Asian Championship Doubleheader - November 13, 2010

In a rather interesting coincidence, two sports held their continental championship games in Tokyo on the same day. Suffering from a lack of live sports recently, I decided to check out both matches.

Game 1 - Chiba Lotte Marines 3 SK Wyverns 0 - Japan-Korea Club Championship

Between 2005 and 2008, the four Asian baseball federations (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China) held a tournament in Tokyo to decide the Asian champion. It wasn't particularly exciting as the Japanese team won each year, while the Chinese teams managed nary a victory in the round-robin. The series was cancelled in 2008 and replaced by a single game between the Japanese and Korean champions, won by the Yomiuri Giants last year. This season, the game was moved from Nagasaki to Tokyo which turned out to be fortuitous as the Japanese champion came from nearby Chiba which certainly helped attendance.

Originally, I wasn't much interested in this game as I expected a fairly easy victory for Lotte against the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) champ SK Wyverns, who finished their season nearly a month ago. But my girlfriend's father is from Chiba and seemed interested in going, so I scored some brownie points and invited him along.

The game itself was one-sided as expected, although the final score was just 3-0 for Lotte. The Wyverns' starter was Ken Kadokura, who pitched 13 seasons in Japan for a number of teams and had a brief tryout with the Cubs last year. At 41, he is well past his prime and only lasted 2 2/3 innings, giving up 2 runs on a bases-loaded single to Ikuhiro Kiyota in the second.

Meanwhile, Lotte sent Yuki Karakawa to the hill and he was great, yielding just 2 singles and 2 hit batsmen in 5 innings. He retired the last 10 men he faced and the Marines followed with 4 relievers each recording a perfect inning. Which means the Wyverns had 22 in a row set down to end things.

PL top batter Tsuyoshi Nishioka, who may end up in the majors next year.

Japan Series MVP Toshiaki Imae added a monster homer for Lotte in the 5th to account for the final run in a game that lasted just 2:45, thanks to the Wyverns swinging at nearly everything. Only the last batter of the game went to a 3-ball count as the 5 Lotte hurlers needed just 102 pitches to dispense of the 31 Wyvern batters. In contrast, Lotte took 8 walks and saw 164 pitches for their 38 hitters - that's a full pitch more per batter (4.3 to 3.3) which is a substantial difference. I thought this might indicate that Korean baseball is faster than Japanese, but a look at the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) homepage shows an average game time of 3:08, which is still pretty long.

Interestingly, out of SK's 21 outs that came from batted balls, only one was hit to the left side of the field. The other 20 were either groundouts to first, second, or the pitcher (12), infield pops to the right side or the catcher (4), or flies to center or right (4). Maybe one or two balls were hit hard all day as they couldn't adjust to the Marines' quality pitching, particularly the off-speed stuff. It wasn't pretty to watch and you had to feel a bit for the Wyverns' fans who had made the trip only to see their team handcuffed all day long.

Coincidentally, Lotte is a Korean company that has a large presence in Japan. The KBO has a team called the Lotte Giants, so perhaps in the future both Lotte teams can battle it out for Asian baseball supremacy.

Before the last pitch.

For the Marines, it was their second Asian title as they won the inaugural Asia Series as well. What I find most interesting is that they didn't win the pennant in 2005 either, finishing second to Softbank, but taking the playoff series 3 games to 2 over the Hawks. In that respect they are like the Florida Marlins, a team that hasn't won a pennant but has two championships regardless. At least the Marines keep their team together after they win though.

Stupid Fan Award

One of the latest trends to hit Tokyo is for people to walk around dragging suitcases behind them. But they are not going to or coming from the airport, instead, they use these as clunky carry-alls. The sheer stupidity behind needing a big, heavy piece of luggage instead of a purse is incredible, especially in a space-deprived city such as Tokyo. Seriously, what do you need to carry around that requires a suitcase? They take up space on the train and slow you down as you meander the streets, which slows me down too when I'm stuck walking behind you. It is my newest pet peeve in a country where common sense seems increasingly rare.

Anyway, at the game yesterday, a nearby fan brought her suitcase into the dome! Seating there is cramped to begin with, and there is no leg room for something that large. Of course, you can put it in the aisle, but that just makes going up and down more difficult for everyone. So she wins the stupid fan award for this game.

Game 2 - Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 3 Zob Ahan 1 - AFC Champions League Final

After a short dinner near the Tokyo Dome, I headed over to National Stadium to catch the Asian Champions League final. I'd normally write some background but the AFC provides a fantastic media packet which gives all the info you'll need.

Seongnam fans

The game was well-played by both teams, but the Korean side from Seongnam was a little better than their Iranian rivals, Zob Ahan from Isfahan. The Koreans had several more chances and the majority of the play was in the Zob Ahan end.

Zob Ahan defender clearing the ball

After a fairly quiet start, Seongnam got on the board in the 29th minute when tournament MVP and Australian national Sasa Ognenovski scored off a goalmouth scramble. The rest of the half saw the Iranians defending for the most part, but it wasn't until early in the second stanza that Seongnam added to their lead. A corner kick was headed to Byung Kuk Cho who headed home in the 52nd minute.

I thought that would do it, but Zob Ahan scored a brilliant goal on a rush just over 10 minutes later. A great crossing pass allowed Igor Castro to drive the ball at net, which Korean keeper Sung-Ryung Jong parried away. But it went straight to Mohammad Khalatbari who expertly lobbed a header over Jong and into the back of the net to make the final half-hour quite exciting.

The sideline is obscured by the advertising when you sit down low

Zob Ahan found life after that and had a few chances but couldn't manage an equalizer as Jong made a few key saves. Then with 7 minutes left, Seongnam's star Mauricio Molina (above taking a free kick) let go a hard shot that was saved by Shahabaldin Gordan but the rebound went to Cheol Ho Kim who slotted home the clincher.

Dejected Zob Ahan players before a late free kick

For Korea, it was their second straight title after Pohang Steelers won last year. Ultimately this day showed that Japan is easily the best baseball country in Asia while Korea still maintains soccer supremacy. It was certainly interesting seeing these two sports back-to-back. It's rare for me to say this but the soccer game was much more entertaining than the baseball game as the teams were more evenly matched and the pace was quite quick. As well, I was able to choose my seat and tried sitting near the field which offers a different perspective than I am used to.

Next Up

In just over two weeks, I depart for the big 5-week trip home, but before then I'm going to check out a J League game in west Tokyo next Saturday and then some Top League Rugby the following weekend. Check back for updates on those games and more.

Best,

Sean

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Nabisco Cup Final - Jublio Iwata 5 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3 - November 3, 2010

This past Wednesday was Culture Day in Japan which meant it was time for the final of the Nabisco Cup, the J League's equivalent to the Carling Cup. I watched it last year so won't write about the tournament structure this time, interested readers can check out last year's post.

The Teams

Although the game is played in Tokyo, the teams are labeled as visitor and home so the fans buy the right tickets. The visitors were Sanfrecce Hiroshima. I actually watched their first game in the tournament back on September 1st, when they lost 1-0 to Gamba Osaka. But they managed to win the second leg 2-1 and then beat Shimizu S Pulse in the semi-finals to make it here. They have never won the Nabsico Cup, nor taken a full season title in the J League, so this was a great chance for them to gain some real silverware (they have one Super Cup but that is just a one-game trophy which they qualified for by losing the Emperor's Cup the previous year). In the J League this season they lie 9th with 11 wins and 9 draws out of 28 matches.

They were facing Jublio Iwata, a one-time dynasty based in Shizuoka Prefecture, which is just southwest of Tokyo. Between 1997 and 2002, the club won 3 league titles , a Nabisco Cup, an Emperor's Cup and an Asian title, but they've fallen into the mid-table the past few years. This season they sit two spots below Hiroshima with a 10-9-9 record. Their goalkeeper is Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, who backstopped the Japanese in the 2002 World Cup, but who is nearing retirement.

I should mention that Hiroshima didn't participate in the round-robin portion of the tournament as they were playing in the AFC Champions League. So this was only their 5th Nabisco Cup game, while Iwata had played 11.

The Fans

Both teams had thousands of supporters at each end of the stadium. I expected Jublio (above) to have a few more fans simply because they are closer, and outside the stadium there were dozens of buses with Iwata banners. But the Hiroshima faithful (below) had made the journey in great numbers as well and both sides presented their colours and songs before the game. What I found interesting is that there were less Sanfrecce fans at the game I saw in Hiroshima; glad to see that they are embracing the idea of the road trip!

The Game

I'm going to refrain from detailed descriptions of all the goals in this game, because there were eight of them! That's right, 8 goals in a soccer game. What's even more amazing is that there were only three goals at the 88 minute mark. After that, things got pretty wild. Before proceeding, I suggest you check out a YouTube Video that shows them all.

With the video, it's difficult to understand how quickly those goals came though. The first 25 minutes of the match were rather dull, with neither team able to generate any offense. Iwata came closest when a free kick from Kota Ueda (directly below) missed the top corner (below that).

The first goal was scored in the 36th minute when Keisuke Funatani ran onto a perfect cross from Ryoichi Maeda, heading the ball through Shusaku Nishikawa's legs.

But Hiroshima were not fazed, and Croatian Mihael Mikic made a spectacular run down the right flank, shaking two defenders, running into the box, and crossing to Tadanari Lee, who mishit the ball moving backwards but caught Kawaguchi going the wrong way and the ball dribbled into the net.

If you watched the video above, you would have seen Sanfrecce holding a big team celebration, as all 11 players on the field, including the keeper, gathered near the Iwata net, went to one knee, and made a motion as if drawing a bow. I'm not sure of the meaning, but it was a bit over the top.

Jublio's Norihiro Nishi

Hiroshima's second goal came just 3 minutes into the second half when a long ball from Koji Morisaki eluded two Iwata defenders and found itself on the foot of Satoru Yamagishi who calmly slotted past Kawaguchi. Yamagishi then ran to the Sanfreece supporters and took quite a while getting back to the field, but the referee didn't warn him which I found surprising. Two goals and two excessive celebrations; would the soccer gods take offense?

The answer would be yes. In the 88th minute, Nishikawa couldn't handle a strong header off a corner kick and the ball went straight to Maeda (last year's J League scoring champ) who tapped home to tie the match and send it to overtime. The picture above shows Maeda's outstretched leg touching the ball, which is hidden by a lunging Nishikawa.

The extra time started slowly, although Sanfrecce hit the crossbar midway through. But it was another corner kick that led to the goal as Iwata's Minoru Suganuma volleyed home a headed pass 12 minutes in. That seemed to crush Hiroshima, who promptly made a defensive blunder that allowed Ryohei Yamazaki to score two minutes later. But no, Sanfrecce had a free kick that was expertly taken by Tomoaki Makino, beating a diving Kawaguchi to make it 4-3 at the extra time interval. That's 3 goals in 3 minutes, a rather unusual occurrence in soccer, and it looked like Hiroshima had hope.

But just four minutes into the second half of OT, Maeda added his second, chesting down a long free kick and racing into the box, where he chipped over Nishikawa to seal the game. Sanfrecce had a penalty at the final whistle, but Kawaguchi made a diving stop to send the Iwata fans into a frenzy.

Jublio wins the Nabisco Cup 5-3! What an amazing game! Not particularly well played by either side, particular the Hiroshima defense who were constantly giving up chances, but a lot of fun to watch. Neither goalkeeper will be writing home about this one either, but the fans certainly enjoyed it. Below is a list of the goals.

The Free Stuff

The other great thing about the Nabisco Cup is getting free junk food. This year was Oreo chocolate cream cookies and Chip Star, a rather bland Pringles imitation. There was also a double-sided trading card with Hisato Sato of Hiroshima on one side and Iwata's Maeda on the other. There is also the pamphlet with the history of the tournament and detailed descriptions of both teams.

Next Up

November 13th is the AFC Champions League final. Before that there is a baseball game between the Korean champion SK Wyverns and the NPB champion, which I may go to. After that I'm in Okinawa for a few days and then there's some Top League Rugby on the 27th. Then the roadtrip portion of the blog gets restarted as I'm off US and Canada for a month of hockey, football, and basketball. I'll post the final trip schedule next week as it has been decided and tickets have been booked.

Best,

Sean

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Gamba Osaka 2 vs Vegalta Sendai 1 (Emperor's Cup Semifinal) - December 29, 2009

Two days ago saw the semifinals of the Emperor's Cup. Despite it being an official workday, many people have the final week of the year off and so the game in Tokyo was scheduled for a 3pm start. I had taken the day off in lieu and so headed out to National Stadium to check out Vegalta Sendai take on defending champions Gamba Osaka.

The Teams

I've already seen Vegalta Sendai twice in this tournament, including their most recent victory over Kawasaki back on December 12th, so there's no need to expand on that. But it's my first time seeing Gamba Osaka, who finished 3rd in the J League this season. They are the defending champions in the tournament, and also won the AFC Champions League in 2008. Their star is Yasuhito Endo, who is considered one of Japan's best players after taking the Japanese Footballer of the year in 2008 and Asian Footballer of the Year this season. Gamba is one of only 6 teams to have played in the top league in Japan since its inception in 1993.

Given their pedigree, it would seem like Gamba would have no trouble with newly-promoted Vegalta, but their regular keeper was out with the flu, and Vegalta had also taken the scalps of other J1 clubs such as FC Tokyo and Omiya Ardija, so it was by no means a foregone conclusion.

The Seats

Before I get to the game itself, a small digression on the seating. On the JFA's game page, they listed the seating options on a stadium map (check the bottom of the page). I wanted to sit in the center area on the back of the stadium around section 34 or 35; these sections were listed as open on their site. But when I got there, they had blocked off the entire top deck from section 32 to 39 as you can see in the picture below.

Fortunately, the Sendai fans were so many in number that they were forced to open sections 32 and 33, so I moved there, but it was still crowded and uncomfortable for most of the game. And if you got there late, you would have had trouble finding two seats together. So a big thumbs down to the JFA for not opening the seats in advance and for not updating their website.

BTW, If you are seeing a game at National Stadium on a sunny day and don't enjoy being blinded, try to sit in the away section - the sun is low in the sky and shines directly at the home supporters.

Shinjuku skyline

The Game

Many of the latecomers were still looking for seats when Osaka opened the scoring on a spectacular goal. Defender Michihiro Yasuda had the ball deep in the right and crossed into the box. Vegalta keeper Takuto Hayashi jumped to clear it but he could only manage a weak palm on the ball, which spun weakly in the air. Gamba's Brazilian striker Lucas, with his back to the goal, stepped forward and bicycle-kicked the ball with his left foot. Hayashi had no chance and Gamba had the early 1-0 just 4 minutes in.

A corner kick...

...is punched away

The rest of the half was rather uneventful, with most of the play in the midfield. Gamba seemed able to parry any Sendai chance and they really only threatened once, when a header went off the post, shown in the picture below.

The second half was much the same until Sendai finally broke through. Kunimitsu Sekiguchi had the ball in the right corner when he made a brilliant back heel pass to himself to get in the clear. He dribbled into the box and crossed to Takayuki Nakahara, who drove the ball into the top right corner to tie the game.

But the tie was short-lived. It seemed that Gamba had another gear, and they immediately began to pressure the Vegalta defense. After just 8 minutes, they were controlling the ball well when Hideo Hashimoto tried to cross. The ball was deflected by a Sendai defender and rolled to Lucas, who calmly slotted it home behind a surprised Hayashi.

Even with the lead, Gamba continued to pressure, having at least 3 great chances to add to their account. They seemed adept at finding the trailing player who would then drive a shot wide or high. Vegalta never really came close again and at the full-time whistle, Osaka had earned their place in the final.

Hayashi leaps to grab a cross

This game wasn't that exciting; certainly Gamba showed their class, limiting Sendai to just 6 shots while managing 13 themselves. I was a bit sad to see Sendai fall here as I always enjoy seeing underdogs succeed. But they will certainly provide quality opposition in J1 next season.

This video shows all the goals for those who are interested.

The Emperor's Cup final will be played on New Years Day in National Stadium. Gamba will take on Nagoya Grampus, who won in penalties over Shimizu S Pulse. I'm not going to that game as I've seen both teams and am not sure about the ticket situation.

Next up

That's it for 2009! January 2010 promises more sports including an American football game in Tokyo, the final week of Top League rugby, and then the trip to the south for the Leafs road trip. Stay tuned for all the news and have a Happy New Year everyone!

Sean

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AFC Champions League Final - Pohang Steelers 2 vs Al Ittihad 1 - November 7, 2009

I've written about the Asian Champions League before, so I won't go into the details again here. The final was set for Tokyo's National Stadium, likely in anticipation that one of the two finalists would be from the J League. Although all 4 Japanese teams made the knockout tournament, the draws were not favorable to them. First Kawasaki knocked off Gamba Osaka only to face Nagoya in the quarters. With Kashima losing to FC Seoul in the round of 16, the J League was guaranteed just a single team in the semi-finals. It turned out to be Nagoya, who were thumped 8-3 on aggregate by Saudi side Al Ittihad. Meanwhile, Pohang Steelers from Korea advanced after defeating Qatar's Umm-Salal 4-1 on aggregate.

More on National Stadium

Although I visited National Stadium for Tuesday's Nabisco Cup Final, I didn't have much time to walk around. I rectified that today, spending about a half hour wandering. The stadium has two levels on the back stand, but only one in the main stand and end zones. You can complete the circuit on the lower level; the concourse does become slightly cramped behind the end zone seats. There's very little on the upper level concourse, just a few food and drink concessions. There's also a shortage of garbage cans, so at the end of the game, they are overflowing. In the States, most people leave their garbage at their seat, but here in Japan, most people try to throw it out when they leave. So it doesn't take long for the garbage can to fill up when there's not enough of them. I don't know why they just don't add a few more trash cans.

On the lower level, the main stand is where all the cool stuff is: displays, handouts and the like. Yesterday they had jerseys from all the competing teams which was neat. It's strange that they don't set up anything on the back stand since there's about twice as many seats there, but most people seem to enter by the main stand and then make their way around.

View from the middle of the back stand

There are plenty of food concessions, although I think they might change depending on the event. I didn't notice any sort of speciality items; it was mostly just Japanese fast food.

Overall, there's nothing particularly impressive about the stadium; it's a testament to functional design. Still, it's hard to believe it's 50 years old - it's still in good shape, and definitely worth visiting if there's a soccer game in town.

The Teams

Al Ittihad are based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and won their place in the Champions League by finishing 2nd in the Saudi Professional League in 2007-08. They went undefeated through the entire group and knockout stages, scoring 29 goals and yielding only 9 in their 11 matches. Their captain is Saudi Nation

I've known about this team since they won back-to-back Champions League titles in 2004-05. The latter victory garnered them an appearance in the 2005 Club World Championship, where they finished 4, losing in the semi's to eventual champion Sao Paulo.

Their most famous player is Mohammed Noor, who has played with the Saudi National team at the two previous World Cups. He scored a hat trick in the first game against Nagoya and has totalled 4 goals in the competition.

Pohang Steelers qualified by winning Korea's version of the FA Cup in 2008. They went undefeated through the group stages as well, including a critical victory over Kawasaki Frontale to take the group title. After a 6-0 thumping of Australian side Newcastle, they lost a 3-1 decision away to Uzbekistan side Bunyodkor in the quarter-finals. Needing a big win on the home leg to advance, the Steelers managed a 4-1 win in extra time to make it to the semi's, where they swept Umm-Salal. They tallied 22 goals while giving up only 8 during their 11 games.

They won back to back titles in 1997-98 but haven't done much internationally since then. Their top scorer is Brazialian Denilson, who had 7 goals in the tournament, good for 3rd overall.

The Game

I had no idea what to expect in the game today. Judging from the stats, I expected both teams to be fairly good on defense but to also attack quite a bit. So something had to give.

It didn't take Al Ittihad long to gain a chance. In the first minute, Pohang keeper Hwa-Yong Shin went wide to get a ball but overran it, giving Hicham Aboucherouane a chance from just off the goal line, but he sent it into the side netting.

The first 10 minutes were generally controlled by Al Ittihad; their crisp, quick passing forcing Pohang on the defensive. But the Saudi side couldn't find the magic opening and the half then degenerated into a lot of midfield play as both sides tried probing attacks with little success.

The highlight of the half was Aboucherouane rocket-like free kick from 35 yards out which Shin barely managed to deflect over the bar.

Zaid punches one away

In the first minute of the second half, Al Ittihad continued their assault as Amine Chermiti headed a ball that beat Shin but bounced off the crossbar and just beyond the reach of Noor, who had an empty net. Chermiti missed again a few minutes later when he was alone in front of the net, and Pohang countered. Denilson was fouled about 8 yards outside the box, setting up a great free kick opportunity. Byung Jung Noh took the kick and sliced a perfect low drive that went through the Al Ittihad wall and into the corner of the net past a diving Mabrouk Zaid. A shock goal and the Steelers had the lead.

Zaid saves an easy one

Nine minutes later, Pohang had another free kick, this time from the far right side. Jae-Sung Kim lofted one in and defender Hyung-Il Kim rose high to head it by a motionless Zaid. Kim fell to the ground with joy, while the Steelers fans went into a frenzy at the picture-perfect goal.

But Al Ittihad was not to be counted out. Just eight minutes later, Chermiti's header forced Shin back, where he was able to palm the ball down. Unfortunately, it landed at the foot of Noor, who blasted it home to cut the lead to 2-1 (all the goals are found on this video with ecstatic Korean announcers).

The last 15 minutes were all out as Al Ittihad tried to force extra time, but they were unable to find the equalizer and at the full-time whistle, Pohang's players celebrated their title.

Pressure on the Korean defense

Attendance was a decent 25, 743 consider no Japanese team was in it and the Giants were winning the Japan Series at the same time. Both sides had their supporters there, although naturally the Koreans had a larger contingent. To even things up, somebody was handing out plastic bibs that resembled Al Ittihad's uniforms - a cute idea.

Steeler Supporters

All-in-all, a great game, particularly the second half. These sudden-death matches bring out the best in both teams, and it's a lot of fun to watch them give it their all. Many might think this a meaningless title, but there was no doubt that the Steelers were overjoyed to lift the trophy. I look forward to this tournament again next year, and may try a road trip outside of Japan to catch a game or two.

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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