Second Half
0 – 2

Final
0 – 3
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 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.