Yokohama F-Marinos won the 2004 J.League Championship on penalties on Saturday 11th December in Saitama Stadium 2002. Urawa won back by 1-0 from Alex's free kick and finished at 1-1 on aggregate over two matches. Yokohama was reduced after midfielder Nakanishi sent off in the 77th minute and gave Urawa a goal, but kept their concentration thorough out the rest of the match and the extra time. Both game, about 60,000 fans came to the stadium. The stadium's atmosphere was the best of soccer matches in Japan. Because both team did their best performance, it was very aggressive based on their solid defense systems. Although both scored only single goals for two matches, the match was exciting. There was anther quality for this championship. Supporters' especially those of Urawa Reds supporters' passions and preparations for the match changed its value higher. J.League will give up their two-stage format in favor of normal single-stage home-and-away system from 2005 season. The final championship will be remembered as supporters' stage.
Yokohama F-Marinos won their 3rd championship by their tough and
educated soccer. Urawa could not reach the top, but their
offensive policy enjoyed J.League so much.
2004.12.10
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| F-Marinos Matchday 5/Dec | Weekly Soccer Digest 7/Dec | Sports Graphic Number 9/Dec |
2004.12.05
Yokohama 1. Urawa 0. Championship 1st leg
Yokohama F-Marinos - Urawa Reds : 1 - 05 December 2004, Yokohama Int'l Stadium
attn: 64,899 (J-League record)
scorer: Kawai Ryuji
Yokohama's concentrated football held Urawa attack off. Their tough defense and persistent long ball feeds to Urawa's side space controlled the game. Yokohama coach Okada Takeshi studied Urawa a lot and his team was very aggressive. 2nd leg is on Saturday. How does Urawa coach Guido Buchwald take his honest offensive football back in Urawa.
Yet another referee issue. Mr. Okada Masayoshi had been a most respected referee. But his judge's precision is not comparable to the days of his top form. We need referees suitable for the match quality.
2004.12.04
J.League Champioship Yokohama vs Urawa. Tomorrow Evening
2004.11.28
J.League Division 1 2nd stage final standings
There were eight last maches of J1 2nd stage. Urawa Reds won 37
points for 15 matches and made a new record of 15 matches J.League
stage. They will challenge 1st stag and 2003 champion Yokohama F-Marios
on Dec. 5 and 11.
Kashiwa Reysol went down to the last place of J1 of 1st and 2nd stage aggregation. J1/J2 play off will be played by J2 3rd Avispa Fukuoka and Kashiwa on 4th and 12th December.
| 2004 J1 1st stage Final Table | |||||||||||||
| Team | Pts | GP | W | D | L | GD | GF | GA | |||||
| 1. | Urawa Reds | 37 | 15 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 40 | 15 | ||||
| 2. | JEF United Ichihara | 28 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 27 | 22 | ||||
| 3. | Gamba Osaka | 27 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 38 | 25 | ||||
| 4. | Kashima Antlers | 24 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 23 | 17 | ||||
| 5. | Nagoya Grampus Eight | 24 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 25 | 21 | ||||
2004.11.27
J.League Division 2 final standings
Kawasaki Frotale (1st) and Omiya Ardija (2nd) are promoted to
2005 J1 league and 3rd place Avispa Fukuoka goes to J1/J2 play off
with the last place of J1 on 4th and 12th December.
| 2004 J2 Final Table | |||||||||||||
| Team | Pts | GP | W | D | L | GD | GF | GA | |||||
| 1. | Kawasaki Frontale | 105 | 44 | 34 | 3 | 7 | 66 | 104 | 38 | ||||
| 2. | Omiya Ardija | 87 | 44 | 26 | 9 | 9 | 25 | 63 | 38 | ||||
| 3. | Avispa Fukuoka | 76 | 44 | 23 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 56 | 41 | ||||
| 4. | Montedio Yamagata | 71 | 44 | 19 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 58 | 51 | ||||
| 5. | Kyoto Purple Sanga | 69 | 44 | 19 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 65 | 53 | ||||
| 6. | Vegalta Sendai | 59 | 44 | 15 | 14 | 15 | -4 | 62 | 66 | ||||
| 7. | Ventforet Kofu | 58 | 44 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 5 | 51 | 46 | ||||
| 8. | Yokohama FC | 52 | 44 | 10 | 22 | 12 | -8 | 42 | 50 | ||||
| 9. | Mito Hollyhock | 37 | 44 | 6 | 19 | 19 | -27 | 33 | 60 | ||||
| 10. | Shonan Bellmare | 36 | 44 | 7 | 15 | 22 | -25 | 39 | 64 | ||||
| 11. | Sagan Tosu | 35 | 44 | 8 | 11 | 25 | -34 | 32 | 66 | ||||
| 12. | Consadole Sapporo | 30 | 44 | 5 | 15 | 24 | -32 | 30 | 62 | ||||
2004.11.20
Urawa Reds won the J.League 2nd stage championshiop
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Urawa Reds won their first league title in Urawa Komaba stadium. Urawa's aggressive football lead the league. Club's investment was effective. And the best supporterrs kept encouraging the team. This was a right result of 12 year of J.League. 10 win, 1 draw and 2 lose for 13 out of 15 games is the current result. Championship play off vs Yokohama F-Marinos is scheduled for Dec. 5 and 11.
Omiya Ardija confirmed J2 2nd place and 2005 season's
J1 promotion. On the same day, same time, two clubs in Saitama
city celebrated their clubs.
2004.11.17
World Cup Asian Group 3 Final Standings
Iran, Uzbekistan, Japan, Kuwait, Korea DPR,
Bahrain, Korea Republic, and Saudi Arabia are qualified.
| World Cup 2006 Prelimiaries - Asia Group 3 | |||||||||||||
| Team | Pts | GP | W | D | L | GD | GF | GA | |||||
| 1. | Japan | 18 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 16 | 1 | ||||
| 2. | Oman | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 14 | 3 | ||||
| 3. | India | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -16 | 2 | 18 | ||||
| 4. | Singapore | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -10 | 3 | 13 | ||||
2004.11.14
4th round of 84th Emperor's Cup
There were 16 matches of 4th round of Emperor's Cup on Satday and Sunday.
7 out of 16 1st divsion team were beaten by J2 or JFA (3rd division) clubs.
The single match tournament lasts until 2005 new year's day for the final.
2004 Emperors Cup results and fixtures.
2004.11.05
Urawa closes in on the league 2nd stage title
Urawa Reds beat Shimizu to win 31 points for 12 matches.
They need only 2 points to have play-offs against 1st
stage winner Yokohama F-Marios.
2004.11.03
J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup Final
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| FC Tokyo 0. Urawa Reds 0. 4 PK 2 |
2004.10.23
Urawa Steady Progress for their first champion
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| More than 10 thousands of away supporters (no doubt, the record in Kashima) came and they won the just reward. |
23-Oct, 2004, Kashima Stadium
Scorers: 10' Tanaka (Urawa), 22' Iwamasa (Kashima), 28' Tanaka, 44' Ogasarawa (Kashima), 84' Emerson (Urawa)
Urawa defeated the enemy of long standing Kashima completely in Kashima Stadium where Urawa had won only once in ten years.
The match was very exciting. "In the 1st half, both teams were so offensive that they appealed J.League. In the 2nd half, Urawa presented themselves." said the coach, Guido Buchwald. League's best striker Emerson finished today. But Reds' strength is on each man's responsible defense. They take the ball proactively and rush into the goal speedy.
Urawa won 10 points for the difficult middle five matches
(awasy FC-Tokyo, followers G.Osaka and Ichihara, 1st stage winner Yokohama-FM, and Kashima).
The Championship play off in December will be the best one.
2004.10.13
Japan qualified 1st round. Oman 0. Japan 1.
Suzuki Takayuki scored a headder from Nakamura's cross at 52'.Japan go to Asian 2nd round for 4.5/8 tournament.
2004.10.13
Oman vs Japan in Muscat
Winner will be qualified the 1st round of Asian Group 3."No doubt Oman playing at home will have the biggest fan following, which normally had a big impact on Oman."
"The Zico-coached favourites of the Group 3 World Cup qualifiers
arrived only yesterday due to their typhoon-caused delay in departure
from Japan, but they did not waste the opportunity to have a good feel
of the pitch and the atmosphere at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex
yesterday." (from http://www.timesofoman.com/)
2004.10.10
Japan vs Hungary in Tokyo
40th anniversary match for Tokyo 1964 Olympic game Japan vs Hungary
was held in National Stadium (Olympic Venue) Tokyo. Hungary was
invited as the gold medal team of Tokyo 1964. As Japan and Hungary are
having World Cup Preliminary, both were national "B" teams. Squads
were; Sogahata (GK); Suzuki Hideto, Yamaguchi Satoshi, Nasu (DF);
Hattori, Ito, Murai, Tanaka Hayuma, Futagawa (MF); Ohguro, Ohkubo
(FW); Hayashi, Abe, Toda, Bando, Kitamoto, Takamatsu, Kikuchi (Sub).
2004.09.26
Kawasaki Frontale won their J1 Return
J.League Division 2's leader Kawasaki Frontale clinched J2 1st or 2nd place
that they will automatically promoted to 2005 division 1 (J1).Kawasaki F joined J.League and won J2 league in 1999, played single year of 2000 J1 league and was relegated to J2 at the end of the same season.
As the number of J1 team will be increased to 18, 2005 J1 teams
consist of 2004 J1 1st - 15th place teams, J2 1st and 2nd places, and
the winner of the Playoff between J1 last place and J2 3rd place.
2004.09.12
J.League 2nd stage 4th week
Yokohama 3. Iwata 0. : 1st stage winner Yokohama F-Marinos crushed Jubilo Iwata in National Stadium yesterday. Iwata, which had been the best J.League team until the 1st stage of this season, could not play their game at all against the solid and positive Yokohama system. Iwata only won a single point from these four matches.
Oita 1. Urawa 4. :
The new favorite Urawa Reds scoring 17 times for 4 games leads the stage. Not only
Reds supporters but everyone concerning Japanese soccer pay attention to Reds
total offensive soccer.
2004.09.08
World Cup Qualifier, India vs Japan
India - Japan: 0 - 4 (full time)The light went off in Calcutta, but Indian concentrated defence keeps their game on.
2004.09.05
World Cup qualifier preparation
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| Match day program of Japan Round |
Players are
GK. Kawaguchi (Nordsjalland, DK);
DF. Miyamoto (G-Osaka), Tanaka (Iwata), Nakazawa (Yokohama);
MF. Ono (Feyenoord, NL), Fukunishi (Iwata), Alex (Urawa), Kaji (FC-Tokyo), Motoyama (Kashima);
FW. Takahara (HSV, GER), Suzuki (Kashima)
They will fly to India. The match is scheduled on 8th September in
Saltlake Stadium in Calcutta.
"The biggest game in Indian football history season is here on
September 8. An jampacked Salt Lake with 110,000 Indian supporters
cheering Indian on!"
from Indian famous soccer site
http://eastbengal.sports-india.com/ (thank Mr. Rohit Goyal for information).
Asian Qualifiers Group 3 Standings in footballasia.com
2004.09.04
Nabisco Cup Quarter Final
Single match semi-finals will be FC Tokyo vs Tokyo Verdy and Nagoya
Grampus Eight vs Urawa Reds on 9th October.
2004 Nabisco Cup Results and Fixtures
2004.08.28
Athens 2004 Football Results
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| athens2004 |
Iraq from Asia reached to the semi final.
2004.08.15
Japan 2. Italy 3. Olympic Football Men Preliminary Group B
Japan was eliminated after their 3-4 loss to Paraguay on Monday and 2-3 loss to Italy today.
As Japanese love Olympic games, the soccer team is always on the front. Some says the Olympic team is more attractive than Zico's national team when they clinched the Athens tickets. But the team did not bring out their ability. This match, Japan seems to possese the ball longer than Italy, but the match was controled by Italy.
Third match will be played against Gahna on Wednesday 18th.
2004.08.14
J-League 2nd Stage Gets Underway..
Match report from Kobe with the Cash-Laden Kobe taking on the team on a
promise, Urawa Reds: A good day in the office for Reds at the cavernous Universiade Memorial Stadium, with a well-worked set piece converted by Reds' talismanic forward Emerson separating the two sides
The last season of two-stage-system league started on Saturday 14th, which
lasts until the end of November. The championship playoff will be played
between 1st stage winner Yokohama F-Marions and 2nd stage winner on 5th Dec
(Sun) and 11th Dec (Sat). As the number of 1st division (J1) teams will be
increased into 18, the 1st and 2nd place finishers in J2 will be
automatically promoted and there is a home-and-away playoff between the last
place of J1 and the 3rd place of J2 on the 4th (Sat) and 12th December (Sun).
2004.08.07
Patient Victoryn in China. Japan won the Asian Cup 2004
Japan 3. - China 1. (1-1 HT)
Close matches and complete away circumstace for us brought an unexpected excitement to this tournament. Japanese defence was tight and set plays from Nakamura made several chances. Not many of us thoght this team would take the cup to Japan, but match after match they became strong team with a little luck. AFC selected Nakamura Shunsuke as MVP, but goal2002's selection is the defender Nakazawa.The result was happy for Japan, but I think no team contributed the world soccer scene. It was difficult to find compact or modern football. In this aspect, Japan should have won more matches easier.
Thoroughout the tournament, the manner of Chinese fans was reported on Japanese media often and it became a political issue between Japan and China government. I don't know it was really rough or a normal away present, but Asian Cup 2004 and World Cup 2002 deliver liver voices from people in neibours and give more chances to know each others.
2004.08.03
Final will be China vs Japan
Japan 4 - Bahrain 3 (extra time). China 1 PK Inra 1. Semi final results.
2004.08.01
Real!!, Barca!!!, Valencia.
Three Spanish clubs joined in Japan.
Real Madrid 4 - Tokyo Verdy 0: Incredible Zidane's turn brought mid summer night's dream.
Barcelona 5 - Kashima Antlers 0: Ronaidinho blew off Kashima in National Stadium.
Valencia 2 - Albirex Niigara 5: But, they are still in vacance...
Japanese soccer-fans enjoyed so much, but I wonder what are these matches for?
In Niigata, home supporters welcomed the visitor, but in the National Std
Kashima wore 2nd shirt for Barca and in Real match there are very few who support
the home Tokyo Verdy. This day more than 13 thousands of attendance come to the stadium and
they include many first timers. Will soccer market in Japan grow after these marquee systems?
2004.07.31
Zico under a lucky star - Asian Cup 2004 quarter final
Tamada Suzuki
Nakamura
Alex Kaji
Endo Fukunishi
Nakazawa Miyamoto Tanaka
Kawaguchi(GK) |
| Asian Cup 2004 Japan Basic formation |
| Japan 1. - Jordan 1. (4 PK 3) | |||||||
| Japan | - | - | x | x | x | - | x |
| Jordan | x | x | x | - | - | - | - |
As we have found nothing interesting or new in this tournament, same is true for Japan that the quality of Japanese team has not been improved after 2002 world cup. Zico's tactics and management have not been understood by national supporters yet. Zico has faced several fatal crisis of being fired and this was the biggest one but... I wonder if Zico is the luckiest coach in Asia? It is difficult to find reasonable factors of changes from Zico's management.
http://www.asiancup2004.com/
Asian Cup 2000 goal2002 archive.
2004.07.29
Real, Inter, Boca, Lazio in Japan
Reports and players line ups are
2004.07.28
Japan qualified group round of Asian Cup
Group league final pointsGroup A: China 7, Bahrain 5, Indonesia 3, Qatar 1
Group B: Korea 7, Jordan 5, Kuwait 3, UAE 1
Group C: Uzbekistan 9, Iraq 6, Turkmenistan 1, Saudi Arabia 1, Group D: Japan 7, Iran 5, Oman 4, Thailand 0
2004.07.27
Inter, Lazio, and Boca
Urawa 1. - Inter 0., Kobe 0.- Lazio 4., Niigata 2. - Boca 1.
2004.07.20
Japan 1. Oman 0. Asian Cup 2004
Japan won their first match of Asian Cup 2004 in Chongqing, China.
The game was controled by Oman and Japan won the slim victory by Nakamura's
technique.
Japan players: Kawaguchi; M Tanaka, Miyamoto, Nakazawa;
Alex, Endo, Fukunishi, Kaji, Nakamura;
Suzuki (Nishi), and Tamada (Motoyama)
1-0 for Oman (in Feb) and 2-1 for Singapore (in Jun) of WC
qualifiers. 1-0 for Czech (in Apr) and 1-1 for England (in Jun).
Which reflects the right positon of Japan? Many supporters have
already given Zico up and this international team as well.
No matter how one loves Zico, he knows proper management is
required fot this team.
2004.07.19
Sendai 2. Lazio 2. On-The-Road Series started
Special issue on international friendly match in Japan 2004 summer
2004.06.26
Yokohama F Marinos won the 2004 1st stage
| 2004 J1 1st stage Final Table | |||||||||||||
| Team | Pts | GP | W | D | L | GD | GF | GA | |||||
| 1. | Yokohama F-Marinos | 36 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 26 | 13 | ||||
| 2. | Jubilo Iwata | 34 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 31 | 16 | ||||
| 3. | Urawa Reds | 25 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 30 | 24 | ||||
| 4. | Gamba Osaka | 24 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 31 | 23 | ||||
| 5. | Kashima Antlers | 24 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 18 | 14 | ||||
2004.06.09
Japan 7. India 0. (3-0 HT)
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2004.06.07
Indian football info
Indian football sites for upcoming WC qualifier on 9th June.Indianfootball.com of national team section, and SoccernetIndia of Indian clubs.
They drew Indonesia in Jakarta on 3rd June and are coming to Japan.
2004.06.01
Ono scored from England
England. 1. Japan 1. (Full Time) Friendly in City of Manchesterscorers: Micheal Owen, Ono Shinji
England: James, Gary Neville (P Neville, 86), Terry (King, 88), Campbell, Ashley Cole; Lampard (Butt, 81), Beckham (Joe Cole, 77), Gerrard (Hargreaves, 81), Scholes (Dyer, 77); Owen (Vassell, 77), Rooney (Heskey, 77)
Japan: Narazaki, Nakazawa, Miyamoto, Tsuboi, Santos, Ono, Inamoto, Kaji, Nakamura, Tamada (Suzuki, 60), Kubo (Yanagisawa, 60).
2004.05.23
J.League breaks for Cup matches and the WC Qualifier
| Team | Pts | GP | W | D | L | GD | |
| 1. | Jubilo Iwata | 27 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| 2. | Yokohama F-Marinos | 24 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| 3. | Urawa Reds | 21 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
Japan national team goes to England to play against Iceland and England in City Of Manchester on 30th May and 1st of June respectively. They will prepare the World Cup qualifier against India on 9th June in Saitama Stadium.
2004.05.19
AFC Champions League
Jubilo Iwata and Yokohama Marinos went out of AFC Champions League 2004.AFC Champions League group winners are;
Group A: Pakhtakor (UZB), Group B: Al Wahda (UAE), Group C: Sharjah (UAE), Group D: Al Ittihad (KSA), Group E: Chonbuk Motors (KOR), Group F: Dalian Shide (CHN), Group G: Seongnam Chunma (KOR), and Defending Champions: Al Ain (UAE)
AFC Champions League
2004.05.17
FIFA Club World Championship in Japan
FIFA anounced that they will have
FIFA Club World Championship to replace Toyota Cup from 2005.
FIFA release
2004.05.15
Clubs coming to Japan, Summer 2004
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Related links
vodafon cup 2004 (United official) ON TOUR ASIA 2004 (Barca official) Inter (Japanes release) |
Urawa Reds are visiting Old Trufford in August.
See Club Int'l Match.
2004.05.05
Iwata runs alone for the 1st stage title. J.League
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56,070 attendances of Urawa vs Kashima match at Saitama Stadium, 5 May. |
Today, I enjoyed Urawa vs Kashima match. Because the both team did their best under Mr. Toshimitsu Yoshida's whistle. His judgement today was the best to produce the good match with his consistency, quickness, and conversation.
New striker Takayuki Morimoto of Verdy Tokyo scored today.
He is 15 years, 11 months and 28 days old and renewed the
J.League youngest scorere's record.
2004.04.28
Japan 1. Czech 0. Friendly in Prague
2004.04.25
Japan Women qualified for the Olympic Game
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| JFA celebrates women internationals |
2004.03.31
Singapore 1. Japan 2. World Cup Qualifiers
Japan won with difficulty in Sigapole.
Though they started with 6 Europe based players,
the content was for from satisfaction.
As Japan had many chances but Singapore
have more critical chances and they scored fine middle shoot.
Game by game, the performance of Japan get worse.
Players can't enjoy the match nor do we, people watching the TV.
Nakata told for the TV interview "Nothing has been improved.
It is the problem in our heart. Change it before it's too late".
Now we know we can expect nothing from Zico's management.
Change it before it's too late.
2004.03.18
Japan qualified for Athens 2004
|
| Just Qualified for Athens 2004 |
Japan U23 won against UAE U23 by 3-0 in Tokyo and qualified the Asian Group B. These six series of matches were very exciting. Though exhausted UAE round, players grew up rapidly. Nobody dreamed Japan could win double to UAE, nor they won only one point from Bahrain. They brought back true excitement to the national team for the first time after 2002 Korea/Japan.
2004.03.16
Japan U23 time of tiral for Athens 2004
Japan has only 4 goal-differences advantage for dark horse Bahrain,
both winning 10 points after five matches.Win Athens on Thursday. Japan vs UAE and Bahrain vs Lebanon 19:20 PM.
2004.03.14
J.League Opening Day Review
267,531 people walked through the gates at 14 stadiums across Japan on
Saturday 13th March as the 2004 J. League season got underway in good
weather and fine style.
2004.03.12
J.League 2004 Season Preview
All eyes this Saturday will be focused on the Yokohama International
Stadium, as Yokohama Marinos and Urawa Reds kick off their 2004 League
campaign in front of what is promising to be a record J.League crowd
of 68,000.
2004.03.05
Japan U23 won against UAE, coming home with seven points. Olympic Qualifiers
Japan won over UAE and Lebanon, drew with Bahrain in the first half of
the Olympic Asian qualifiers final round group B. They will have
another round robin competition starting from 14th in Japan.Striker Tatsuya Tanaka opened the way of Japan team by scoring twice and assisting three goals from these three matches.
| UAE round key players |
GK. Hayashi
DF. Tokunaga, Tulio, Nasu
MF. Suzuki, Konno
Ishikawa, Morisaki
Matsui
FW. Hirayama (Takamatsu), Tanaka
|
2004.03.03
Japan 4. - Lebanon 0. Olympic Qualifiers
2004.03.01
Scoreless. Japan U23 - Bahrain U23 0-0. Olympic Qualifiers
Important 1 point. You have five more matches.
results
2004.02.21
Japan U23 vs Korea U23 : 2 - 0. Friendly
Olympic Squad coach Masakuni Yamamoto will have much to take away from
this match and he should rightly feel that a place in Athens for
Japan's youngsters is there for the taking.
2004.02.19
FIFA announced the format of Club World Championship 2005 in Japan
According to the
FIFA press release
following format for 2005 and 2006 are approved by the FIFA Committee.
- No. of teams: 6 -the champions of each confederation
- No. of matches: 7
- Number of match days: 4
- Duration: 8 days
- Date: December 2005
- Host country: Japan
European champion and South American champion will be seeded. This tournament will be held as an extension of Toyota Cup.
If this anouncemnt will be executed, the 23-year-of Toyota Cup will
come to an end finally. Who will know?
2004.02.18
Japan 1. Oman 0. World Cup Qualifiers
Kubo's late goal saved valued three points.Zico must re-organize his beloved midfield. We got a luck, but the quality is unsatisfactory.
Oman's steady defese followed their Czech coach Macala's lessons. It was a difficult match.
18-Feb-04 (Wed) 19:00 Japan vs Oman 1 - 0 (0 - 0) Saitama 60,207
Japan: Seigo Narazaki; Nobuhisa Yamada, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Keisuke Tsuboi, Alex Santos; Yasuhito Endo (-> Mitsuo Ogasawara), Junichi Inamoto, Hidetoshi Nakata, Shunsuke Nakamura; Atsushi Yanagisawa (-> Tatsuhiko Kubo), Naohiro Takahara (-> Takayuki Suzuki)
Oman: Ali Al-Habsi; Khalifa Ayil, Mohamed Rabia, Saeed Ashoon, Hassan Al-Ghailani; Bader Al-Maimani (-> Nasser Zayid), Hamdi Hubais, Fouzi Bashir, Ahmed Hadid (-> Ahmed Mubarak); Yousef Shaaban, Imad Al-Hosni
Scorer: Kubo
2004.02.18
Japan vs Oman in Saitama Stadium. Match #1 of 2006 Wold Cup Qualifiers
Zico shaw the squad of the match.Narazaki (Nagoya); Yamada , Tsuboi and Alex (Urawa), Myamoto (G-Osaka); Endo (G-Osaka), Inamoto (Fulham), Nakamura (Reggina), Nakata (Bologna); Yanagisawa (Sampdoria), Takahara (HSV)
2004.02.12
Iraq played in Tokyo
As Japan won Iraq by the score of 2-0, but Japan was pushed by Iraqi
quick attack. In the stadium, I could only find very few Iraqi. After
the match Iraq players appeared on the TV and told up how they ARE
now.
Japan only has a week for their first match for world cup qualifiers vs Oman, but do you think the team is ready, Zico?
12-Feb-04 (Thu) 19:20 Japan vs Iraq 2 - 0 (0 - 0) National Stadium, Tokyo Attendance 38,622
Japan: Narazaki; N.Yamada, Tsuboi, Myamoto, Alex; Ogasawara, Fujita (->Nakamura), T.Yamada (->Fukunishi), Endo; Kubo, Yanagisawa (->Ohkubo)
Iraq: Jameel; Kati, Kadhim, Jassim; Salih (->Abbas), Hawar Taher, Haytham Thaer(->Ridha), Heil; Alwan (->Ali), Mossa, Ajeel
Scoreres: Yanagisawa, Alex
2004.02.11
U23 challenge continues
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|
| Vs Iran in Saitama Stadium and Hirayama onheadline | |
The match on Sunday, Iran played so tough that they made Japanese to play at their best performance. A high-school student Hirayama scored on his first major match. I found Iran number 10 Eman Mobali the best player (tell me if you know where he plays). It was a pretty nice match.
Second warming-up for Olympic qualifiers was against Russia.
The team was the senior one that includes Victor Onopko and other
important players.
Japan senior team plays against Iraq tomorrow.
It is amazing that Russia played for our U23 kids.
2004.02.07
Japan 4. Malaysia 0.
7-Feb-04 (Sat) 19:00 Japan vs Malaysia 4 - 0 (3 - 0) Kashima
attendance 29,530 Japan: Doi (Tsuzuki), N.Yamada (Kaji), Tsuboi (Nakazawa), Miyamoto (Moniwa), Alex (Miura); Ogasawara, Fujita (Ishikawa), T. Yamada (Oku), Endo; Kubo (Kurobe); Motoyama
Malaysia: Azram (Hamsani); Yuzaiman, Sulong (Zainal), Wing Hoong, Khoirannisam; Helmi, Tengku Hazman (Kit Kong), Chee Wan (Sanbagamaran), Nanthakumar; Omar, Yusof (Saravanan)
Scorers: Ogasawara, Miyamoto, N.Yamada, Endo
Japan won the 2004 opening match against Malaysia in Kashima. This match was arranged for the 2006 preliminary round preparation starting from 18th February. All Japanese members today play in J.League and several additional players will come to join for the Oman match on 18th.
Japan: GK: Doi, DF: N.Yamada, Tsuboi, Miyamoto, Alex, MF: {T.Yamada, Endo}, {Fujita, Ogasawara, Motoyama}, FW: Kubo
This was the first match-up between Japan and Malaysia in 18 years. Japan had not won so much in those days that total record Japan to Malaysia is 7 win, 8 lose, 7 draw.
New home jersey was introduced today.
What do you think about new adidas industrial models?
Why don't FAs complain adidas for the poor design...
2004.02.01
Natinal Team Schedule
International A Match7-Feb-04 Sat 19:00 Japan vs Malaysia. Kashima #ticket sales from 17-Jan
12-Feb-04 Thu 19:20 Japan vs Iraq. National Tokyo #ticket sales from 25-Jan
World Cup Asian Qualifiers Preliminary Round
18-Feb-04 Wed 19:00 Japan vs Oman. Saitama #ticket sell by subscription
U23 Friendly
8-Feb-04 Sun 19:20 Japan U23 vs Iran U23. Saitama #ticket sales from 18-Jan
11-Feb-04 Wed 19:20 Japan U23 vs Russia (A). Shizuoka #ticket sales from 24-Jan
21-Feb-04 Sat 15:00 Japan U23 vs Korea U23. Nagai #ticket sales from 1-Feb
U23 Olympic Asian QualifiersFinal Round Group B
UAE Round
1-Mar-04 Mon Japan U23 vs Bahrain U23
3-Mar-04 Wed Japan U23 vs Lebanon U23
5-Mar-04 Fri Japan U23 vs UAE U23
Japan Round
14-Mar-04 Sun Japan U23 vs Bahrain U23
16-Mar-04 Tue Japan U23 vs Lebanon U23
18-Mar-04 Thu Japan U23 vs UAE U23
As schedule can be changed, please refer the official announcement if you travel for these matches or really want to purchase them.
2004.01.01
2003 Japan Football Season Review
2003 Japan Football Season Review 26 Dec 2003 by Steve King 2003 will be remembered as the year that Japan settled down after the excitement and euphoria of co-hosting the 2002 World Cup and matured into a footballing nation.
With many Japan-raised players now making their way in leagues across Europe - albeit with mixed success, Japanese football has much to congratulate itself for. On the pitch, standards continue to improve at J1, J2, JFL and youth levels.
The race for both the first and second stages of this year's J1 was both exciting and often the quality of football rivaled and exceeded that of the leagues in which those overseas-based players are playing in. The ever-powerful triumvate of Yokohama Marinos, Kashima Antlers and Jubilo Iwata continued to play attractive, open football, but the contribution of `second-tier' J1 teams such as JEF United, Urawa Reds and Gamba Osaka was massive and important for the future of the league. When J1 reverts to a one-stage format in 2005, it will need more than 3 teams vying for honours.
J2 this year was also breathtaking. Consider how far Albirex Niigata have progressed in an incredibly short space of time ? a few years ago they were playing in the JFL in front of paltry crowds of no more than a thousand. Now, the World Cup stadium in Niigata is a 42,000 sell-out each time, and these paying spectators were treated this year to displays which will have many of J1's big boys feeling nervous about traveling up to Hokuriku next year. How Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Consadole Sapporo struggled this year was also indicative of how the gap between the leagues is shrinking. Venforet Kofu ? J2 whipping boys only 18 months ago, were at one stage serious contenders for a J1 place. Their own support, who rescued the club from oblivion during its dark days, deserve this success and nobody would bet against them challenging again next season.
Japan's youth setup bodes very, very well for the future of football in Japan. The under-20 national side performed extremely well in the Middle East, and again the High School teams caused their senior counterparts all manner of problems in the Emperor's Cup. Funabashi Municipal High School's excellent effort in going out on penalties to double-stage winners Yokohama Marinos merits special praise.
Perhaps the low-point this year were the disappointing performances of the National Side. With so many players now based overseas, it's obvious that coach Zico is having problems gelling a side together. The fact that his team has become inconsistent, poorly-motivated and woefully lacking in killer instinct speaks volumes and it will surely not be very long before the JFA begin to seriously consider putting a fresh face in charge for the 2006 World Cup campaign.
As usual, however, Japanese football owes most of its progress this year to the supporters. Urawa Reds' storied army of fanatics finally got something back this year with a memorable 4-0 victory over Kashima Antlers in this year's Nabisco Cup. Equally passionate were Vegalta Sendai's own vociferous support and J1 will be poorer without them next year. Spare a thought, however, for Sagan Tosu's small traveling support. Enduring a miserable season, which left them far adrift at the foot of J2 and saw them defeated in almost every part of Japan from Hokkaido, Tohoku and Kanto to their home in Kyushu, their final trip to Okinawa saw them dumped out of the Emperor's Cup to amateur side Kariyushi. Let's hope they can rebuild and regather for 2004.
Please inform us if you find an error.
If you need accuracy, please consult official sources.