Vissel Lose Out to Ref

The Kobe Samurai reports on Vissel Kobe's first loss of the season at the hands of Masayoshi Okada.

Vissel Kobe suffered their first defeat of the season against Tokyo Verdy, falling to the first J.League goal for 18-year-old Verdy rookie, Kawano - in his 3rd game, but the game was probably decided not by any of the 22 players on the field, but by referee Masayoshi Okada deciding that Yoshito Okubo deserved a red card when former Vissel defender Yukio Tsuchiya's head collided with Okubo's arm, when
it seemed obvious that there was no intent WHATSOEVER from the Vissel forward. (Mark: Vissel are reportedly due to appeal the red card and the local NHK stations have shown the incident in their highlights of the game along.) It should be noted that I personally spoke to Tsuchiya after the game - along with numerous Verdy players - NONE of whom thought the offence warranted even a YELLOW card! The "offence" came a minute or so after Okada had been under some pressure, though, and it appeared a knee-jerk reaction to whatever had irritated him moments before. It has to be said, though, that any Verdy player who was seen to have their shirt hanging outside their shorts was soon reprimanded - Mr. Okada was not going to let them get away with that heinous offence!

The red card for Okubo was just one of many baffling decisions by the man in the middle today, who missed so many incidents all over the field, for both teams - while blowing his whistle for numerous
non-events - that players, coaching staff and fans alike - from BOTH teams were left exasperated. In fact, at the end of the game, Vissel fans were seen to be chanting slogans and demanding an audience with Mr. Okada outside the players' entrance!

Anyway, back to the game itself, and Vissel were sorely missing forward Leandro, out with a broken bone in his shoulder, and couldn't seem to penetrate upfront - when they did it seemed that Okada had
some pre-conceived notion that Okubo was a faker and gave him nothing, even though he was the victim of some manhandling, and an elbow at various times. It wasn't JUST Vissel that Okada had it in for, though. There were times when Hulk was halted by a late tackle - more from his speed beating the Vissel defenders, than from malice, but Okada was having none of it. Verdy were happy to soak up Vissel's
long ball tactics to the wings, or their non-penetrative passing in midfield with six defenders most of the time, relying only on their three-pronged Brazilian attack - Hulk, Leandro and Diego - when they
swarmed upfield on the counter-attack, they were rarely joined by more than one more attacker, going for speed and the power of Hulk's 25 metre blasts from all over the park. The statistics at the end
showed 27 shots for Verdy, though most must have been Hulk having a go from 25 yards out and not hitting the target - statistics, eh!?

With a little luck for Verdy, and better finishing from Vissel's Sudo, who had come on at half time for Yoshida (Park had replaced Kurihara, also), it could have ended 3-3, or more... but the lone
goal was all it took.

So, Verdy's first win of the season with a returning Hulk galvanising them, Vissel hitting their first defeat, suffering from injuries and Okada-itis.... but, it has to be said, Verdy looked a one-man team,
while Vissel looked out of sorts, but looking good to rebound.

Nagoya Down Omiya to Claim Second Spot

Grampus went second in J1 with a 2-1 win at Omiya after Vissel Kobe could only manage a 1-1 draw. Next up are the Marinos, who are likely give the Grampus back line a more thorough test than Omiya could.

By the way, the Australian site FourFourTwo has a good, if typo littered, summary of last night's J1 results.

Although Nagoya were clearly the better team, last night's result was an important win in that it saw the team come from behind after having failed to score on several good chances in the first half. I was beginning to fear that it would be one of those days when the better teams loses after wasting tons of chances. Not that Ardija were really bad, they were lively and quick on the break, but do not have the accuracy to pose a consistent threat. It was quite an entertaining game to watch since neither defense looked particularly reassuring, so both Narazaki and Ardija keeper Ezumi were forced to make some good saves.

After a frenetic opening few minutes, the first half settled down into a pattern of Grampus enjoying most of the possession but Ardija looking threatening on the break. Keiji Yoshimura, Frode Johnsen and Keiji Tamada all had excellent chances to score, but were denied by outstanding saves by Ezumi. Johnsen was also guilty of a bad miss, when he shot wide after the ball fell to him from another Ezumi save. While Grampus were being denied the goal their superior accuracy and control deserved, Omiya took the lead in the 26th minute after Daisuke Tomita fired home a cross from left that had exposed a gaping hole in center of the Grampus box.

Our concerns about how the team would react to being a goal behind despite have more chances were soon dispelled as Masukawa and Magnum scored within a minute of each other after 10 minutes. Masukawa pounced to poke home a Johnsen header and Magnum scored his second in as many games after being put through by a good ball out of midfield from Naoshi Nakamura. Thereafter, Grampus continued to control the game, although Ardija continued to look dangerous on the break. Magnum was denied a second goal when Ezumi did well to react to tip over a point-blank header, while Narazaki ensured that Grampus would claim all three points with a fine save from a Daigo Kobyashi shot.

In addition to the importance of the away win, yesterday's game also saw the team create more chances than they managed against Oita at the weekend. In particular, it was nice to see Nakamura and Yoshimura not only working hard in midfield but also making occasional excursions into attack. Yoshimura was unlucky not to score after being put through by a good ball from Tamada. While the former Reysol speedster still looks a bit out of things and selfish at Grampus, he created the chance for Yoshimura and also provided the cross for Magnum's header that was brilliantly saved by Ezumi. National team manager Okada must also have been encourage by Tamada's improving form and effectiveness.

Grampus Ease Past Trinita to Climb to 3rd

Nagoya eased past Oita 2-1 at Mizuho Stadium on Sunday to climb to third in the J1 table after three games.

Although the score-line suggests a close game, Grampus were in control for most of the 90 minutes and looked comfortable against a useful Trinita team. This was the first time I have seen Milos Bajalica in action, after a hesitant start he looks a useful addition to the defense. In addition to providing height in heart of the defense, he makes some useful forages forward, although these are sometimes let down by a tendency to try and dribble all the way through rather than lay the ball off to a team mate.

Up front, Frode Johnsen and Keiji Tamada unsettled the Oita defense despite failing to really combine effectively. As they play more games together, I expect them to improve their understanding and pose even more of a threat to opposing teams. As it was, Tamade was able to exploit the space created by Johnsen to flick home a good Naoshi Nakamura cross after three minutes. Mu Kanazaki scored a neat goal at the near post to equalize for Trinita towards the end of the first half, but former Grampus forward Ueslei was kept out of the game by Bajalica and Maya Yoshida. Grampus sealed the victory midway through the second half when Magnum blast home from close range after chesting down another testing cross that elued the Oita defense.

Overall, this was a solid performance by Nagoya that saw them comfortable in control without ever really dominating the game. Yokohama Marinos will pose a much tougher test this week in a game that should tell us just how much progress the team may make this year. A top half of the table finish looks more than possible, but challenging for a top five spot will depend on the team being more consistent when playing the weaker teams in the league; a task that often eluded them in recent seasons.

Gifu Push Cerezo Hard in Close Encounter

FC Gifu gave a good account of themselves in closely contested encounter at Nagai Stadium yesterday. Before a crowd of 5,000, Cerezo were able to hold out for a 1-0 win against a spirited and organized Gifu team.

Gifu can consider themselves unfortunate not to have gone away from Osaka with at least a share of the points. The only goal of the game came in the 12th minute, when Noriyuki Sakemoto pounced on some dopy defending from a Cerezo throw-in. As the Gifu defense switched-off, he took advantage to drift behind the back line to receive the ball, cut inside from the goal line and curled in a well-placed shot inside the far post. Thereafter, Gifu were quick to close-down and hassle their opponents and prevent them from establishing control of the game. Indeed, for the remainder of the half it was Gifu who had the better chances, with both Kazumasa Takagi and former Grampus forward Atsushi Katagiri seeing shots saved by Cerezo keeper Aikawa.

The second half was also close, with neither side being able to establish clear superiority. For Cerezo, Germano looked influential and was clearly the best player on the pitch, but was not allowed the time or space to orchestrate any serious threats on the Gifu goal. Gifu look like they will soon find their feet in J2, with the likes of Mitsunori Yabuta and Koji Yoshimura providing experience to raw power of Masato Katayama up front. From what we saw yesterday, both teams should be able to hold their own in the league and should finish in the top half of the table. Whether either can go onto challenge for a promotion place will depend on players like Sakemoto and Katagiri stepping-up their game and being a consistent influence on their team, rather than the promising but not quite delivering performances they have tended to display to date.

Toyoda Presses Case for Olympic Slot

Former Nagoya forward Yohei Toyoda, now plying his trade in Yamagata, scored Japan's goal in a 1-1 draw with Angola yesterday. This saw the Japan U-23 team take on the full national team of Angola and put on a lively display, with some neat passing and good movement off the ball. However, a generally impressive performance was marred by a failure to capitalize on their superiority over the Africans and eventually conceding an equalizer near the end. Although the 1-1 draw against a full national side looks a reasonable result on paper, Japan will need to improve its accuracy and show better strategic planning if it is to make a challenge for an Olympic medal.

The game saw several key players for the Olympic squad rested, or missing through injury, including Keisuke Honda (VVV) and Koki Mizuno (Celtic), and Sota Hirayama (FC Tokyo). While Yohei showed enough industry and netted Japan's goal, manager Sorimachi will have a tough choice between choosing between the hard-working Toyoda and the more skillful, but erratic Hirayama. Despite an encouraging and industrious display from Japan's midfield yesterday, it is seems unlikely that either Honda or Mizuno will miss out on the chance of Olympic glory. Neither is quite as consistently accurate as they should be, but both can provide an improvement on the woeful free-kicks and corners displayed last night.

Dutch TV View of Honda's First Goal

Here is a Youtube clip of Keisuke Honda's FK against Feyenoord. His first goal for VVVV. This was followed by a second goal, poking home a loose ball from close range, this week, but neiher were enough to save Venlo from losing both games.