The transfer window may be closed but that has not stopped the rumour mill swirling around Keisuke Honda from churning as wildly as ever. The latest being tat he may be headed to Everton, rather than Liverpool. That would be a shame, the lad looks good in red. :-)
IMScouting: Everton scouting Japanese star Keisuke Honda
extrafootie.co.uk: Everton to pip Liverpool to Honda?
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.
Friday, 2 October 2009
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Why a Red Orca?
From time to time, people ask why I came to support Nagoya Grampus (Eight). It's all this chap's fault, scoring in the very first Grampus game I attended (at Tokyo National Stadium). :-)
ACL: Grampus 3-1 Kawasaki Frontale
As reported earlier, Nagoya advanced to the ACL semi-finals with a 3-1 win in the home leg of their quarter-final against Kawasaki. The manager's decision to rest several players in Saturday's win over Kashima was rewarded as the tie was eventually decided by Grampus dominating the closing minutes of the game as several Frontale players visibly tired towards the end of the game. (Updated to include Al Ittihad as the our opponent in the semis.)
The first half was a fairly even affair, with the home team enjoying an earlier period of possession. This was capped by a wonderful strike from Ogawa giving them the lead after 25 minutes. This was shortly followed by a somewhat more fortuitous goal, as Santos' free kick went in after after catching Yoshida in the back as he challenged for the ball. The half ended with the tie evenly balanced, as North Korean striker pounced on neat through ball from Renahtinho to even things up at 2-1.
The second half started in much the same vain as the first, with Grampus working hard to create chances while Frontale looked the more composed and always dangerous on the counterattack. However, the tough schedules both teams have faced over the past couple of weeks began to tell. As the Kawasaki players gradually ran out of gas, Nagoya increasingly took control of the game and started to create more clear-cut chances. Socceroo Kennedy should really have sealed the win earlier than his late tap-in, a powerful header was well saved by Kawashima and the keeper also got a fingertip to another effort, later in the half. The Aussie striker was beginning to look a bit tired himself towards the end, but was still able to challenge for Tanaka's deep cross, which eluded both Kennedy and his defender, but fell to Magnum. The Brazilian's effort was parried by Kawashima but fell to Kennedy, who calmly tapped the ball home to send the home crowd wild. Nagoya go on to meet Al Ittihad in the semi-final later this month.
Nagoya Grampus
Koichi Hirono
Hayuma Tanaka, Maya Yoshida, Takahiro Masukawa, Shohei Abe
Yoshizumi Ogawa, Naoshi Nakamura (Igor Burzanovic 71), Alex Santos (Keiji Yoshimura 71), Magnum
Keiji Tamada (Milos Bajalica 89), Josh Kennedy
Scorers: Ogawa 26, Yoshida 34, Kennedy 86
Kawasaki Frontale
Eiji Kawashima
Tomonobu Yokoyama (Yusuke Tasaka 89), Hiroki Ito, Kosuke Kikuchi
Kazuhiro Murakami, Kengo Nakamura, Hiroyuki Taniguvhi, Yusuke Mori
Juninho, Chong Tese, Renahtinho (Masaru Kurotsu 79)
Scorers: Chong 37
Other Views
ESPN: Stojkovic delighted with Nagoya win
Brisbane Times: Kennedy fires Nagoya in ACL finals
Daily Gomiuri: Grampus get revenge (Optimistically claiming that we are in contention for the league title.)
The first half was a fairly even affair, with the home team enjoying an earlier period of possession. This was capped by a wonderful strike from Ogawa giving them the lead after 25 minutes. This was shortly followed by a somewhat more fortuitous goal, as Santos' free kick went in after after catching Yoshida in the back as he challenged for the ball. The half ended with the tie evenly balanced, as North Korean striker pounced on neat through ball from Renahtinho to even things up at 2-1.
The second half started in much the same vain as the first, with Grampus working hard to create chances while Frontale looked the more composed and always dangerous on the counterattack. However, the tough schedules both teams have faced over the past couple of weeks began to tell. As the Kawasaki players gradually ran out of gas, Nagoya increasingly took control of the game and started to create more clear-cut chances. Socceroo Kennedy should really have sealed the win earlier than his late tap-in, a powerful header was well saved by Kawashima and the keeper also got a fingertip to another effort, later in the half. The Aussie striker was beginning to look a bit tired himself towards the end, but was still able to challenge for Tanaka's deep cross, which eluded both Kennedy and his defender, but fell to Magnum. The Brazilian's effort was parried by Kawashima but fell to Kennedy, who calmly tapped the ball home to send the home crowd wild. Nagoya go on to meet Al Ittihad in the semi-final later this month.
Nagoya Grampus
Koichi Hirono
Hayuma Tanaka, Maya Yoshida, Takahiro Masukawa, Shohei Abe
Yoshizumi Ogawa, Naoshi Nakamura (Igor Burzanovic 71), Alex Santos (Keiji Yoshimura 71), Magnum
Keiji Tamada (Milos Bajalica 89), Josh Kennedy
Scorers: Ogawa 26, Yoshida 34, Kennedy 86
Kawasaki Frontale
Eiji Kawashima
Tomonobu Yokoyama (Yusuke Tasaka 89), Hiroki Ito, Kosuke Kikuchi
Kazuhiro Murakami, Kengo Nakamura, Hiroyuki Taniguvhi, Yusuke Mori
Juninho, Chong Tese, Renahtinho (Masaru Kurotsu 79)
Scorers: Chong 37
Other Views
ESPN: Stojkovic delighted with Nagoya win
Brisbane Times: Kennedy fires Nagoya in ACL finals
Daily Gomiuri: Grampus get revenge (Optimistically claiming that we are in contention for the league title.)
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Grampus Advance to ACL Semis
A late Josh Kennedy strike, sees Nagoya advance to the next stage of the ACL with a 3-1 win in the home leg. After a first half which saw the ties finely poised at 2-1, Nagoya's slightly fresher legs eventually began to tell. Their ever increasing pressure towards the Frontale goal eventually resulted in Magnum being left free as the defenders followed the Aussie in pursuit of a cross. Although Kawasahima managed to parry Magnum;s effort the ball fell loose for Josh to stab home from all of a few inches.
More details and starting lineups to follow (when I am sober again).
More details and starting lineups to follow (when I am sober again
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Grampus Crash Four Past Whinging Wallys
Pixie's gamble pays off as Kashima crash to a 1-4 home defeat. The curse of Kashima Stadium is now well and truly exorcised. Igor Burzanovic played a blinder, reveling in the role of creative force. His touch and vision proved a constant threat to a jittery Antlers defence.
Kennedy got Grampus off to a good start, tucking home the rebound after Igor's initial effort had been parried by Sogahata. The Aussie's height and close control proved a constant thorn in the side of Iwamasa and Iwa at the centre of the Kashima defence. He almost added to his tally with a header from Abe's cross a few minutes later, but it was left to the hapless Sogohata to double Nagoya's lead. The scatter-brained keeper, completely missing an attempted bunt upfield, and allowing the alert Burzanovic to dance past him and slot the ball into the unguarded net.
Having found themselves trailing by two goals after only 13 minutes, the Antlers proceeded to pepper Hirono's goal with long-range efforts. First, Araiba sent one fizzing over from 20 metres, then it was Motoyama's turn to send a couple of shots over the bar. Meanwhile Abe and Tanaka calmly dealt with any attempts to break down the flanks, and Bajalica and Yoshida easily dealt with anything through the middle. The increasingly frustrated Antlers, wilted under our constant pressure and rapid-fire passes in the buildup. This lead to some more crude challenges to try and stifle Kennedy's influence, which resulted towards the end of the half with Iwamasa collapsing after jostling with Josh in the area. There seems little doubt that the Aussie's elbow caught the defender as they jockeyed for space, but whether it was intentional only the mild-mannered forward can tell. Certainly, NHKs coverage makes it hard for the whinging Antlers to make much of a case.
HT: 2-0 to the good guys.
The argy-bargy as the players left the pitch after the first half, gave Stojkovic the perfect excuse to bring on Maki for Kennedy at the start of the second half. A change that would probably have occurred early in the half anyway, but the manager prudently chose to rest his key striker for the return leg of the ACL 1/4 final on Wednesday. Kashima continued to pepper Hirono's goal, but only a Marquinhos shot forced the Grampus custodian to make a save. The Brazilian finally got on the score sheet, heading home a low Ogasawara free kick. This pulled the home team within two goals, after Sugimoto had earlier sent a looping header into the goal to extend our lead. Unfortunately for the home fans, the error ridden defending had not finished gifting us chances. Igor blasted home from 20 metres after an errant pass near the edge of area gave him a clear sight of goal. Indeed, Sogahata almost managed to give him a hat-trick, but a last ditch challenge saved the keeper any further embarrassment.
Overall, this was a good team performance, with Yoshimura and Santos proving effective in midfield without being outstanding. Ogawa and Tamada made brief appearances as subs, but should be fresh for the encounter with Frontale on Wednesday. Despite his goal, Sugimoto did not create much, but bustled effectively in midfield, especially in the second half. The surprise was how effective the combination of Santos, Yoshimura, Magnum and Burzanovic proved. The team was still able to close down the opposition well, but was much sharper in its own buildup. Kawasaki will prove a more realistic test of how effective this prove than the disintegrating Antlers.
Kashima Antlers
Hitoshi Sogahata
Atsuto Uchida, Daiki Iwamasu, Go Iwa, Toru Araiba
Takeshi Aoki (Koji Nakata 61), Mitsuo Ogasawara, Masashi Motoyama (Danilo 57), Takuya Nozawa
Junzo Koroki (Yuya Osako 75), Marquinhos
Scorer: Marquinhos 74
Nagoya Grampus
Koichi Hirono
Hayuma Tanaka, Milos Bajalica, Maya Yoshida, Shohei Abe
Keita Sugimoto (Yoshizumi Ogawa 61), Keiji Yoshimura, Alex Santos, Magnum (Keiji Tamada 70)
Igor Burzanovic, Josh Kennedy (Yuki Maki HT)
Scorers: Kennedy 5, Burzanovic 13, 83, Sugimoto 53
Kennedy got Grampus off to a good start, tucking home the rebound after Igor's initial effort had been parried by Sogahata. The Aussie's height and close control proved a constant thorn in the side of Iwamasa and Iwa at the centre of the Kashima defence. He almost added to his tally with a header from Abe's cross a few minutes later, but it was left to the hapless Sogohata to double Nagoya's lead. The scatter-brained keeper, completely missing an attempted bunt upfield, and allowing the alert Burzanovic to dance past him and slot the ball into the unguarded net.
Having found themselves trailing by two goals after only 13 minutes, the Antlers proceeded to pepper Hirono's goal with long-range efforts. First, Araiba sent one fizzing over from 20 metres, then it was Motoyama's turn to send a couple of shots over the bar. Meanwhile Abe and Tanaka calmly dealt with any attempts to break down the flanks, and Bajalica and Yoshida easily dealt with anything through the middle. The increasingly frustrated Antlers, wilted under our constant pressure and rapid-fire passes in the buildup. This lead to some more crude challenges to try and stifle Kennedy's influence, which resulted towards the end of the half with Iwamasa collapsing after jostling with Josh in the area. There seems little doubt that the Aussie's elbow caught the defender as they jockeyed for space, but whether it was intentional only the mild-mannered forward can tell. Certainly, NHKs coverage makes it hard for the whinging Antlers to make much of a case.
HT: 2-0 to the good guys.
The argy-bargy as the players left the pitch after the first half, gave Stojkovic the perfect excuse to bring on Maki for Kennedy at the start of the second half. A change that would probably have occurred early in the half anyway, but the manager prudently chose to rest his key striker for the return leg of the ACL 1/4 final on Wednesday. Kashima continued to pepper Hirono's goal, but only a Marquinhos shot forced the Grampus custodian to make a save. The Brazilian finally got on the score sheet, heading home a low Ogasawara free kick. This pulled the home team within two goals, after Sugimoto had earlier sent a looping header into the goal to extend our lead. Unfortunately for the home fans, the error ridden defending had not finished gifting us chances. Igor blasted home from 20 metres after an errant pass near the edge of area gave him a clear sight of goal. Indeed, Sogahata almost managed to give him a hat-trick, but a last ditch challenge saved the keeper any further embarrassment.
Overall, this was a good team performance, with Yoshimura and Santos proving effective in midfield without being outstanding. Ogawa and Tamada made brief appearances as subs, but should be fresh for the encounter with Frontale on Wednesday. Despite his goal, Sugimoto did not create much, but bustled effectively in midfield, especially in the second half. The surprise was how effective the combination of Santos, Yoshimura, Magnum and Burzanovic proved. The team was still able to close down the opposition well, but was much sharper in its own buildup. Kawasaki will prove a more realistic test of how effective this prove than the disintegrating Antlers.
Kashima Antlers
Hitoshi Sogahata
Atsuto Uchida, Daiki Iwamasu, Go Iwa, Toru Araiba
Takeshi Aoki (Koji Nakata 61), Mitsuo Ogasawara, Masashi Motoyama (Danilo 57), Takuya Nozawa
Junzo Koroki (Yuya Osako 75), Marquinhos
Scorer: Marquinhos 74
Nagoya Grampus
Koichi Hirono
Hayuma Tanaka, Milos Bajalica, Maya Yoshida, Shohei Abe
Keita Sugimoto (Yoshizumi Ogawa 61), Keiji Yoshimura, Alex Santos, Magnum (Keiji Tamada 70)
Igor Burzanovic, Josh Kennedy (Yuki Maki HT)
Scorers: Kennedy 5, Burzanovic 13, 83, Sugimoto 53
Pixie Gambles on Experimental Squad
Nagoya manager Dragan Stojkovic gambles on a faltering Antlers team continuing to do so, as he names an experimental starting lineup for tonight's game. A lineup that suggests that we are concentrating on progressing in the ACL.
Keeper: Koichi Hirono
Defence: Hayuma Tanaka, Milos Bajalica, Maya Yoshida, Shohei Abe
Midfield: Keita Sugimoto, Keiji Yoshimura, Alex Santos, Magnum
Forwards: Igor Burzanovic, Josh Kennedy
Subs
Koji Nishimura, Akira Takeuchi, Yoshizumi Ogawa, Sho Hanai, Keiji Tamada, Yuki Maki, Tomohiro Tsuda
Keeper: Koichi Hirono
Defence: Hayuma Tanaka, Milos Bajalica, Maya Yoshida, Shohei Abe
Midfield: Keita Sugimoto, Keiji Yoshimura, Alex Santos, Magnum
Forwards: Igor Burzanovic, Josh Kennedy
Subs
Koji Nishimura, Akira Takeuchi, Yoshizumi Ogawa, Sho Hanai, Keiji Tamada, Yuki Maki, Tomohiro Tsuda
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