frontale 2-1 as Klemen Lavrič scored with twelve minutes remaining. The stunning upset cost Frontale a share of first place and forces them into a must-win situation against Gamba in their next match. Not to be undone in dropping title aspirations and possibly the biggest disappointment(choke) of the weekend, Nagoya Grampus fell to Kashiwa Reysol 2-1 as Reysol scored twice in the final ten minutes. Grampus controlled the match until the eighty minute mark with Minoru Suganuma scored to level the match only to be followed Popo finding the winner two minutes later. Grampus tried to find the equalizer but their efforts were futile.

At Sapporo Stadium, finally one club emerged that seems to want to win the championship. After the Red Diamonds gave-up an opening goal to relegation condemned Consadole Sapporo, goals from Blue Samurai Tatsuya Tanaka a minute before the half-hour mark and Edmilson ten minutes after the break gave them the 2-1 victory. With the three-points the Reds are only one point behind Kashima with matches against Shimizu S-Pulse and Gamba Osaka in the final weeks. Considering the final weekend, the Reds will be looking for revenge against Gamba as well as the championship.

FC Tokyo continued its charge with 3-1 victory over Gamba Osaka who seem to be preoccupied with the Champions League title. With the match level at the break, Naohiro Ishikawa gave the Gas Men the lead at the re-start with Sōta Hirayama doubling the margin three minutes past the hour.

Elsewhere in the J-League:

Yokohama F. Marinos- 1
Kyoto Purple Sanga- 3

Gamba Osaka- 1
FC Tokyo- 3

Jubilo Iwata- 1
Shimizu S-Pulse- 0

Tokyo Verdy 1969- 0
Vissel Kobe- 2

J-League week 31	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	P
Kashima Antlers 鹿島アントラーズ	31	15	9	7	53	30	54
Urawa Red Diamonds 浦和レッズ	31	15	8	8	48	33	53
Nagoya Grampus 名古屋グランパス	31	15	7	9	42	32	52
Oita Trinita 大分トリニータ	31	15	7	9	31	23	52
Kawasaki Frontale 川崎フロンターレ	31	15	6	10	55	42	51
FC Tokyo ＦＣ東京	31	15	6	10	46	41	51
Gamba Osaka ガンバ大阪	31	13	8	10	43	42	47
Vissel Kobe ヴィッセル神戸	31	12	10	9	38	31	46
Shimizu S-Pulse 清水エスパルス	31	13	7	11	42	38	46
Kashiwa Reysol 柏レイソル	31	12	6	13	43	40	42
Kyoto Purple Sanga 京都サンガF.C.	31	11	7	13	33	39	40
Yokohama F Marinos 横浜Ｆ・マリノス	31	10	9	12	32	31	39
Omiya Ardija 大宮アルディージャ	31	11	5	15	32	42	38
Albirex Niigata アルビレックス新潟	31	10	8	13	27	41	38
Jubilo Iwata ジュビロ磐田	31	10	6	15	37	43	36
Tokyo Verdy 1969 東京ヴェルディ	31	10	6	15	37	45	36
JEF United Ichihara-Chiba ジェフユナイテッド千葉	31	9	8	14	30	45	35
Consadole Sapporo コンサドーレ札幌	31	4	5	22	34	65	17

Yuji Nakazawa out with injury

Takeshi Okada's Blue Samurai's were dealt a tough blow as Yokohama F-Marinos Yuji Nakazawa has been forced to pull-out of the lineup with a muscle strain he suffered in a J-League match against Kyoto Purple Sanga. This situation is further complicated as it is questionable that Celtic's Shunsuke Nakamura will be recovered in time for the Qatar match.

Takeshi Okada’s squad to face Qatar

With the Qatar match looming ahead, Takeshi Okada named his squad, featuring Shunsuke Nakamura of Celtic, Daisuke Matsui of St. Etienne and Makoto Hasebe of VfL Wolfsburg. Due to an injury Junichi Inamoto has been left off but should he recover he is likely to be recalled. Included in the list are returnees Michihiro Yasuda and Hideo Hashimoto of Gamba Osaka and Urawa Red Diamonds Tatsuya Tanaka. As part of their tuneup they will play Syria in a Kirin Challenge Cup friendly on November 13 in Kobe. After the announcement it was revealed that ‘keeper Seigo Narazaki of Nagoya Grampus sustained an ankle injury and is unlikely to be available.

Squad:
Goalkeepers—Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata), Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale)
Defenders—Shuhei Terada (Kawasaki Frontale), Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F. Marinos), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Urawa Reds), Yuichi Konno (Jubilo Iwata), Yuki Abe (Urawa Reds), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Michihiro Yasuda (Gamba Osaka), Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers)
Midfielders—Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Hideo Hashimoto (Gamba), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Daisuke Matsui (St. Etienne), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Makoto Hasebe (VfL Wolfsburg), Shinji Kagawa (Cerezo Osaka)
Forwards—Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus), Seiichiro Maki (JEF United Chiba), Hisato Sato (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Yoshito Okubo (Vissel Kobe), Tatsuya Tanaka (Urawa Reds), Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse)

Seigo Narazaki out

Nagoya Grampus announced today that their thirty-two year-old goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki will be out with an ankle injury he suffered on the training grounds. This also means the Blue Samurai capped will miss the key World Cup qualifier against Qatar the 19th of November

Japan's Women's U-17 takes apart France 7-1

Hiroshi Yoshida's Women's U-17 are defying expectations in the Women's U-17 tournament in New Zealand and produced the biggest margin of victory as they overwhelmed France 7-1. In-fact in a show of good sportsmanship, Japan eased back after the break or the score would have likely been much worse. After the match coach Hiroshi Yoshida commented: "I always tell my players that, no matter how beautiful the football is, the purpose of their play must always be to score," he said. "The final outcome - goals - is everything. [Against France], because we played good football and scored a lot of goals, it was an ideal performance."

Fifteen year-old Mana Iwabuchi created numerous opportunities with Yuiko Inoue opening the scoring at eleven minutes. French hopes grew as five minutes later Marine Augis brought the match level at 1 but after that Japan countered with six unanswered goals.




Natsuki Kishikawa (pictured, left) scored from the spot five minutes later and twelve minutes after the break, Chiaki Shimada at thirty-eight minutes and Chinatsu Kira scoring an incredible hat-trick at twenty-six, twenty-seven and thirty-four minutes. After the match skipper Natsuki Kishikawa said: "Although I am inclined to think we can win this tournament, I don't want to think that way because it might affect our performance."