It’s pouring buckets outside and is supposed to continue doing so well into tomorrow, with Yahoo! Japan predicting a 50% chance of rain at kickoff. It will be wet, it will be humid, the game technically doesn’t matter, and the fallout from the clusterfuck at last week’s Urawa/Gamba match may mean that stadium security will be a bit too overzealous in making sure that peace is kept between the two supporter groups, but it will be a Tokyo Derby nonetheless.
What to write… honestly, I don’t even know, I was in Yoyogi last night and the night before to shoot at Zher the Zoo and my ears still haven’t regained their full capabilities. Let’s see…
-This is a Nabisco Cup qualifier, so, as I said, it doesn’t really matter when it comes to J1. Currently Shizuka is in the lead with 7 points, followed by FCT and Jubilo with 4 each (FCT leads on goals scored?) and Verdy trailing with two points. An FC Tokyo win would undoubtedly eliminate Verdy from the Cup.
-If you want to talk momentum, FC Tokyo is coming off of a much-needed win in Jubilo after losing two straight 1-0 decisions to the home crowd and squandering a Golden Week Spring that could have easily found them in first place. However, in a “fortuitous” series of results, none of the other teams at the top of the standings were really able to capitalize on anything, leaving FC Tokyo in 3rd place, three points behind Nagoya and Urawa. Verdy has recovered from its poor form early on in the season, going 4-1-1 in the last 6 games and rising to 11th place at 17 points. Given that the difference between 4th place (Kashiwa and Kawasaki, 20 points) and 16th place (Jubilo) is only 6 points, we could (and most likely will) see a totally different order by the time the season ends.
-Verdy will be at full strength for the game because their team is nothing but foreigners and old men (FC Nippon indeed!). However, FC Tokyo has 3 players who are wearing the Samurai Blue for the national team and won’t be in the lineup (Kajiyama is w/ the U-23 team in Europe, while Nagatomo and Konno are with the A-team in Japan) The pitch condition will blow, expect to see the Green Gaijin Gang get substituted or warm the bench for Verdy while FCT will give some of its younger players a chance to start – possibly Yusuke, Otake… who knows.
-Who knows how security will be as a result of the incident between Gamba and Urawa last weekend… personally I don’t think either set of fans feels like starting shit in the rain. I hope not.
-Soilent Green has some random facts about the derby, including player participation and such as well as duly noting that Blue/Red has owned Green for the majority of the rivalry. In an unrelated matter from one of his previous posts he admits that I Am Right. Not that we didn’t already know this, of course.
And that’s all for now because I’m damned tired. See you tomorrow at Ajisuta!
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