Nagoya Grampus blog with news and views about Nagoya Grampus (Eight) and Japanese football. (Archives of previous musings on all things Grampus can be found in the original Grampalog. See the Links section below.)
League Champions: 2010. Emperor's Cup Winners: 1995, 1999.
A determined and energetic performance by the visitors from Sendai saw them leave Nagoya with all three points. Although they were a bit lucky to keep clean sheet, both teams hit the woodwork, their counterattacking style was much better suited to the wet conditions and they should have added a least one goal to their own tally. Time for Yanagizawa to hang-up his boots, as he should have done at the end of last season.
More details to follow at Kansai-Grampaloge
I am slowly switching over to posting some of my Grampus related information to a new blog, the Kansai Grampalogue. As you might expect, with the strong Grampus connection it has, many of these concern Tokushima Vortis. Although this includes players, such as Keita Sugimoto and Shinta Fukushima, they also have Toru Hasegawa and Tomohiro Tsuda on loan. The most recent post being Tomohiro Helping Vortis Challenge for J1 Place.
Eventually, most of the Grampus game reports and news will be added to this site. This site will also include occasional guest appearances by other bloggers covering Kansai teams.
Nagoya continued their recent trend of dominating possession, but leaving it late to claim all three points. This time it was potential title challengers Sanfrecce, who eventually succumbed 3-2, leaving Grampus in sole possession of third place, four points behind league leaders Kashiwa and Yokohama, with a game in hand.
Another inspired substitution by the manager sees a player score on his return from injury. This time it was Naoshi Nakamura's turn. His blast of clear air turbulence proving the difference between a Vissel side lacking the guile to earn a point, and a Grampus team that did no more than they had to.
This game got off to an inauspicious start, with both Vissel's Okubo and Tulio picking up early injuries that looked like seeing them get subbed early. However, both managed to play on for a few minutes and both eventually looked none the worse for wear. Unfortunately, the same could not be said of the pitch, which cut up easily from the opening minute.
Okubo was the first to look like making a quick return to the bench. One burst of speed to create space in midfield, saw him tweak a muscle and spend the next few minutes limping noticeably. However, as the half wore on he gradually started to move a bit more freely again. Tulio was hurt in a typically robust tackle, and was also feeling its effects for several minutes. Overall, Grampus had the better of the half, but tended to try and be too clever close to goal. Tamada having a chance midway through the half, but slicing his shot wide. At the other end, Isomura made a timely block as Vissel's Hideo Tanaka advanced into the danger area. Takagi was also forced to come-out quickly to smother a Yoshida effort. The best effort of the half however, fell to Tulio who was brilliantly setup by a deft Josh back heel, but hit his effort weakly at Tokushige.
Vissel came out looking the sharpr and more determined team in the second half. First Okubo shot wastefully wide and cutting inside to create a good opening. Ishibitsu then headed over from 6-yards with one of their best chances of the game. Their only other clearcut chance saw Okubo hit a tame effort from close range into the arms of a grateful Takagi. Meanwhile, Stojkovic had brought on Naoshi Nakamura for Isomura after 69 minutes, and the midfielder was soon settling into his alternating role of midfield terrier and support striker. It was s typical burst from midfield that saw him drive towards the Kobe goal, as the Vissel defence retreated, late in the half and unleash a wicked shot that left Tokushige floundering. Once again, Piksi had seen a player mark his return from injury with a goal. At this rate, Mu Kanazaki will owe us a hat-trick on his return.
Midfielders Naoshi Nakamura and Makito Yoshida are expected to return to the first team for today's clash with Vissel Kobe. Naoshi may well get to start, having come through a practice game on Tuesday. Makito is more doubtful, but may at least make the bench. So we should have our Dream Team of Dani and Naoshi to dominate the midfield again. The Columbian has looked not half as effective without the industrious Nakamura to share the defensive load.
With former Japan No.1 Seigo Narazaki also making rapid progress after his dislocated pinkie was expected rule him out for up to four weeks; he now looks at least a possibility for next week. This leaves only Mu Kanazaki of the regulars still out through injury. With Fujimoto and Ogawa settling into a good rhythm, the Mie native's direct approach is missed, but not as significantly as we might have feared.
We are now over a dozen games into the season and the Vegalta reliance is proving as reliable as the Grampus concentration isn't. This was 6th draw in 13 games for Grampus, and 7th in 14 for Vegalta. Although this is a faltering start from the current league champions, there are still over 20 games to go and the team is nicely poised in the chasing pack.
This was another game that saw Nagoya edge possession but fail to convert their chances. Indeed they had to rely on a former Grampus player, Makoto Kakuda, for their goal when his attempted clearance flew past Hayashi in the Sendai goal. However, the team's inability to maintain concentration at the back had already surfaced as the home team had snatched a the lead late in the first half. A late surge in an attempt to get the win saw U-22 forward Nagai introduced and Tulio pushed into attack, but Sendai held out for well-earned point.
As expected, Consadole Sapporo and Nagoya Grampus, are said to have agreed a transfer fee for the Columbian midfielder to make his move permanent. The Hochi Sports, reports (Japanese), and we can probably expect an official announcement on Monday.
This is in stark contrast to unfounded rumours of supposed interest from Germany. Admittedly, from a club with a track record of underhand dealings. While such a move was very unlikely, the rumour probably achieved its objective in pushing up the transfer fee.
An even more one-sided half than the two-goal advantage the home team gained by the end. Nagoya started as they were to continue, as Kennedy flicked a good Ogawa cross toward goal, but the effort lacked conviction and did not test Higashiguchi in the Albirex goal. While it took the forwards a while to find their range and coordination, the midfield had no such problem as Naoshi and Danilson alternated in closing down Niigata in the opening minutes and establishing control of this area. The Grampus forwards again missed an opportunity to take an early lead when Kennedy's layoff for Tamada proved elusive and another promising move came to nothing.
Danilson continued to impose his will in the middle, making a good interception near the edge of the area that saw the desperate Adriano tumble to the turf in an vain effort to hoodwink ref Nishimurs into awarding a free kick. Meanwhile the Nagoya forwards started to improve their coordination. Ogawa layed-off a good ball back for Kennedy but the Aussie fired wastefully over. However this proved to be a short-lived reprieve for the visitors as they fell behind when Fujimto burst into the box and pulled the ball back to give Tamada a simple job of sliding the ball home. Niigata then fell further behind when Ogawa latched onto a raking Masukawa cross-field pass and Kennedy tucked home the loose ball. Kennedy continued to look not quite in sync with his teammates and he had another layoff towards the end that failed to find a Grampus player moving into space to finish the move off.
Albirex came out for the second half looking a bit sharper and more determined. Indeed the earned an early free kick, but failed to seriously test Narazaki. A Cho shot a few minutes later had the former Japan No. 1 scrambling but the effort drifted wide. However, this proved a short-lived reprieve as Grampus soon assumed control again. Danilson, dominating the midfield, but still looking off his best, saw an effort deflected for a corner. With their defensive roles unneeded, Fujimoto and Ogawa were free to roam forward at will and Ogawa in particular had several good breaks through the middle. One saw him latch onto a deep Tulio pass, but fail to control the ball in time to get in a meaningful shot. The two attacking midfielders then combined as Fujimoto burst into the box and pulled the ball back for Ogawa, but again the finish was not there.
As the game appeared to be winding down to comfortable, but not emphatic, home win, Niigata conceded two late goals. The first, saw Josh Kennedy get a faint touch on a corner that then cannoned off a defender and into the goal. Surely, a won goal you may ask? But, no Josh did get a touch on the ball and although it was the deflection that defeated Higashiguchi, the Aussie was credited with his second of the game. Kennedy and Tamada then saw effort fail to add to the score before Hayuma Tanaka added the fourth with a neat finish in extra time.
Grampus midfielder/forward Mu Kanazaki has rejoined the injury list with another muscle strain. The poor lad didn't even make it back as far as the first team, breaking down in training on Sunday.
Apart from MU's own struggles with this type of injury, Tulio, Masukawa, and Danilson have all also had problems with strained muscles this season. You have to start wondering if the training regime in Nagoya is working...
Grampus were boosted by the return from injury of Masukawa, who passed a late fitness test, and Igor Burzanovic who made the bench. Both Narazaki and Danilson recovered from minor strains that had made them doubtful and started the game. So, somewhat surprisingly Piksi was able to field what was close to a full-strength team.
Nagoya started well, but the visitors also defended well and had the occasional chance of their own. Noashi was released into space by a raking Danilson pass early on, but the midfield terrier was too slow to get a shot off and the chance went begging. Danilson was also making his physical presence felt in the anchor role and this allowed his defensive midfield colleague to take up a more advanced position better suited to his nature. Masukawa and Ogawa also had half chances, but failed to convert them. The gentle giant in particular, should have done better with a chance on the goal line.
However, Nakamura's more attacking role soon paid dividends as his low cross was fumbled by the Avispa goalie and Kennedy pounced on the loose ball to give Grampus the lead. The lead was cancelled out almost immediately though, when Sueyoshi was brought down in the area and Okamoto calmly converted the resultant penalty.
Grampus started well again in this half, and Kennedy setup Tamada to restore the the lead with a shot that took a deflection off the hapless Kamiyama. The Fukuoka 'keeper then mad amends for his earlier miss with a good save to deny Naoshi. However, the visitors would not concede defeat that easily and Shigematsu pulled them level again after 20 minutes with a deft header.
Shortly after this, Japan U-22 speedster Nagai replaced Ogawa and thereafter, the game increasingly swung Grampus's way. Shortly after the half hour mark, Fujimoto restored the lead with a well-struck shot on the turn. Burzanovic then added the fourth shortly after coming on as a late sub. The Montenegrin scoring from an impossible angle, and picking up a yellow card for his understandably emotional celebrations. Tamada rounded off the scoring with a neat finish after Nagai had shown good hustle to keep the ball in play near the corner flag.
Although the number of shots, corners and free kicks were fairly evenly distributed over the course of the game, Grampus dominated possession 63% to 37%. This level of control was eventually reflected in the scoreline as the visitors ran out of energy in the final 10 minutes.
Grampus defender Takahiro Masukawa joined our list of injuries on Sunday, forcing the manager to shuffle Danilson into a central defensive role in an attempt to combat the rampant Mike Havenaar. (Personally, I think Piksi was a bit too effusive in his praise of the gangling forward, even if he is Dido's son.:-)) Masukawa is expected to be out for about three weeks.The two 13-hour flights to the UAE took their toll on the players who made the trip. As a result, the team crashed to it first consecutive defeats in over a year.
In the end, this was a game which saw us outfought by a hungrier team. Kofu outshot us 12-5 and looked much the stronger team in the second half, where they had the batter of the possession as well as the chances. It is hardly surprising that the likes of Masukawa and Ogawa found the game difficult after their excursion, especially as Yoshizumi has looked a bit off form all season. Even the sprightly Nagai looked a bit jaded.
Grampus youngster Sho Hanai, who played in last Wednesday's ACL game, is out for four weeks with a torn hamstring. This might explain his somewhat lacklustre performance in that game.
Grampus loanee made his long awaited return from injury today, in a 20 minute appearance as sub in Tokushima's 1-0 over cross-island rivals Ehime.
(Blogger is back from the dead, so here is my view of the game in the UAE on Thursday morning.) Grampus had a good start in this game, but soon lost their rhythm after falling behind and were second best for most of the second half when substitutions and inexperience disrupted what little rhythm they had left.
Grampus got off to a promising start. Makito Yoshida and Ogawa both having chances to give Nagoya an early lead. Yoshida saw his shot deflected over for for a corner, and Nagai setup Ogawa with a clear sight of goal, but he miscued the shot over bar. At this point Grampus were spraying the ball around well. Matsuo also had a crack at goal and Hashimoto won a corner with some tricky playnear the corner flag. However, the fell behind to a well-placed shot by Al Merry that crept in Takagi's far post. Initially, this setback did not deter Grampus from going forward, and Ogawa blasted wastefully over after more good work by Nagai. Ogawa also head over under challenge from keeper a few minutes later. But the home team always looked dangerous on the break and Elias added a second late in the half, after a good break down left. 2-0 down and a makeshift team faced an uphill battle to salvage something from the game.
Stojkovic brought on Kuba for Yoshida for this half and the nippy youngster made a difference almost immediately. He latched onto Takagi's hoof upfield after 3 minutes, to burst into the box and setup Fujimoto with simple a tap-in from close range. Unfortunately, the home team restored their 2-goal cushion almost immediately. Matsuo conceded a penalty, a minute later, pulling a player back as he burst into the box although he fell more as a result of tripping over ball rather than Genta's attentions. Thereafter the game deteriorated into a scrappy game. Al Ain did not have the class to exploit their advantage and Nagoya started to look very disjointed. Although Teruki had a couple of cracks at goal, they posed little threat for the remainder of the game.
So what of our youngsters, hoping to make an impression and catch the manager's eye and get the occasional chance in the first team? Well Ryo Isomura and Sho Hanai singularly failed to make any impression and can probably look forward to practice matches alone for the rest of the season. Only Hiakaru Kuba, Teruki Tanaka and possibly Koji Hashimoto can expect to see themselves given another chance. Genta Matsuo looked strong, but gave away some needless fouls and of course the decisive penalty. If he can improve his anticipation and timing, then his strength and stamina may see him get a reprieve. We will have to hope so, since he is the only obvious replacement for Hayuma.
The game kicked-off at a temperature of around 25 degrees, and remained it remained warm for much of the game. This saw several Grampus players cramp up towards the end, notably Ogawa and Abe. As expected, Nagoya played a cautious, possession game while Greentown defended resolutely. In midfield, Ogawa and Fujimoto took turns to drop back alongside Nakamura in defensive midfield. The home team looked content to keep the game tight and patiently wait for a chance to score. The visitors resorted to a simple plane that saw them look to their tall forward, but Chiyo and Masu were again in commanding form and their hopeful balls did not produce much danger. As a result, although we continued to probe for an opening, the Chinese pulled everyone back towards the end of the half, making it difficult for us to carve out a clear-cut chance. A fairly uneventful half ended 0-0.
The visitors started to press a bit more urgently in the second half, knowing defeat would end their interest in this year's competition. For all their increased energy, however, it was Grampus that continued to control the pace of the game. Moreover, the visitors' more aggressive approach left them vulnerable to swift counterattacks. Abe and Nagai combined well to release Tamada behind the defence, but the former Japan international was fractionally offside as he closed in on the chance. Nagai, then sent over a perfectly flighted cross for Ogawa after 12 minutes, but the midfielder mistimed his free header and saw his effort come back off the post. As the halfway point of the half approached, the visitors finally started to get into the game, but were then hit with the classic sucker punch. A beautifully flighted pass from Fujimoto found sub Kuba busrting between defender in the penalty box. The speedster got to the ball first and was then clipped by the trailing legs of the Greentown goalie. A clear penalty, duly given, and Fujimoto converted the kick at the second attempt after his first had been ruled out for infringement. Grampus then ran out the clock with more possession football.
This was a game in which Nagoya's theoretical advantage in match sharpness bore fruit. Despite an otherwise good game by Frontale they were always half a yard off the pace. Percentage wise it was a close game, Grampus edging possession 51% to 49%, but Kawasaki did not have their usual penetration and only forced Narazaki into one memorable save, although Tulio deflected an early effort by Inamoto that might have been dangerous.
Frontale got off to the better start, with Inamoto and Yamase both having a couple of early efforts on goal, neither of which seriously troubled Narazaki. However, they lost Inamoto after only 13 minutes and this forced them to switch their most dangerous player, Kengo Nakamura, into a more defensive role. Thereafter, the game became the typically close battle that we have come expect from these two teams. Fujimoto sent a curling shot just over the the bar, after Frontale keeper Sugiyama had fumbled a clearance. Yajima responded with an effort for the visitors, that also flew just over. Josh Kennedy, looking more like his usual self, hit a shot on the turn, but was falling away from the ball and skewed it wide.
As the game approached the half-hour mark, it was Grampus' turn to lose an influential player as Tulio's dodgy hamstring started playing up and he was also forced to retire hurt. Fortunately, Chiyotanda looked good and combined well with Masukawa to deny the visitors the sort of space in the box to test Narazaki. Nagoya took the lead when Kennedy won a header in the box and laid the ball off to his left for Tamada to send a right foot shot into the far corner. Frontale looked as though they had pulled level near the end of the half when Yajima slotted home after a good break by Yamase. However, the effort was ruled out for offside with no real complaint from the visitors.
The second half saw Frontale again get off to the better start, with Yamasa creating a chance early on for Yajima but the forward was again found wanting for composure. Juninho, on for Noborizato, was also looking off the pace. The Brazilian is usually a one-man wrecking machine against us, but found our defence impossible to penetrate on this day. He had a couple of promising runs, but could not get past Chiyo and Masu.
Meanwhile Tamada and Kennedy continued to look like adding to the Grampus lead. A good buildup saw Tamada burst through on the left of the box, but his first touch let him down and the chance went begging as the angle become too tight for a reasonable shot. This was followed shortly afterwards by another chance that saw Masukawa head over from five yards after a good break by Fujimoto and Tamada had left Sugiyama exposed again. Tamada then sealed the three points with his second, again combining well with Kennedy. The lanky Aussie did well to hold on to the ball near the edge of the box and his neat back heal sent his strike partner through to fire a shot past the hapless Sugiyama. Grampus then started to play for time with possession but continued to hassle the visitors when they had the ball, with Nagai harrying the defenders till the very end.
After Tuesday's heroics in Seoul, it was back to J1 action for Nagoya today. But it was not a happy return to J.League action as they found Urawa in fine form.
Our problems in defensive midfield, in the absence of the injured Danilson, came home to roost. Yoshimura and Ogawa proving utterly unable to hold Urawa back in the first half, when Marcio Richardes and Tatsuya Tanaka gave the home team a comfortable two goal lead. Tatsuya was having one of his good days, when he looks national team material, and it was his 12th minute shot that proved too hot for Narazaki to handle as Richardes closed in for the first goal. He then added the second on 25 minutes.
We made a better sowing in the second half, but were always going to be vulnerable to the counterattack, as we pressed for a goal. And so it proved as Haraguchi burst through the middle and netted the rebound after Narazaki had parried his first effort.
This weekend saw a full slate of J1 and J2 games take place in Japan. The first games since the opening weekend of March 5th and 6th for most teams. Despite having the advantage of playing some 'competitive' games in the ACL for the last couple of weeks, three of Japan's ACL representatives crashed to heavy defeats against fresher J1 opponents.
Grampus falling to a 0-3 loss in Urawa, the Antlers also conceding three to the Marinos (also 0-3) in what was ostensibly a home game at National Stadium, and Gamba going one better, losing 4-1 in Hiroshima. Proof positive that the j.League is the best league in Asia.
Next up, The Japan Times has an article on team's season to date, and the need to adapt.
Japan Times: Stojkovic admits he has room to grow as manager
Not the 4-4-2 formation the club lists, and Fujimoto and Ogawa interchanged freely, but this is a better indication of the positions Nagai and Kennedy took up.Scorers: Mu 27', 45+2', OG 61', Jungo 77'
This game saw Nagoya start their first competitive game for a month. The lack of match practice became increasingly apparent as the game wore one, with the visitors looking the better team in the second half. We started with Nagai upfront, alongside Kennedy and Kanazaki since Tamada is nursing a sore knee.
Seoul started brightly in the first half, with their simple approach creating a couple of half chances, but they soon found themselves behind. Nagai pounced on a poor bit of control in midfield to burst through the middle and flick the ball home with the outside of his foot, as the keeper closed him down. Seoul pressed effectively to prevent us from establishing our rhythm, but rarely threatened themselves. A Fujimoto free kick was well parried by the keeper, after Nagai had been felled by a high challenge. After this we gradually started to establish our rhythm, but the Koreans kept us under enough pressure to prevent creating clear openings.
Seoul again got off to slightly the better start, stringing some neat moves together, but again failed to test Narazaki. The speedy Nagai chased down a back pass and almost grabbed a second as the flustered keeper dithered and eventually had to clear hurriedly. Kanazaki and Nagai then combined well to set up a good chance for Mu, but the Mie native shanked his shot over the bar. However, the visitors looked calm in possession and pulled level when full back Choi Hyun Tae blasted home from 30 yards. Josh Kennedy being a bit lax in allowing the player time to set himself off. Seoul continued to look the slightly sharper, with both Ogawa and Fujimoto failing to impress. Both are more inclined to attack than defend, but the two have not gelled yet, in the three games the team has played so far this season. Fujimoto was replaced by rookie Makito Yoshida after 73 mins. Despite Seoul's edge in possession and speed of thought, it was Grampus that had the better chances to claim the victory. Nagai saw his snap shot drifts wide after the keeper had fluffed an attempted clearance, and late sub Chiyotanda rushed a shot in additional time.
This game took place in the aftermath of the earthquake that struck Japan the previous Friday. Although the home club sent a message of sympathy to Gamba, their rabid fans showed no such compassion and the game saw them throw several objects onto the field during the course of the game. Of course, the wimps at the AFC will take no action to stamp out this violence.
Tianjin came out looking much the shaper and better motivated of the two teams, and Fijigaya was forced to make an early save. Apart from wayward effort by Adriano, the opening few minutes were one-way traffic towards the Gamba goal. The home team had already seen one goal riled offside for offside, when they took the lead in the 25th minute, Chen Tao firing home a right foot shot. Lee pulled Gamba level a few minutes later, but the home team continued to look the more likely to add to their score. However, they failed to convert their possession into goals and the half ended with the scores still 1-1.
Gamba fell behind, when late first half sub Takagi was carded for a 'foul' in the area. Defender Cao Yang converted the penalty to give the home team the lead. Gamba made a immediate effort to get back into the game, but could not implement their passing game effectively enough to really trouble the home defence. Adriano, Lee and Futagawa all had chances to pull the Blues level, Cheered on by the feverish home crowd, Teda regained the initiative and closed out the game to secure the three points and go top of the group.
This was a fairly even 45 minutes, with both teams looking in reasonable nick. THe slick passing that highlighted much of the latter half of last season for Grampus was evident again. There were some promising moves, but the understanding between the players still needs a bit of work. However, it was the Antlers who had the best chance of the half. Osako rattling the bar with an effort from a tight angle that Narazaki got a faint touch on.
The Antlers started this half looking the more aggressive, but fell behind when Masukawa nodded home a Fujimoto free kick in the 54th minute. Nozawa pulled them level 10 minutes later with a perfectly struck free kick that cleared the wall and flew in to Nara's top left corner. Neither team could grab a winner, so the game went to penalties. Ultimately decided in favour of the team with the better keeper.
Grampus - Antlers
Josh x - x Iwamasa (both saved)
Fujimoto o - o Motoyama (both giving the keeper no chance)
Alex o - x Alex (No. Not the same one stupid.)
Ogawa o - x Araiba (Narazaki saving his third shot of the shootout.)
Ito
Tsubasa Kato (Nozaki), Okuyama, Nicky Havenaar, Watanabe
Hiei Tomita (Mizuno) Magara Gai Kato
Aoyama Nakane (Tsuzuku)
Ishii
Kato Kawamoto (Nicky) Havenaar Kashio (Iwata)
Okuyama
Tsuzuku Sato Mizuno
Kawamura (Tomita) Adachi (Nakane)
I am busy with other footy work at the moment, so you will have to take your chances with Google Translate for the time being. A summary will appear in due course.
The recent saga of Shinji Okazaki's move from S-pulse to Stuttgart highlights the J.League's naivety in dealing with player transfers. (Don't tell me you were surprised that FIFA and EUFA backed a rich European club? Money talks. Why else would FIFA choose to hold the World Cup in the desert.)
Given the League's, and club's, tendency to respect a player's desire to play overseas, they are at the mercy of unscrupulous agents and clubs out to make a quick profit. Have S-Pulse, or Cerezo in the case of Kagawa, or Gamba in the case of Ienaga, insisted on a "selling-on" clause that assures them of a percentage of any subsequent transfer? (Mallorca have already set an 18 mil euro price on Ienaga, and Kagawa is valued at over 23 mil euros.)
Nagoya Grampus General Manager Kazumasa Kume seems to be putting his manager on a restrictive diet. Yes, the squad for 2011 is slightly stronger than that for last season, but there are only 29 of them. The addition of Jungo Fujimoto and Kensuke Nagai does improve the team, but the squad only contains four forwards. The lessons of 2009 have not been learned it seems. Both rookie Nagai and the speedy, but inexperienced Kuba are both likely to see quite a bit of action, if Tamada and Kennedy suffer any setback. (Indeed, we have seen Mu Kanazaki and Koji Hashimoto playing the centre forward role in practice.)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Japan Lineup
Eiji Kawashima
Atsuto Uchida, Yasuyuki Konno, Maya Yoshida, Yuto Nagatomo
Shinji Kagawa, Yasuhito Endo, Makoto Hasebe, Daisuke Matsui (Shinji Okazaki 58')
Keisuke Honda (Fujimoto 90')
Ryoichi Maeda (Tadanari Lee HT)
