Monthly Archive for March, 2009

You’ll Never Ska Alone! Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra to play pre-game concert

Published on March 31, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo News by dokool. 6 Comments

According to this news from Nikkan Sports and confirmed on the band’s official website, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra will be returning to Ajinomoto Stadium for the first time in 5 years to hold a pre-game concert.  The 9-minute live will start about 20 minutes before Tokyo takes on Kawasaki Frontale on May 24th and include three songs; probably their cover of You’ll Never Walk Alone (as included in their most recent album Paradise Blue), スタジアムへ行こう, and a third song (my money would be on their cover of the Lupin the 3rd ’78 theme).

The band will play on a special stage set up on the upper level of the “home” side of the stadium (I’m guessing front stand).  I’ve so far failed to find any photos of the ’03 or ’04 performances but if I can find them, they’ll be posted (not likely because usually Japanese organizations have strict no-photo policies, but we’ll see!)  The band will be selling limited-edition tee-shirts to commemorate the event beginning next week.

For more information on Skapara’s history with FC Tokyo, check out our Music page.

And I totally want to make a giant “You’ll Never Ska Alone” banner now.  Who’s with me?

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Match Report: FC Tokyo vs. Vissel Kobe (Nabisco Cup Group Stage)

Published on March 30, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo News and J.League Nabisco Cup 2009 by dokool. 3 Comments
J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup Group Stage Round 1

First Half
0 – 0Second Half
1 – 0

Final
1 – 0

March 29th 2009, 2:04PM Kickoff at Ajinomoto Stadium (Chofu, Tokyo) Attendance 12,634
GK 21 Shuichi Gonda
DF 33 Kenta Mukuhara
DF 3 Hideki Sahara
DF 6 Yasayuki Konno
DF 25 Yuhei Tokunaga
MF 7 Satoru Asari
MF 10 Yohei Kajiyama
MF 12 Naotake Hanyu
MF 22 Yohei Otake
FW 9 Cabore
FW 24 Shingo Akamine		 Starting Members
 GK 1 Tatsuya Enomoto
DF 25 Yosuke Inibitsu
DF 4 Kunie Kitamoto
DF 14 Tsuneyasu Miyamoto
DF 5 Hiroyuki Komoto
MF 22 Kenji Baba
MF 6 Kim Nam-Il
MF 26 Ryosuke Matsuoka
MF 28 Tsubasa Oya
FW 13 Kazuki Ganaha
FW 19 Dausuke Sudo
71′ 32 Yusuke Kondo (for Cabore)

78′ 40 Tatsuya Suzuki (for Yohei Otake)

 Substitutes 45′ 20 Norio Suzuki (for Kenji Baba)

62′ 21 Hiroto Mogi (for Tsubasa Oya)

81′ 11 Shota Matsuhashi (for Ryosuke Matsuoka)
59′ Yohei Otake Goals
38′ Cabore Cautions
Ejections

Report

Oh lawd, is that a white circle next to our name?  Oh yes it is.  For what it’s worth I spent my first match in god knows how many matches away from the main supporter’s section; having spent the previous night taking photos at a rock DJ event I decided that my knee wasn’t prepared to handle all the jumping nor was I prepared to lug out my camera.  Instead one of my American friends tagged along with me and we watched from the corner in the shade.

Now I know one of our (few) regular commentors is chomping at the bit to see me report some good news, but let me be blunt: this was no great stunning victory; not even close.  A tale of two halves would be the best way to describe the match.  The first half, which was generally much like most of Tokyo’s other losses this season, was a disaster: blown passes, nothing resembling cohesion at midfield or in the back line, an offense that couldn’t seem to get anything going.  With the crowd urging the team to shoot (and in fact the team failed to get a shot off in the first half), a late attack run likely kept the team from retreating to the locker room under a chorus of boos.  Still, regardless of their offensive struggles, Kobe was for reasons that defy me unable or even unwilling to take advantage of Tokyo’s play.  It seemed very much like the atmosphere of an 0-0 draw.

Fortunately some drama got inserted into the second half from the outset, as former FC Tokyo midfielder Norio Suzuki was substituted for Kenji Baba.  The home crowd suddenly began to boo with a ferocity that I’ve never heard outside of a Tokyo Derby match and continued to do so every time Norio touched the ball.  On a shot of his that sailed far wide, FCT supporters started chanting “Home-run, home-run, No-ri-o!”, which had to have been the funniest chant I’ve heard in a while at J.League matches.  In any case!

The second half was, to put it simply, when Tokyo started playing like they were capable of playing.  Their short passes started working and in general they were finally able to move as they pleased.  Otake’s goal was a thing of beauty, a perfectly-timed pass from Cabore that he slammed into the goal with no hesitation.  It was the kind of goal that the team needs a lot more of.  But of course at it’s Tokyo, no goals were to come and the game ended in a 1-0 victory.  The supporters sang Norio’s old cheer as Kobe walked back to the showers, and I’ve been told that the booing was basically an expression of “We still love you but you left us for another team so we gotta boo you, no hard feelings?”  Oh, Japan.

Anyone paying attention to the lineups will notice a couple big changes on defense; not only was youngster Kenta Mukuhara slotted to replace Nagatomo at sideback, but Konno was dropped down to center back.  Mukuhara played very well and I’d definitely like to see him in the starting lineup sooner or later.  Konno at CB I’m not sure I have a full opinion of as of yet, but a clean sheet does much for the spirit.  Rookie Soutan Tanabe was also in the squad for the game but despite calls from the supporters, Jofuku decided not to give him any playing time.

Following the game, both Otake and Konno were summoned by the supporters for curtain calls (Otake for his goal and Konno following the hero interview).  Both players declined, however, and their postgame comments indicated that they didn’t feel that they had earned such praise with their play, and I would tend to agree.  Jofuku’s comments seem to indicate that the second half was a turning point; I would like to agree with that.  If they can play every half like it was the second half, the fans will finally get to see the Moving Football we were promised at the beginning of the season.  We’ll see if the lessons have stuck in the next match against Jubilo.

As far as the big picture in Group B qualifying, Kashiwa is currently in the lead with 4 points and FCT is tied with Yamagata and Shimizu.  However, “tied”  is somewhat of a misnomer as both of those teams have a game in hand due to the bye system.  Nabisco Cup play resumes in mid-May, with Tokyo visiting JEF Chiba on a weeknight.

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Match Report: Kashiwa Reysol vs. FC Tokyo (Nabisco Cup Group Stage)

Published on March 26, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Reports and J.League Nabisco Cup 2009 by dokool. 0 Comments
J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup Group Stage Round 1

First Half
2 – 1

Second Half
1 – 0

Final
3 – 1

March 25th 2009, 7PM Kickoff at Hitachi Kashiwa Soccer Stadium (Kashiwa, Chiba) Attendance 5,835
GK 21 Yuta Minami
DF 23 Yohei Kurakawa
DF 3 Naoya Kondo
DF 13 Yuzo Kobayashi
DF 4 Naoki Ishikawa
MF 2 Jiro Kamata
MF 18 Iwao Yamane
FW 14 Keisuke Ota
FW 11 Popo
FW 9 Hideaki Kajima
FW 27 Yuki Otsu		 Starting Members
 GK 21 Shuichi Gonda
DF 25 Yuhei Tokunaga
DF 3 Hideki Sahara
DF 2 Teriyuki Moniwa
DF 8 Ryuji Fujiyama
MF 10 Yohei Kajiyama
MF 17 Jo Kanazawa
MF 18 Naohiro Ishikawa
MF 22 Naotake Hanyu
FW 9 Cabore
FW 13 Sota Hirayama
87′ 15 Minoru Suganuma (for Yuki Otsu)

89′ 37 Masato Yamazaki (for Hideaki Kajima)

 Substitutes 52′ 40 Tatuya Suzuki (for Naotake Hanyu)

59′ 24 Shingo Akamine (for Sota Hirayama)

63′ 19 Yohei Otake (for Naohiro Ishikawa)
22′ Iwao Yamane

32′ Popo

47′ Yuki Otsu (PK)

 Goals 33′ Cabore
73′ Yuta Minami Cautions 31′ Yuhei Tokunaga

46′ Ryuji Fujiyama

71′ Hideki Sahara
Ejections

Report

Filling in the report template is already more effort than I wanted to put into the horrendous display put on by FC Tokyo last night in Kashiwa.  Sloppy play, poor passing, reckless fouls, an inability to get the ball into the net despite outshooting the opposition (in this case 21 to 9), you name it.  Even Cabore’s goal, with an empty net begging for the ball, was far from guaranteed until the ball finally went in.  The players were outrun and outgunned and showed their frustration; particularly in the case of Hideki Sahara’s yellow card after getting tangled up with a Kashiwa player.

It’s good to know that the players are frustrated, the supporters are as well.  The fact that Tokyo fans haven’t started booing yet is a miracle in my opinion; the catcalls following the postgame bow to the fans were teetering on that edge.  One wonders what it’s going to take for the team to play up to its potential.  Should Jofuku start benching his experienced players and call up some of his younger recruits?  Will there be a Mike Singletary-esque moment where Jofuku goes off on his team and the assembled press?  Is the answer as simple as Shiota’s return to the posts or as complicated as the entire offensive squad going on a peyote-fueled retreat and finding their power animal?

I don’t have the answer to that, but for the sake of the team and its supporters I hope an answer comes sooner rather than later.

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Aishiteru Tokyo’s Nabisco Cup Coverage

Published on March 24, 2009 in J.League Nabisco Cup 2009 and Site stuff by dokool. 10 Comments

Just a note on our coverage of the Nabisco Cup: because of the compressed timeframe involved in most Nabisco Cup matches (weekday games, several matches in short spans, etc) as well as the fact that most teams don’t field League-strength lineups (thus making games somewhat harder to evaluate), Aishiteru Tokyo will not provide previews for Group Stage matches.  Match writeups will be dependent on dokool’s ability to watch the game in some form or another but at the very least we’ll post the usual stats and a YouTube roundup if available.

Should FC Tokyo reach the quarterfinals or higher, Nabisco Cup games will be given the same treatment as league matches with complete previews, reports, and related coverage.

Match Report: J1 Week 3 FC Tokyo vs. Montedio Yamagata

Published on March 21, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Reports by Lantis. 0 Comments
J.League Division 1 Week 3
First Half
0 – 0

Second Half
1- 0

Final
1- 0
March 21st 2009, 2PM Kickoff at Ajinomoto Stadium (Chofu, Tokyo) Attendance 20,179
GK 20 Shuichi Gonda
DF 25 Yuhei Tokunaga
DF 3 Hideki Sahara
DF 2 Teruyuki Moniwa
DF 5 Yuto Nagatomo
MF 6 Tasuyuki Konno
MF 10 Yohei Kajiyama
MF 18 Naohiro Ishikawa
MF 22 Naotake Hanyu
FW 9 Cabore
FW 13 Sota Hirayama		 Starting Members
 GK 1 Kenta Shimizu
DF 14 Takuya Miyamoto
DF 3 Leonard
DF 23 Hidenori Ishii
DF 13 Tatsuya Ishikawa
MF 16 Kim Byung-Suk
MF 19 Masaru Akiba
MF 17 Kentaro Sato
MF 7 Katsuyuki Miyazawa
FW 9 Tatsuya Furuhashi
FW 15 Yu Hasegawa
62′ 40 Tatsuya Suzuki (for Naohiro Ishikawa)

69′ 32 Yusuke Kondo (for Cabore)

82′ 28 Takuji Yonemoto (for Naotake Hanyu)

 Substitutes 53′ 11 Takuya Miyamoto (for Tomotaka Kitamura)

67′ 6 Kouhei Miyazaki (for Kim Byung-Suk)

’82 22 Takuya Sonoda (for Tatsuya Furuhashi)
55′ Naotake Hanyu Goals
Cautions ’57 Takuya Miyamoto

’87 Kentaro Sato
Ejections

Report

Under a clear blue sky at Ajinomoto Stadium, FC Tokyo tasted victory for the first time this season against a persistent but ultimately outmatched Montedio Yamagata.

Though the final score isn’t necessarily indicative of it, Tokyo kept the offensive pressure on Yamagata throughout the game, outshooting the J1 rookies 12-6 and forcing 9 corner kicks to Yamagata’s 2.  Though both teams struggled to find a rhythm in the first half, as time elapsed Cabore and Ishikawa combined to produce several close chances that were either knocked away at the last second by Montedio goalkeeper Kenta Shimizu or simply missed the inside of the post by a couple feet.

Though Yamagata threatened at times, the defense anchored by Hideki Sahara finally seemed to do what they could not in the first two matches – keep Gonda mostly out of trouble.  Though they were far from perfect, the few shots that the players in yellow managed to get off were deftly handled by Gonda, including a superb save in the first half where he punched a high shot over the goal.

On offense, the team was certainly bolstered by Ishikawa’s return to the starting lineup and the first season appearance of Sota Hirayama.  Ishikawa brought the same level of energy that he contributed to the Urawa game, but the surprise of the match was definitely Hirayama.  Though he failed to score, Sota contributed thoroughly on both offense and defense, helping Tokyo win the air game and creating many chances on goal.

The lone goal of the match came in the second half, when Hanyu took a perfect cross from Cabore and sailed it over Shimizu for the score.  It was a beauty of a goal, reminiscent of Hanyu’s effort almost a year ago against Verdy.

While most of the game after that was keeping Montedio from putting together any sort of organized attack, there were a couple notable moments.  After coming on as a substitute, Yusuke Kondo barrelled through about 3 or 4 Montedio defenders before hooking his shot over the goal.  MF Takuji Yonemoto saw his first playing time coming on as a late substitute for Hanyu.  Takuji earned a post-game curtain call by the supporters after he stopped an attack by Yamagata with a superb slide tackle in the closing minutes.

With this victory the monkey is off the team’s back; particularly that of Shuichi Gonda who dove onto the grass in celebration when the match official blew his final whistle.  Gonda displayed impressive form in this match; although he’ll likely return to the bench within the next month as Shiota completes his rehabilitation, he will surely want to continue to savor the taste of a J.League victory while he can. Though a second goal would have been nice to see (yeah, how often have I said that), a rose by any other name is still worth 3 points, and Hiroshi Jofuku recieved an important win in addition to some birthday cake.

Quotes

“It was a tough game but the entire defense held its ground and managed to minimize our risks.  We’ve given away a lot of goals in set plays so that’s what we concentrated on this week.  Not allowing any goals was a big deal; there was a lot of time on the clock after Hanyus’ goal.  My heart was racing until the final whistle.  Moniwa and I were burdened with keeping that lead, so when the game ended that “guts pose” kinda just happened spontaneously.” ~ FC Tokyo goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda

“I think we’ve definitely moved past [the first two games].  This week we discussed how to position ourselves when the team is on the attack and how to manage counters effectively.  Because of that, Tokyo was able to play the kind of soccer we wanted to play, and our confidence is attached to that.  Before we were offside frequently and rushing to come up with strategy in the middle of the game.  In practice we discussed how we need to keep perservering to get the result we know we’re capable of getting, and I’m happy that we were able to do that today.”  ~ FC Tokyo defender Teriyuki Moniwa

Errata

-FC Tokyo players managed to avoid recieving any yellow cards for their first clean slate of the season.

-All other matches played on Saturday ended in draws, allowing Tokyo to catch up significantly in the standings.

-Below the Yamagata supporters stands was a banner reading “Do you remember? ’99.11.21.”  This refers to the last week of the inaugural J.League Division 2 season, when Montedio’s draw against Oita Trinita allowed FC Tokyo to secure second place in J2 and subsequent promotion to J1.  Oita would eventually earn promotion at the end of the 2002 season, while Yamagata finally earned its spot in the top division last year.

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Aishiteru Liveblogging: FC Tokyo vs. Montedio Yamagata

Published on March 21, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Reports by dokool. 1 Comment

In the spirit of advancing English-language J.League coverage in the nerdiest way possible, we’ve kludged together a liveblogging system based on Twitter and using the Lifestream plugin for WordPress (mainly because it allows dokool to post from his cellphone).  In theory we’ll be able to provide updates as they happen, and possibly even some photos as well.  So stay tuned to this post!

There are no events to show at this time.

Powered by Lifestream.

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Match Preview: J1 Week 3 FC Tokyo vs. Montedio Yamagata

Published on March 20, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo Match Preview by dokool. 2 Comments
March 21st 2009, 2PM Kickoff at Ajinomoto Stadium (Chofu, Tokyo)

J1 Competition Record: none

Background

As Montedio Yamagata hopes to keep its surprising form going, FC Tokyo’s players hope to reward manager Hiroshi Jofuku with the best birthday present possible; the first win of 2009 and an end to the unexpectedly poor start to the season.

Yamagata are a mystery to most J1 teams; while pundits and reporters across the board in both languages had predicted that the team had no chance of staying in Japan’s top division for more than one season, they have managed to stay near the top of the table after two weeks (a small sample size, granted) with a win against the halpless-looking Jubilo Iwata and a draw in the snow against touted favorites Nagoya Grampus.  Despite the weather, over 12,000 fans came out for the game, leading some to wonder if Montedio could end up being the little team that could.

On the other hand, FC Tokyo came into the season riding high on a wave of expectations, but has so far failed to deliver.  The offense has sputtered in its first two matches, only scoring two goals, while the porous, injury-ridden defense has allowed 7 as first-time goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda has struggled to assert himself.  Though there are still 32 matches in the season, Tokyo is in a position where, should it not quickly assert itself as the league powerhouse it aspires to be, the team may be battling to avoid relegation instead of battling for an ACL slot.

The Matchup

The best way to describe Tokyo’s lineup would probably be “better late than never.”  Defender Hideki Sahara and midfielder Naohiro Ishikawa returned to the lineup in time for the Urawa match following injuries sustained during training camp, with Ishikawa coming on in the second half as a substitution and contributing some of Tokyo’s best chances at goals.  Jofuku decided, for one reason or another, not to start Sahara at defense against Urawa; a decision he may still be regretting.  Expect Sahara on the field and ready to release two weeks of frustration on any Montedio player he comes into contact with.  Nagatomo, Tokunaga, and either Moniwa or Hiramatsu (probably Moniwa) will of course join him on the back line.

Midfielders and forwards are, unfortunately, the larger issue.  Last week Konno and Kajiyama played at defensive midfielder positions but still failed to halt the red tide, they should have better luck this week.  team captain Hanyu and either Suzuki or Ishikawa will also round out the midline.  At forward will be Cabore and… Hirayama?  The Lost Boy of Tokyo showed impressive form against Chiba in Sunday’s Satellite League match, scoring two goals off headers and demonstrating an air game that Tokyo has lacked so far.  He followed this up with another solid performance in a practice match on Thursday, intercepting an errant pass and kicking a 20-meter goal past a defender.  Given the lackluster play of Akamine and Kondo so far, it’s certainly worth a shot.  Even if Hirayama doesn’t get the start, expect to see him on as a midfield substitution.

On the Montedio side… well, truth be told I really don’t know too much about them.  That they pistol-whipped Jubilo should be no surprise since that team is on track for a swift J2 demotion after avoiding a similar fate last season, but holding Nagoya to a snow-capped 0-0 draw is still an impressive feat.  Yamagata has a lot of everyman players; not too many stars to speak of but a bunch of hard workers who will Get The Job Done.  And that’s not bad to have on your side no matter who you play.

Predictions

0-2 is the worst start in team history; I don’t expect it to become 0-3.  The team’s back is against the wall and they know it, expect Week 3 to be the game where a line in the sand is drawn and Tokyo takes home its first victory of the season.

Following this match, the league takes a break for international play (Japan hosts Bahrain at Saitama Stadium on the 28th).  Before J1 play resumes on April 4th, Tokyo will face Kashiwa Reysol and Vissel Kobe in Nabisco Cup group play.  These two matches will either allow a team coming off their first league win a chance to build on their momentum or give a winless squad a chance to tinker with their lineup and finally get it right.  I, and many others, hope it will be the former.

Errata

While the weather on Friday was gray and rainy and miserable, clear and sunny skies are in store for Saturday.  The promotion for the match is Tokyo Kids Club Day, with Elementary/Jr. High student tickets going for 100 yen.  In addition to manager Hiroshi Jofuku’s birthday, March 21st is also the predicted start of Tokyo’s cherry blossom season.

As of this posting, there does not seem to have been any settlement in the case of the broken chair in Section 57.  While the chair was replaced for Tokyo Verdy’s match at the stadium, should someone not come forward before tomorrow’s match that part of the stands may be blocked off.  We’ll see how LA12 reacts in that case.

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Injury Update: Shiota out of the hospital, beginning rehab

Published on March 20, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo News and F.C. Tokyo Player News by Lantis. 0 Comments

FCT has announced that last year’s starting GK Hitoshi Shiota finally left the hospital yesterday, after being hospitalized since Feb. 5, first for an emergency appendectomy, then for post-surgical complications related to that incident. He’s scheduled to begin rehabilitation today, but no timeframe for his return to practice or the lineup has been determined yet. He thanked the fans, his fellow players and the team staff for their encouragement during his stay in the hospital, and stated that he hopes to return to the pitch soon.

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News Roundup (3/19)

Published on March 19, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo News and F.C. Tokyo Player News by dokool. 0 Comments

With a troublingly decisive Week 3 match swiftly approaching, here’s the latest courtesy of Chunichi Sports:

-Following an intra-squad match on the 18th, Hideki Sahara called an abrupt “blue sky meeting” (apparently this just means a meeting held outside) with his fellow defenders to discuss the state of a defense that has given up 7 goals in two matches.  Said team regular Teriyuki Moniwa, “…certainly everyone knows what’s going on but nobody was quite willing to step up and say something about it.  But Hideki’s been watching from the sidelines and so he was able to make a good case as to what we need to do.”  Manager Hiroshi Jofuku joined the meeting partway through and contributed to the discussion.

-Naohiro Ishikawa started in today’s practice match versus Kokuchikan University.  Early in the match he took a cross from Hanyu and headed it in for a goal, making a case for starting time in Saturday’s match.

-In the same practice match, 5th forward Sota Hirayama also continued to make a convincing case for seeing time on the J1 field.  Continuing the impressive form he displayed in Sunday’s satellite match, Hirayama intercepted a midfielder’s pass, avoided getting tripped up by a defender, and curved a shot from 20 meters out to get the score.  Saturday is the predicted start of the Tokyo cherry blossom season, and Chunichi’s writers predict that Hirayama could bring FCT’s offense to full bloom.  While one can usually expect such… flowery prose from Japanese sports writers, Hirayama is one of a growing list of players (including Sahara and Ishikawa) who have sat through the team’s two losses mostly on the sidelines and believe they can make an impact.  We’ll see if they get their chances on Saturday.

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YouTube Roundup: 3/14 @ Urawa

Published on March 16, 2009 in F.C. Tokyo News by Lantis. 0 Comments


Highlights and commentary from FCT’s coverage


And highlights and commentary from Urawa’s coverage (actual highlights start about one minute in)


Mostly pregame footage, looks like it was shot from near the home end of the back stand. There’s a short pan of most of the stadium, including the visitor’s tiny section about halfway through the video, along with some action shots at the end.