| J.League Division 1 Round 18 | ||
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First Half 0- 1 Second Half Final |
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| July 18th 2009, 6:30PM kickoff at NACK5 Stadium (Omiya, Saitama) Attendance 13,527 | ||
| GK 21 Nobuhisa Kobayashi DF 2 Taishi Tsukamoto DF 5 Daisuke Tomita DF 3 Mato Neretljak DF 4 Yasuhiro Hato MF 23 Shin Kanazawa MF 17 Hayato Hashimoto MF 11 Chikara Fujimoto MF 7 Tomoya Uchida FW 9 Naoki Ishihara FW 18 Dudu |
Starting Members |
GK 20 Shuichi Gonda DF 25 Yuhei Tokunaga DF 4 Bruno Quadros DF 6 Yasuyuki Konno DF 5 Yuto Nagatomo MF 28 Takuji Yonemoto MF 10 Yohei Kajiyama MF 18 Naohiro Ishikawa MF 22 Naotake Hanyu FW 9 Cabore FW 13 Sota Hirayama |
| 44′ 34 Seo Yong-Duk (for Dudu) 65′ 25 Kohei Tokita (for Tomoya Uchida) 81′ 15 Masato Saito (for Shin Kanazawa) |
Substitutes | 60′ 27 Sotan Tanabe (for Naotake Hanyu) 79′ 32 Yusuke Kondo (for Cabore) 85′ 40 Tatsuya Suzuki (for Naohiro Ishikawa) |
| Goals | 44′ Sota Hirayama 70′ Yasayuki Konno 89′ Sota Hirayama |
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| 4′ Mato Neretljak 88′ Chikara Fujimoto |
Cautions | |
| Ejections | ||
Report
Omiya’s game plan was very similar to that of mine whenever I play Winning Eleven against my Japanese friends, and worked about as well. Tokyo was tired and made the usual assortment of passing mistakes (Kajiyama is back to his 5 fuckups:1 good pass ratio), and Yusuke was… embarrassing in his 15 minutes as a substitute. Jofuku’s out of his right mind if he considers putting him back in the squad for anything but the reserve team until he gets out there and shows some hustle like Akamine did on Wednesday. Omiya did manage to keep Nao off the scoreboard, stopping his streak at 6 games. Yet in doing so, the Mighty Squirrels unleashed the beast that is Sota Hirayama, as seen in this photo courtesy of J’s Goal:
…yes, this report was pretty much an excuse to post that image, and I’m comfortable with that.
Reports that #13 is considering a change in uniform number to something over 9000 remain unverified, but the two goals he scored on Saturday night were basically the exclamation point on the incredible two months he’s had ever since shaving his head. His aggressive play and on-the-field mannerisms have inspired even some Tokyo supporters to refer to him as a heel (the traditional term for ‘the bad guy’ in pro wrestling). I know Agent Orange over at Go!Go! Omiya Ardija thinks he’s a bastard. That said he’s our bastard and we love him for it. Plus there are any number of other players who are bigger douches, when it comes down to it.
In other news, as word of Tokyo’s continued rampage throughout J.League spread, the top 4 teams in the standings managed to soil their pants at the same time. Kashima, Kawasaki, and Albirex all drew their matches, while Urawa lost on the WWI-era trench zone that is the Kyushu Oil Dome to cellar-dwellers Oita Trinita. This leaves the top 5 as follows:
1. Kashima Antlers (43 points)
2. Urawa Reds (34 points)
3. Albirex Niigata (33 points)
4. Kawasaki Frontale (33 points)
5. FC Tokyo (31 points)
6. Sanfrecce Hiroshima (26 points)
The coming month will be crucial for Tokyo as we play three of these teams – Hiroshima this coming weekend, Kawasaki next weekend, and Kashima on the 23rd. Given how within striking distance we are to 2nd place Urawa (and just behind them on goal difference too; +5 to their +6), should Tokyo’s good run continue summer could end with the team in position for an ACL bid; or even the league championship.
Managed to make the game and, despite the heat and tremendous amounts of beer I had to (just had to) drink to stay hydrated, thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thought our passing was poor in the first half. Both Yonemoto and Kajiyama seemed equally culpable, though Yonemoto is just settling into the side whilst Kajiyama seemed pretty complacent in places (what was with the whole “I’m not going to play a pass unless I can bend it with the outside of my right boot” weirdness?). We were also a bit lucky to get the goal when we did, but dominated well for most of the second half.
You mentioned Yusuke in your report, but I was pretty disappointed with the crowd’s reaction. They were on his back before he’d even kicked a ball. Surely today’s game illustrated perfectly the need to be patient with players breaking into the first team (featuring as it did a Hirayam double). That said, Akamine deserves more playing time, especially after turning down the Jubilo move, and I wonder if Jofuku has already told him he’ll see more action soon.
Lastly, respect to Omiya for their unadulterated musical genius. Loved that the players ran out to the A-team theme, that Shibusa Shiraz got played at ear-splitting volume shortly before kick-off and, if I heard correctly, that one of their players has a song based around the Totoro theme. Quality.
>Tokyo Jaggie
Hooray, someone else who appreciates witty supporter songs! I didn’t catch the Totoro one, I’ll have to ask Furtho or Agent Orange about that.
The difference between Yonemoto and Kajiyama is that Kajiyama *consistently* makes stupid passing mistakes.
Yusuke has also been underperforming all season… y’know why the crowd was on him? No hustle whatsoever. I don’t care if your team is up 2-0, 3-0, or 5-1, if you’re playing your first game in ages you better show that you’ve earned it and run a bit.