First, last week’s game against Vissel Kobe.  We won, 1-0.  Hiramatsu scored a fantastic header off of a Suzuki free kick in the 87th minute.  If that was all you saw of the game, congrats: you saw the relevant bit.

Due to several fortunate results, Tokyo is now in sole possession of 5th place heading into the last game of the season vs. Albirex Niigata.  A win, plus a Hiroshima draw or loss, would put Tokyo in 4th place.  Not only would there be a decent bump to the end-of-season prize we would get from being in the top 8 (5th place receives 40 million yen while 4th gets 60 mil.), but we would have a Chance In Hell of going to the ACL next season.

I’m going to repeat that.  Despite everything the team has been through we could still conceivably play in Asia.  IF we get 4th place, and IF Kashima, Kawasaki, or Osaka wins the Emperor’s Cup.  So, to start with, go Kyoto!

The Kobe match was also a day for farewells of various sorts.  For starters, it was the final home game of “The Last Legends of Tokyo Gas” -- Satoru Asari (7) and Ryuji Fujiyama (8).  With a combined 31 years of service for FC Tokyo and Tokyo Gas, the two players were often immortalized in gateflags simply as 社員.  They were celebrated in a pre-game tifo:

Following the game the two players made tearful speeches to the home supporters.  While Asari is officially retiring and may continue on with the team as a coach, Fujiyama had previously expressed his desire to continue playing “until my body falls apart” and, in a stunning announcement in front of the home crowd, announced that he will be playing for J2 side Consadole Sapporo next season.

After the speeches, the two players made their way around the pitch:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uVYp9RWwCU

Unfortunately, it appears that the game was also the last stand at Ajinomoto for Bruno Quadros, who will not be resigning with the squad.  I’m also seeing rumors that Hideki Sahara will be returning to Kawasaki Frontale.

In even less attractive news, I give you our 2010 uniforms:

The home kits are ugly as sin and I refuse to purchase one… what were they thinking with the ‘bib’ design? To be completely honest the photo of Nagatomo makes it look worse than it actually does due to the immense number of flashes going off at once.  That said it’s still a mediocre design and adidas should be ashamed.

I could grow to like the away kit, though.

In other bulletpoint-worthy news…

-We’re after a bunch of players, and none of it’s worth reporting on until we actually sign someone.

-The team has withdrawn from its annual Guam Camp due to the costs involved (roughly $1 million) and will instead train in Miyazaki Prefecture this winter.

-World Cup draws announced! Japan in the pot with Holland, Denmark, and Cameroon.  I say we have a fair shot.

Now, to get another hour or so of sleep before I go to El Loco for the match…

Final
0 – 2 July 4th 2009, 7PM Kickoff at HOMES Stadium (Kobe, Hyogo) Attendance 14,915 GK 1 Tatsuya Enomoto
DF 25 Yosuke Ishibitsu
DF 4 Kunie Kitamoto
DF 14 Tsuneyasu Miyamoto
DF 15 Toshihiko Uchiyama
MF 22 Kenji Baba
MF 10 Botti
MF 18 Hideo Tanaka
MF 50 Yoshito Okubo
FW 13 Kazuki Ganaha
FW 21 Hiroto Mogi 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 56′ 7 Park Kang-Jo (for Kenji Baba)
64′ 31 Akihito Kusunose (for Kazuki Ganaha)
85′ 8 Alan Bahia (for Botti)  Substitutes 73′ 40 Tatsuya Suzuki (for Naotake Hanyu)
78′ 33 Shingo Akamine (for Cabore)
84′ 24 Jo Kanazawa (for Takuji Yonemoto)   Goals 50′ Naohiro Ishikwa
55′ Cabore 42′ Toshihiko Uchiyama
89′ Kunie Kitamoto Cautions 69′ Takuji Yonemoto   Ejections  

Report

Y’know those games that are unbalanced not because one team is playing particularly poorly, but because their opponent is in such a groove that they are simply outmatched?  Where you almost feel embarassed for the losing squd because they simply have no chance and everyone in the stadium knows it?

That’s pretty much how I felt watching the second half of Saturday night’s fiesta in Kobe (a late afternoon nap caused me to sleep through the first half).  In recognition of the 4th of July, the blue and red boys put on some white and added a few fireworks to the evening.

Tokyo outshot Kobe 19 to 4.  Let me repeat that because I ‘m not entirely sure I believe it.  19.  to 4.  There were so many 2-on-1, 3-on-1, even 4-on-1 breakaways that Vissel is very lucky that their goal differential only took a 2-point hit.  Kobe resembled a mouse underneath the paw of a giant cat, doing its damndest to put up a fight but ultimately resigned to the fact that it would eventually be crushed and consumed.  If you told me that over 2/3rds of the second half were played on Vissel’s side of the field, I would not be surprised in the least.  When Kobe did mount a counterattack, it was quickly snuffed by the likes of Yonemoto or Konno, whose performance was so outstanding that El Golazo gave him Man of the Match status.

But of course while defense saves games, offense wins them.  There are truly not enough terms in the footballing vernacular to describe Naohiro Ishikawa’s form at the moment.   His play is worthy of praise from bombastic ESPN commentators declaring that you cannot stop Ishikawa, you can only hope to contain him.  While the entire front line worked together to trap the Vissel defense and open up the top of the box, Nao produced a shot that made his needle-threading against Shimizu seem like childs play.  He now sits at the top of the league scoring table along with a couple of foreign players, but sooner or later he will likely stand alone.

Hanyu should also be lauded as well for his beautiful pass to Cabore which managed to shred Kobe’s defense completely and make the second goal a mere formality.

After a fortuitous set of results on Sunday, Tokyo sits alone in 5th place, 6 points out of an ACL slot and something like 13 away from league leaders Kashima.  We have a big test coming next week – 3 games in 7 days, two at home against Nagoya and one away at Omiya.  While I’d of course like to see Tokyo advance in the Nabisco Cup (since I’ve started following the team they’ve been eliminated in the quarterfinals twice), now that the team has regained its footing all eyes should be on cracking the top 3.

Vamos!

In other news from Vissel territory, manager Caio Jr. announced his sudden resignation from the team yesterday.  He will be replaced by interim manager Masahiro Wada for their match against Tokyo on Saturday night.

Will Vissel rally around their new coach or will the disappearance of one of their talented young players and unsteady leadership cause them to collapse like a house of cards?  We’ll find out in three days.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecqu_2BaoEc

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SkHgDCykuY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDkn2prVe0o

More videos after the jump.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdLEKjILdSw

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjIYbF4RHKE

www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6NSL3SehWE

Final
1 – 0

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.