Formula 1, AFC Champions League and other updates

Schedule Changes

OK, so the tentative Sports Road Trip schedule has seen some changes over the past couple of weeks. My week-long trip to Western Japan has been postponed, and I've had to cut back on my baseball extravaganza to California and Arizona (more on that in a later post). There are a couple of reasons for these changes.

First, the trip to Florida, the surprise trip to Canada and then the jaunt in Thailand and Manila meant that I was out of the country for 41 out of the first 80 days this year, which has not put me in good stead with my girlfriend. The second reason is that she is changing jobs, and has a couple of weeks of free time. For some odd reason, she wasn't intrigued with my idea of a two-week long MLB trip to the West Coast, so we are going to visit Singapore and Malaysia instead.

But don't worry, the sporting gods have smiled on me still. Turns out the Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix is in Kuala Lumpur on April 3rd and 4th, which is something I've been meaning to see for some time. I'll also catch an AFC Champions League game between the Singapore Armed Forces and Henan Construction on April 13th.

Japanese Sports Updates

Speaking of the AFC CL, the competition began last month and tomorrow is already the third match-day. Melbourne Victory is visiting Kawasaki Frontale in a battle of 0-2 squads. The loser likely will be eliminated from the knockout stage, but it's not a game that excites me greatly, so I won't be attending. There are three other Japanese teams in the group stage, with Kashima Antlers the only one picking up wins. They are 2-0 while Gamba Osaka has two draws and Sanfrecce Hiroshima have yet to notch a point. So it could be a quiet round of 16 here in Japan.

The J League started a couple of weeks ago and there's not much to report there. I hope to get to some new stadiums this season, but the schedule makes it difficult to combine more than a couple of games in a weekend. It's just not worth the money or time to travel to Osaka to see two soccer games and nothing else.

Of course, baseball is a different matter, and the Japanese baseball season began for the Pacific League over the weekend, while the Central League starts this Friday. The minor leagues are underway as well, so I might try to catch a game or two when time permits, but having seen all the local stadiums last year makes this season a bit less compelling. I do hope to see some of the minor league stadiums in the Western League, but that schedule is not as road-trip friendly with only 5 teams.

Finally, a quick update on the bj League, Japan's pro basketball circuit. I saw games in 3 cities at the end of last year but obviously have not had much time to revisit the Tokyo Apache or other teams. The league still has a couple of months to go, so I'm planning to attend a couple of more games and perhaps some playoff action depending on who makes it.

Self-Indulgent Time

As you can see by the above updates, Japan has a rich and varied sports scene. But I don't spend as much time going to the games as I should. There are two main reasons for this.

The first is that I'm much more interested in doing true road trips. I prefer having a car and being able to see several games in different stadiums and cities over an extended period. It's not difficult to watch the local teams every day, that just takes cash, time, and an understanding partner. But I find that it gets boring after a while and I need some variety.

The second is that traveling in Japan is not cheap and not that easy. The bullet train is expensive and local trains are time-consuming and their fares can add up quickly. The sports venues are often quite far apart and not necessarily easy to get to on public transport. Hotels here are small and not that cheap either. So the best bet for road trips here is a short weekend with two or three games in a concentrated area, particularly if there's a travel package that can be found. I'll be looking for opportunities to do so in Hiroshima, Sapporo, and Nagoya later this year.

For now, the next month will be quiet, with just the Singapore and Malaysia trip on the schedule. After that, I should get busy again. I'm still set for two weeks in Arizona, Nevada, and California in May, as well as some time in Minneapolis and Kansas City in July. Finally, there will be a Christmas trip to Ottawa and the World Junior Hockey Championship in Buffalo around the New Year. It promises to be a busy season of road trips, so hope you can ride along.

Best,

Sean

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Sendai Saturday Sports Spectacular (Part 1) - Kawasaki Frontale 1 at Vegalta Sendai 2 (a.e.t.) - December 12, 2009

When the Emperor's Cup Quarterfinal match locations were announced, I was interested to see that Kawasaki Frontale were going to visit Vegalta Sendai. When I checked the bj League schedule, I was happy to find that Sendai has a team, and they had a home game on the same day! It was a chance to take a real sports road trip in Japan, my first in 2009.

Sendai

The capital of Miyagi prefecture, Sendai is a city of some one million people about 200 miles northeast of Tokyo. It's the largest city in the Tohoku region (Tohoku combines two Chinese characters meaning east and north and includes the 6 prefectures between Kanto and Hokkaido. It's considered one of Japan's greenest cities and is nicknamed the city of trees. It is famous in the world of green purchasing, having hosted the first international conference back in 2004, which led to the Sendai Declaration on Green Purchasing. Of course, you still get plastic bags at every single convenience store, so they've got a long way to go to convince me.

Like most Japanese cities, there's a central train station (shown above) which defines the downtown core. From here, several lines venture out to the suburbs. There's also a single subway line that travels a 30-minute north-south route (hence the name Namboku line, which means south-north). Another line is due to be built in 2015, traveling east-west and naturally called the Tozai line (which means east-west).

There are a few attractions which I'll discuss in a separate post. There are 3 major sports teams, including the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Pacific League, who play in Kleenex Stadium. Of course, the other two teams were why I was visiting Sendai this weekend.

Getting there

Sendai is on the Tohoku Shinkansen - just 100 minutes from Tokyo station on the fastest Hayate service. There are no flights from Tokyo's Haneda airport, but there are two daily flights from Narita, which are necessary for those Tohoku residents who want to get out of the country.

Shinkansen car guide in Tokyo station

The normal Shinkansen fare is 10,590 yen one-way (about $120 with the strong yen) but there's a special DoNichi ticket that allows unlimited rides on JR (the national rail) between Tokyo and the entire Tohoku region for a weekend (DoNichi referring to Saturday and Sunday - tired of the Japanese lesson yet?). At 18,000 yen, it's even cheaper than buying a return ticket on the Shink, plus you get all your local JR rides (which excludes the subway) for free. So you can spend your Sunday venturing away from the city, which we did, going out to Matsushima and Shiogama, which I'll also write about later.

If you plan to ride the subway more than twice in a day, pick up the unlimited day pass for just 600 yen. Given that even a short ride can be 240 yen, this pass saves you money and also saves you the time of figuring out how much to pay. I was surprised at how busy the subway was, even on the weekend, but I guess when there's only one line, people don't have much choice.

Hotels are plentiful around the main station, and you shouldn't have any problem finding one to book. I'd recommend staying anywhere downtown as it's not a big city and most of what you will want to do is within 30 minutes.

The Stadium

Vegalta Sendai play in Yurtec Stadium, named after a Tohoku-based corporation. Originally named Sendai Stadium (not an original name though), it is located next to the northern terminus of the subway line. As the train approaches Izumi-chuo station, you will notice the stadium on the east side (the subway is above ground for the last few stops). When you exit the station, just walk back south about 5 minutes. You have to walk down a relatively narrow sidewalk which doesn't provide any good views of the whole venue until you are just in front. Below is the main entrance.

The gates were well spread out and there was no waiting to get in, although that was likely because we arrived only 40 minutes before game time. Once inside, you can walk freely throughout the stadium along the concourse, but when you enter the seating area, you need to show your ticket. There are specific seating areas, but most of the seats are free seating within that area, so get there early or splurge for the more expensive assigned seats. There are also standing areas at the top of each section. As is usual, the supporters sit in the end zone, so try to get a seat along the sideline as your ears will thank you afterward.

The stadium is rectangular and made specifically for soccer. A wavy roof encircles the seating area and all seats are covered, so even a rainy day poses no problem here. Along the sideline, all seats are very close and offer great views. Holding just under 20,000 fans, it is cozy and clean, but loud - the Sendai fans chant non-stop and I'd say more than half of them are participating in the cheers. If you want to fit in, wear something yellow.

Sendai Supporters

This stadium maybe one of the best in Japan. It's small enough that you're close to the action, but big enough to allow a great crowd of supporters. Definitely worth a visit if you're in town at the same time as Vegalta.

Kawasaki Frontale 1 at Vegalta Sendai 2 (a.e.t.)

Kawasaki were fresh off a disappointing finish to their J1 campaign, slipping up against cellar-dwellers Oita Trinita in late November. Their 1-0 defeat cost them the league title as I've detailed here before. As well, they had lost the Nabisco Cup Final to F.C. Tokyo and fell against Nagoya in the Asian Champions League quarter-finals, so the Emperor's Cup was their last chance at gaining silverware in 2009.

Vegalta Sendai, on the other hand, were the J2 champions and doubtless were looking to prove themselves against one of Japan's best teams before joining the top flight next season. Back in October, I saw them defeat Omiya Ardija in the 3rd round of the Cup, despite being outplayed, but they then smoked F.C. Tokyo 3-0 in the round of 16, so I had high expectations for this match.

I was not disappointed. Both teams were tentative early on, and few chances were found. It wasn't until the 35th minute when Sendai opened the scoring on a great play. Kunimitsu Sekiguchi raced forward and looked right as Takayuki Nakahara made his way to the net. All Kawasaki's defenders thought the ball was going that way, but Sekiguchi made a nifty no-look pass to Yuki Nakashima who had space on the left. He made his way into the box, looked up, and placed an absolutely perfect shot inside the far right post to send the crowd into a frenzy.

I thought Sendai might start to play a more defensive game with the lead, but I was wrong: the game became more wide open in the 2nd half. Kaswasaki nearly drew level just after the restart when Renatinho was alone in front but he put it straight at keeper Takuto Hayashi. Frontale continued to push, creating several good chances but none were able to beat Hayashi.

Meanwhile Sendai used every opportunity to counter-attack and themselves had a number of great shots, only to be denied by Eiji Kawashima, who made at least 4 stops when faced with a 1-on-1.


Kawashima bats one away

It was an amazing back-and-forth game, but Sendai finally broke through 10 minutes from time when substitute Tomoyuki Hirase crossed to Nakashima who bundled the ball home off his chest. Or so I thought. In fact, it hit his arm and the goal was immediately disallowed. There would be no Henry-like controversy to sully the Emperor's Cup!

The teams traded chances and it looked like Sendai would advance when Hayashi made a terrible error. On a cross, he chased the ball well away from his net, palming it right to Frontale midfielder Kazuhiro Murakami, who one-timed the ball into the yawning cage just 2o seconds from the end of regulation. The Sendai supporters were suddenly silenced, but I looked forward to 30 more minutes of soccer.

Naoya Tamura tries to deke

The overtime periods were more of the same - Kawasaki attacks and Sendai counters. Both keepers were up to the challenge for the first 15 minutes, but 5 minutes into the second OT stanza, Kawashima was found wanting. Sekiguchi had the ball on the far left and crossed to Hirase. Although he was well-marked, the ball was slightly low and Hirase bent to head it towards goal. The ball floated ever so slowly as Kawashima leapt in vain - the ball sailed over his outstretched arms and into the goal. The fans went crazy! 2-1 Sendai! Frontale could not overcome this deficit and Vegalta was victorious! What a great game and a great winning goal.


Hayashi parries the cross in overtime

As usual, Kawasaki were technically better but lacked finish when they needed it most. Meanwhile their opponents seemed hungrier and won a lot of the key battles - it was Kawashima who kept them close. This game reminded me of the Nabisco Cup final; I wonder why Kawasaki can't play their usual style when the pressure is on. We'll see if things improve next year.

Meanwhile, Sendai will be facing defending champs Gamba Osaka on December 29th here in Tokyo. It's a work day and a 3pm start, but I've already got the day off, and will go check it out. The other semi-final features Nagoya Grampus and Shimizu S-Pulse, and the two winners meet for Japanese soccer supremacy on New Year's Day.

For those of you who want highlights, this video is good, although a bit strange. The first 40 seconds and last minute are a repeated close-up of a female Vegalta fan cheering and adjusting her bra. Bizarre. But in between are 3.5 minutes of the best plays including all 3 goals.

Annoying Fans

A final note - although I enjoyed the experience, I found a few of the Sendai fans to be bothersome. It was very crowded, nearly sold out, so there weren't a lot of seats to be had. But I noticed one group of 5 had taken 10 seats between them. This is atypical of Japanese, who are usually considerate and follow the rules. To make matters worse, the section in front of me stood for the whole game, despite it not being a cheering section. In Japan, if you are a supporter, you go to the supporter's section, where you can stand and cheer for the whole game. But for some reason, the people near the front of the section felt that it was imperative to stand. Of course, everyone behind them had to stand, which blocked the view of part of the field. Sadly, "Siddown" doesn't translate well. What is frustrating is that there was a standing section nearby - if you want to stand, do it there! I don't want to stand for 3 hours, which is why I bought a seat!

I should note that this is only a few of the fans. The Sendai supporters are by and large very good - after all they filled the stadium when the other 3 quarterfinal games were at less than half of capacity. But as any fan knows, it just takes a few to ruin it for everyone.

It was a good afternoon though, but the day was only half-over. The bj League was also in town in the evening and I'll write about that game in my next post.

Best,

Sean

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AFC Champions League Draw

Earlier this week, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held the draw for the 2010 Champions League. Considering that the final was held just a month ago, these guys don’t waste any time getting ready for next year.The top 3 J1 clubs (Kashima, Kawasaki, Gamba Osaka) are automatically included, as will be the winner of the Emperor’s Cup. There’s also four teams from China and South Korea, and as the groups are drawn by area (16 teams from East Asia, 16 from the West), each Japanese team will play one Korean and one Chinese team.

The remaining 4 teams include two from Australia’s A League, one from Indonesia, and the winner of an upcoming playoff between teams from Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia.

The draw was not good to Kawasaki, who will face Australian champions Melbourne Victory, Chinese Super League winners Beijing Guoan, and K-League runners-up Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. For me, it’s a chance to plan some soccer road trips. I’ve never been to Beijing, so perhaps I can venture over when Frontale visits. The schedule is not set yet (although the game days are known), but I’ll be watching closely to see where I might be heading early next year.

Best,

Sean

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One week left in the J League season

If you think the 26-week MLB regular season is too long, or maybe the 8-month grind of the NHL (including playoffs) is a bit stretched, you won't be a fan of soccer. Particularly the J League. The 2009 season started back on March 7th and is just finishing up this coming Saturday, for a total of 39 weeks. That's the same length of time it takes to have a child and I'm not sure which is more difficult to endure.

OK, I'm exaggerating a bit. I've seen some good soccer games this season. And the schedule is stretched due to international matches, Nabisco Cup ties, and Emperor's Cup fixtures. Still, it's too long and by the end, there is little left to decide.

There are only two teams left chasing the title. Two-time defending champs Kashima Antlers lead Kawasaki by 2 points. Sadly for Frontale, they lost a game at Oita back on November 23rd which cost them the league lead. At the time, Oita was the worst team in the league and already relegated. But Kawasaki couldn't manage to get even a point in a 1-0 loss and they are now staring up at the Antlers. The equivalent for NFL fans would be New Orleans visiting Tampa Bay needing a win to clinch the NFC title and losing (interestingly, Tampa Bay travels to the Superdome on the 2nd to last week of the season).

December 28th update: Tampa Bay beat New Orleans in overtime so the Saints have yet to clinch first. My jinx continues!

Anyway, it's another in a long series of Kawasaki chokes as they continue to struggle to land their first top-flight silverware. The final weekend sees them visit relegated Kashiwa Reysol while Kashima travels to Saitama to take on Urawa Reds. Frontale needs a win and a Kashima loss or tie in order to take the championship. It's unlikely but not impossible and so there's a bit of excitement this Saturday.

I was toying with the idea of going to Kashiwa to see the game, but it's sold out as the Reysol fans are taking advantage of their last chance to enjoy J1 football. As well, with both games occurring at the same time, you would need an out-of-town scoreboard to properly follow the championship chase. I'm not sure if other scores are posted regularly in Kashiwa, so I think I'll just stay at home flipping between both games. I'll be rooting for Kawasaki; here's hoping that the last weekend of the season was worth the wait.

Best,

Sean

Update: Kashima won their game 1-0 to clinch the title while Kawasaki won 3-2 in Kashiwa. As for me, I was stuck at work and missed the games, although with the result, not that disappointing. The Emperor's Cup is all that's left for Frontale, so we'll see you in Sendai next week!

Update (12/4/2011): Kashiwa was relegated in 2009, but won the J2 championship in 2010 and the J1 title in 2011. Truly an amazing sports story that will get no coverage in the hype zone controlled by ESPN.

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Emperor's Cup Quarterfinal Sites announced - Trip to Sendai planned

The Emperor's Cup 4th round matches were held this past weekend, and Kawasaki Frontale defated the Yokohama F Marinos 2-1 to advance to the quarterfinals against Vegalta Sendai. What's slightly interesting about the quarter finals is that the sites are not determined in advance - I guess they have a draw once the teams are known.

I was hoping that there'd be a game in Kawasaki on December 12th, but when the sites were announced yesterday, the game was set for Sendai, a city about 2 hours north of Tokyo that is home to the Pacific League's Rakuten Golden Eagles. But with baseball season over, there'd be no chance of a doubleheader. But then I remembered that there's a pro basketball league known as the bj League.

I checked the bj League website and found that not only is there a team in Sendai, they have home games that same weekend! Sports doubleheader on the road! I'll be checking out Frontale on Saturday afternoon and then the Sendai 89ers on Saturday evening. It'll be cold, but I'm looking forward to seeing two new stadiums and enjoying some great Sendai food. And of course, I'll have a report here afterwards. I'm hoping this is the beginning of this blog becoming more about sports travel!

Best,

Sean

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JEF United Chiba 2 at Kawasaki Frontale 3 - November 8, 2009

With the end of the soccer season approaching and Kawasaki Frontale barely holding on to their lead atop the J1 standings, I thought I'd revisit Todoroki Stadium on a sunny day to see them take on JEF United Chiba.

There's not much background to give here. I've seen both teams already this season; Chiba has had a terrible season and lies 17th out of 18 teams, while Kawasaki is hoping to rebound from their Nabisco Cup loss.

Before I get to the game, a slight aside. This blog is really supposed to be about traveling to watch sports - reports on more than just the game, but the whole experience - how to get there, what else to see, and any other tidbits that readers might find useful. But I haven't done much in the way of travel in the past few months as I needed a job first to secure my visa. So to keep things interesting, I tried to see as many sports in Japan as I could, visiting new stadiums, learning about different teams and even checking out new sports. But I don't want the blog to devolve into a simple recap of games I've seen - if there's no useful to pass on, the post is not warranted.

I think that this is the first time when there's no new information. The only thing different between this visit to Todoroki and the previous one in April is the competition. Today it's the J League, then it was the Champions League. As it turns out, this is a big difference for fans - attendance today was over 18,000 so good seats were difficult to find. You really need to show up when the gates open to secure your favored spot. Back in the Champions League, there were only 8,000 fans, and in my head, I expected it be just as easy to find a decent seat today. Well, it wasn't - I ended up at the goal line, down low - not a great spot to watch the game, as you can see below.

What surprises me is how the league games are so much more popular than the Cup competitions. Personally I prefer the sudden death nature of an elimination game, but it seems like most fans enjoy the regularly scheduled league contests. Not sure why that is, but I now know to show up much earlier or get a fixed seat ticket whenever I go to the J League.

The Game

This was a surprisingly good game. I'll avoid the shot-by-shot recap here to save us all a bit of time. Chiba took a shock lead in the first half, only to have Kawasaki tie it on a Renatinho penalty early in the second. A few minutes later, Renatinho added another, and it looked like Frontale was on their way. But Chiba tied it with just two minutes to go after a goalmouth scramble and the Frontale faithful saw their dreams of a title slipping away. But as the clock turned into extra time, Juninho raced down the left side and crossed to Renatinho who headed home the winner and garnered himself a hat trick in the process. An amazing finish with 2 goals in the last 5 minutes as Kawasaki wins 3-2!

Renatinho might have had 4 goals had he not missed a header in the first half. In the picture below, it looks like the ball is in, but it's just gone wide. Renatiho is the Frontale player at the right of the picture, slightly hunched. When this ball hit the side netting, the fans in my section started cheering - it really did look like a goal. Obviously it wasn't, but that was about the only blemish in Renatinho's near-perfect game.

With the loss, Chiba is officially relegated to J2 next season. This might not sound like a big deal, but their fans were devastated and the players came to their cheering section to bow in contrition. A TV interview tonight showed one of their players crying as he tried to explain the embarrassment of dropping down a level.

Meanwhile Frontale maintains their 1-point lead on Kashima with just 3 games left. Kawasaki is home to Niigata, a top-5 club, and away to Oita and Kashiwa, who are two of the worst teams in the league.

Final Score

The big news for Japan's national team is that Kengo Nakamura has pulled out of their next two matches against Hong Kong and South Africa after being injured late in the game. We'll have to see how this affects Frontale over their last 3 league games and the Emperor's Cup.

Nakamura corner

Other thoughts

I wasn't a huge soccer fan until I worked at the 2002 World Cup. But even after that, I found the J League somewhat difficult to follow. Over the past few months though, I've become much more interested in the league and its various competitions. I've been lucky with the games I've seen; all have been fast-paced with some good goals. No doubt if I had seem some 0-0 stinkers, I'd be complaining about how dull soccer is. But I didn't, so I'll definitely be looking to follow the league more closely next season.

For now, that looks to be it for live sports in 2009. My job takes up too much time during the week and I'm exhausted after seeing two games this weekend. I might try to catch one more J League game on the final match day, or maybe an Emperors Cup fixture somewhere, but we'll see how things develop. The job should be over in December, at which time I'll let you all know of a great road trip that starts in mid-January in Atlanta.

It's been a great year for sports watching for me. I've seen 61 events comprising 8 sports in 4 countries (would have been 5 except I was rained out in Korea). It's been a lot of fun, especially discovering the minors here in Japan. Not sure where I'll be next year, but you can bet that I'll be somewhere watching sports.

Best,

Sean

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Nabisco Cup Final - F.C. Tokyo 2 Kawasaki Frontale 0 - November 3, 2009

Today was Culture Day in Japan and you're supposed to celebrate by doing something cultural or artistic. Well, the J League is certainly a cultural experience in Japan, so I headed off to National Stadium to see if I could find a ticket to the Nabisco Cup Final game between F.C. Tokyo and Kawasaki Frontale.

Outside the Stadium

The Nabisco Cup

Most soccer leagues have a cup competition to supplement the regular season games. In Japan, this is known as the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup, after the main sponsor. Unlike most league cups, which are simple knockout competitions and often involve teams from lesser leagues (such as the Carling Cup in England, which features teams from the Premier League down to League Two), the Nabisco Cup only invites the 18 J1 teams and begins with a group stage, where teams play a round robin against each team in their group. This leads to many more games being played and subsequently more revenue for everyone involved. It also gives those teams who are out of the league chase a chance at some other silverware.

This season, the 4 teams who played in the AFC Champions League were excluded from the group stage. The remaining 14 teams were then divided into two groups of 7 and played a 6-game tournament with the top two teams in each group advancing to the quarterfinals, where they were joined by the Champions League teams. These 8 then played home-and-away legs in a knockout format to reach the winner-take-all final at Tokyo's National Stadium.

National Stadium

Located in the Meiji Shrine's Outer Garden, the National Stadium is one of a number of sports facilities in the area, along with the two Jingu ballparks and the Chichibunomiya rugby stadium. This Google Maps satellite photo shows you all 4 venues.

The National Stadium was the main stadium for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and is now over 50 years old. It's held up quite well over the years and is surprisingly quite modern despite its age. I didn't spend much time walking around today due to the crowds, but will revisit there on Saturday for the AFC Champions League Final and have more info.

I can say that the stadium is a multi-purpose facility and therefore has the track surrounding the soccer pitch. This leaves you at a distance from the action and is the biggest drawback here. The stadium is not symmetrical when it comes to seating. On the main side, which is partially covered, there are only about 40 rows divided into two levels, while on the uncovered back side there are 65 rows in 3 levels. The total capacity is 48,000 seats.

I entered by the backstand gate and found the concourse to be very wide and not crowded despite the sell-out. This is quite different from older stadiums elsewhere, where fan comfort seemed to be an afterthought. My seat was conveniently located in that I didn't have to go up or down a level - from the entrance I just walked over to section 21 and just stepped two rows down from there to reach it. It was in the middle of the row, so I didn't move for the rest of the game, so I can't give any reports on food or other amenities.

The Ticket

The game was sold out just an hour after tickets went on sale back in September, no doubt a result of having two Tokyo-area teams facing off. I didn't have a ticket; in fact I wasn't even planning on going to the game once I found out it was sold out. But when I woke up and saw the weather was perfect, I decided it was worth the short trip to see if I could snag an extra ticket.

There was a decent crowd out front but it seemed everyone was waiting for a friend. I asked one guys who was standing around holding a ticket if he was selling, but he just shook his head.

It was still an hour till kickoff, so I wasn't particularly worried. Eventually I overheard one guy telling another to walk around shouting "I got a ticket". The guy was too shy to do that, but I knew that he was hoping to sell, so I casually approached him. He definitely wasn't a scalper, just a guy with a couple of extra ducats, so I offered him face value for one. He asked if I was a Tokyo supporter, which is a critical consideration when buying tickets to soccer games. Each ticket is either in a home team or away team cheering section. There are no general sections for fans who just like the sport. So although I suppose I'm a very weak Frontale fan, I wasn't going to let such a minor quibble ruin my chance at a ticket. I told him that I was not cheering for either team, just looking to watch the game and that was enough for him - I took his ticket, he took my money and in I went.

I didn't care where the seat was when I bought it, but it turned out to be a good location - facing the top of the penalty box midway up the back stand. I was in the middle of F.C. Tokyo supporters, but I wasn't wearing any Frontale colours, so it didn't matter. The sun was out and shining brightly, so I sat back and waited for the festivities to begin.

The Fans

Both supporter sections were completely full and already raucous. Although I was among Tokyo fans, they were not part of the "official" cheering section, which was in the end seats. In the picture below, you can see them with balloons, a great visual effect. I expected them to let them go as the fans do in baseball games here, but it didn't happen.

The fans here were very vocal, booing the Kawasaki introduction video and then cheering loudly when their players were introduced. Toilet paper seems to be the decoration of choice and was being throw wildly about in the minutes before the game, but it disappeared once the game started.

The Frontale fans were somewhat quieter I thought, although this might be because I was further away. The only interesting thing I noticed was a cool looking star formation before the game, shown below.

The Game

Kawasaki currently leads the J League while F.C. Tokyo lies 5th, only 6 points back. So both teams are strong, although Tokyo has had some injuries of late and were considered the underdogs.

Kawasaki had the better chances in the first half. In the 12th minute, a long-range kick was barely tipped over the bar by Tokyo keeper Shuichi Gonda. Then in the 20th minute, Juninho was gifted the ball with a gaping net, but managed to send it high.

Japanese national team member Kengo Nakamura with the ball

As is so often the case, the team on the defensive counterattacks quickly and finds a bit of luck. In this case, F.C. Tokyo moved the ball up slowly when 18-year-old Takuji Yonemoto ran to the left side. He passed ahead to striker Sota Hirayama who quickly passed back. Space opened up in front of him, so Yonemoto decided to try his luck from outside the box. He sent a curling, diving ball that Frontale keeper Eiji Kawashima dove for. Kawashima got his hands on the ball and deflected it - into the net! An unbelievable strike for Yonemoto and for the F.C. Tokyo fans, who were not expecting such a great goal. When they realized the ball was in, there was a half-second of stunned silence as they confirmed the ball was actually in the net before they erupted in cheers. It was 1-0 Tokyo with 22 minutes gone in the game.

Nakamura's kick is blocked

The rest of the half was fairly quiet, although both teams had more chances, neither keeper was tested seriously. At the start of the second half, Kawasaki continued their assault, and time and again they had decent opportunities but were left wanting for lack of finish. And again, Tokyo put a counterattack to good use. This time, the ball was being headed back and forth in the Tokyo end when Hirayama finally headed it out of danger. The ball was then quickly played ahead to Tatsuya Suzuki who ran down the left side. Hirayama meanwhile raced down the right side, catching up to Suzuki. As they entered the box, Suzuki crossed to Hirayama who headed it past a sprawling Kawashima. A beautiful play all-around and Tokyo had their insurance goal with 30 minutes to go. Here's a great video of the goal, watch Hirayama running from when he heads the ball at the 1:05 mark - great anticipation and pace.

Tokyo celebrate their second goal

Immediately, Tokyo took off forward Shingo Akamine and replaced him with defender Yuto Nagatomo. It was clear that their intention was to defend the lead and for the rest of the game, the play was almost entirely in the Tokyo end. This sucked for me as the sun was directly above the Tokyo net the whole time, forcing me to squint for the last 30 minutes. It also sucked for Frontale, who kept up a constant pressure, but the Tokyo defense did not break. Juninho hit a crossbar and Gonda made a fine save on another shot, and when the whistle sounded, it was a 2-0 victory for Tokyo.

A rare Tokyo attack

Kawasaki outshot Tokyo 17-10 and had 12 corner kicks, most coming in a frenzy in the last 20 minutes. But it was their inability to take advantage of their chances plus their poor defense against the counterattack that cost them the game. Full credit to F.C. Tokyo though, who played a great game and deserved the championship. Yonemoto was the MVP and looks to be someone worth watching in the future.

The Goodies

As the tournament is sponsored by Nabisco, all the fans received a small pack of goodies. Inside was a booklet describing the history of the Nabisco Cup as well as how each team reached the final. Even better, though, were 3 bags of Nabisco's new 100-calorie snack packs. They've taken old favourites and slimmed them down so that they're more appealing to health-conscious consumers. Ritz crackers, Oreo cookies, and Chips Ahoy are all featured; I think they chose those 3 packs as they match the colours of the teams playing today. F.C. Tokyo is a red and blue, while Kawasaki is a light blue and white. The picture below shows the snack packs, the booklet, and the ticket, which is pretty cool.

Thoughts

I've often thought that Japanese soccer is doomed by the players inability to finish. Time and again they create chances only to see a muffed kick or an extra pass go astray. This is certainly noticeable in international play and it was certainly Kawasaki's problem today as they failed again to win the Nabisco Cup (they lost in 2000 and 2007). I also found an interesting article on the topic, which summarizes the situation quite well.

Despite Kawasaki losing, I really enjoyed this game. Perfect weather, lots of chances, a sold out stadium with vocal supporters, and two excellent goals. Not a much better way to spend Culture Day!

Next Up

I'm back to National Stadium this Saturday evening for the ACL Champions League final between Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia and Pohang Steelers from South Korea. The next day I'll revisit Todoroki to see Kawasaki host JEF United Chiba in a regular J League match.

And that's probably it for a while. With baseball nearly over and just a month left in the soccer season; I'm afraid the next two months will be devoid of much sports watching. But stay tuned, there's a big trip in January planned and I'll be posting details here shortly.

Best,

Sean

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Kawasaki knocked out of the AFC Champions League

With a 2-1 victory at home in the first leg, Kawasaki Frontale travelled to Nagoya needing only a draw to advance to the semifinals in AFC Champions League action. Unfortunately, they weren't up to the task, giving up 2 first-half goals to fall behind 3-2 in the aggregate. Chong Tese got one back before the end of the half.

With no goals for most of the second half, it looked like extra time would decide things, but Joshua Kennedy scored a late marker to give Grampus a 3-1 victory and the 4-3 aggregate to send them on to the next round. They will play Saudi side Al Ittihad in the semifinals. The other match features Korean club Pohang Steelers against Umm-Salal. The semi-finals are played on October 21st and 28th.

I'm a bit disappointed that Frontale is out; I was hoping to see a semi-final game down in Todoroki but it's not going to happen. I'll still go to the championship game regardless of who is playing, but certainly having Nagoya in the final will make it more interesting for Japanese soccer fans.

Best,

Sean

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Giants clinch, Frontale wins the first leg, NRL playoffs

Giants win their 3rd consecutive title behind Obispo

A few weeks ago, I watched Wifrin Obispo pitch in a minor league game for the Giants against Yakult. While I was in Hawaii, he was recalled to the big club and has been pitching well. Today, he started against Chunichi and pitched 7 good innings, giving up only 5 hits and a walk. Unfortunately, one of the hits was a 3-run homer from veteran catcher Motonobu Tanishige, but this was the only blemish. The offense managed to put together 5 runs and the bullpen held the lead, giving Obispo 5 wins against only 1 loss, with a tidy 2.66 ERA.

Sadly, this victory gave the Giants their third straight Central League title. Their celebration was an orgy of beer spraying as the players tried to soak each other with bottles of Asahi. Such a waste! I am not a fan of the Giants, who dominate Japanese baseball in much the same way the Yankees and Red Sox do in MLB, so 3 titles in a row is particularly bothersome. And with the Yankees clinching their playoff berth on the same day (in Japan at least), it's doubly depressing. But I'm glad to see Obispo succeed, and I know that I lucked out watching this kid pitch from 100 feet away for free just three weeks before he started a critical game.

I should note that Chunichi is solidly in second place in the CL and will host Hanshin, Yakult, or Hiroshima in the first round of the Climax series. These 3 teams are all within 1.5 games of each other but are about 8 games below .500. So it's a rather ugly race and I'd expect Chunichi to dispose of whichever team takes 3rd place and challenge the Giants for the CL title.

In the Pacific League, the Nippon Ham Fighters are choking away their lead and now have only a 3.5 game cushion on the Softbank Hawks . The Rakuten Golden Eagles stand 3rd with a 2-game lead on 4th-place Seibu. It's certainly a much more interesting race than anything happening in MLB. But the bad news is that the only Tokyo-area team to host games in the playoffs will be the Giants and I don't know if I can stomach a game there.

Frontale knocks off Nagoya

Today was the first leg of the Asian Champions League quarter-finals. Kawasaki Frontale hosted Nagoya Grampus in an afternoon tilt. A first-half goal from Aussie national Joshua Kennedy gave Grampus a 1-0 lead, but Frontale replied with two in the second half from Kengo Nakamura and Juninho to win 2-1. They travel to Nagoya next week for the second leg, and if Frontale can hold on, they'd advance to the semi-finals against either an Uzebekistan or Saudi Arabian team. They'd play the first leg on the road in one of those two countries - now there's a road trip worth thinking about!

NRL semi-finals this weekend

Back in May I saw Brisbane defeat the Gold Coast in National Rugby League action in Australia. Well, it's a long season there, and the playoffs are finally underway. In the first round, the Broncos, who finished 6th, visited the 3rd place Titans in a rematch of the game I saw, and won 40-32. Due to the odd playoff system, both teams advanced to round 2, where Gold Coast lost to 8th-place Parramatta Eels, while Brisbane beat the 1st place Dragons (who were upset by the Eels the week before).

This weekend sees Brisbane travel to Melbourne while the surprising Eels take on the Canterbury Bulldogs. The two winners meet in the Grand Final on October 4th. I'll be cheering for Brisbane, but they are heavy underdogs. I'll let you all know what happened next week.

Best,

Sean

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