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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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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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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Vegalta Sendai 2 at Omiya Ardija 1 (aet) - Emperor's Cup 3rd Round - October 31, 2009

Back in August, I went to a ballgame in Omiya Stadium. Next door lies NACK5 Stadium, home of the J League's Omiya Ardija. From the outside, it looked like a nice cozy soccer venue worth visiting sometime. So when I saw that Ardija had an Emperor's Cup tie against J2 powerhouse Vegalta Sendai, I thought it would be a nice way to spend Hallowe'en afternoon. So off to Omiya I went.

The Emperor's Cup

Much like the FA Cup in England, the Emperor's Cup can be contested by any soccer team that is a member of the Japan Football Association. Each of Japan's 47 prefectures holds its own competition in which the champion advances to the first round proper of the Emperor's Cup, where they are joined by the national university champ. The 24 winners of the Round 1 games are then joined by the 36 J League teams as well as the top 4 teams from the 3rd-tier Japan Football League. These 64 teams then play a 6-round knockout system that culminates in the championship game played on New Year's Day in Tokyo. Counting the prefectural competitions, there are over 6,000 teams participating in the tournament, but coverage really only begins from the first round proper.

Unfortunately, the draw is planned out entirely in advance and in round 2, all the top-tier teams are given matches against the winners of round 1. In other words, two Round 1 winners cannot meet in Round 2. Since the smaller teams are guaranteed a tough opponent immediately, it is difficult for them advance farther into the tournament. Certainly there are some upsets (a team from Matsumoto defeated recent Asian Champions Urawa Reds last month and Meiji University won today over J1 side Montedio Yamagata) but it would be better if each round was drawn separately and completely randomly to give these lesser lights a chance at playing each other.

NACK5 Stadium

Originally known as Omiya Park Soccer Stadium, Nack5 Stadium is located on the southern edge of Omiya Park, next to Omiya Baseball Stadium. It was built back in 1960 for the Tokyo Olympics, where several early-round soccer matches were held. It was renovated in 1997 and then expanded a few years back when Ardija moved up to J1. Since then, it's been called NACK5 Stadium after a local FM radio station bought the naming rights.

It's about a 20-minute walk from Omiya station, passing through a nice tree-lined pedestrian path that approaches Hikawa Shrine. It's a beautiful walk when the weather is nice, as it was today. As you near the shrine, veer right and go around a bend in the road where you will see the stadium. There's no sidewalks in part of this area, which is surprising as pedestrians walk along the roads which must frustrate the local drivers after a game.

Approaching the stadium, you won't see much - mostly concrete and fences. But once inside, you should be impressed: this venue is the best soccer stadium I've seen in Japan (which isn't saying much, I've only been to 4). It's small and there's no track between the pitch and the seats, so you are right on top of the action. On the south side, known as the main stand, there's a roof covering some of the seating area, and the front row is about 10-12 feet off the pitch, so you have a great view from down low. On the north side, you are right at field level, and there's only about 10 rows there, so not a bad seat to be had. On either end are the supporters sections. In each section, the front part is for the serious cheering groups: there are no seats there, just standing spots where fans can jump and wave flags. Above that are seats for the less enthusiastic fans - they rise quite high and likely present a very nice view of the overall stadium. The west side houses the Ardija faithful while the visitors take the east side.

There's 5 ticket options: category 1 seats which are in the middle of the north and south sides, category 2 seats that are closer to the goals on these sides, and then category 3-5 seats that take up the end zones. Prices differ depending on the nature of the game, but today I sat in category 2 seats for 2,500 yen and highly recommend those to anyone going for the first time. All seats are orange, which is Ardija's colour, although on one side of the stadium OMIYA is spelled out with some white seats, on the other side it says NACK5 (below).

The stadium did not seem to allow for wandering around between the different areas, so I couldn't get a feel for food options. The one food stand I did visit offered chicken with corn chips and some small cake donuts, which were not bad and not overpriced.

Overall, NACK5 is what every soccer stadium should try to be: a soccer-only facility that allows fans to experience the action up close. Highly recommend soccer fans visiting Japan to include this venue on their must-see list.

The Game

Today was the 3rd round of the tournament and Vegalta Sendai were the opposition. Vegalta lies 2nd in J2, which means they will likely be playing in J1 next year. Omiya, on the other hand, are near the bottom of the table in J1, so despite the difference in leagues I was expecting a close match.

Happy Ardija players before the game

But Omiya was hot early and within 10 minutes had 4 good chances, including a couple that dribbled just wide. Although Ardija controlled the play, their lack of finish would come back to haunt them. In the 27th minute, a controversial free kick was awarded to Sendai just outside the Omiya box. The ball was headed by Sendai midfielder Shingo Tomita and keeper Koji Izumi dove to save it (shown below). But the ball bounced off the post to Yuki Nakashima who easily shepherded it home as Izumi lay far out of the picture. Here's a video on YouTube of the goal.

Sendai had a shock 1-0 lead, but it didn't last long. Just 10 minutes later, as Omiya defender Daisuke Tomita dribbled into Vegalta's box, he was tripped and fell to the ground. It was a stupid tackle attempt as Tomita was just barely inside the box, but it was a foul and therefore a penalty. Croatian Mato took the spot kick and made no mistake, depositing in the right corner to tie the match at 1 (below).

Sendai had another great chance just before halftime as Takayuki Nakahara was gifted a perfect pass as he ran into the box but he chested it to Izumi before gaining control and we went to the break knotted at 1.

In the second half, I still thought Omiya had the run of play, but at one point it was end-to-end action as both teams went for the winner. But neither could find the back of the net and we were headed for extra time as there are no game replays in this tournament.

Daisuke Tomita at the break

In the first half of the extra period, Sendai was again awarded a questionable free kick just outside the box. This time Ryang Yong-Gi took the kick and he was able to curl it around the wall (shown below) and just under a diving Izumi for the 2-1 lead. Silence hit the Ardija fans who could not believe what they were seeing. Sendai did not let up, almost adding another but they then wisely adopted a more defensive posture for the last 15 minutes. Omiya tried to equalize and had a few chances as time wound down, but they could not secure the necessary goal and the game ended with Sendai taking the upset.

There's no doubt that Ardija outplayed Vegalta for the most part, but they could not score during normal play, missing chance after chance. Sendai capitalized on two set plays and that was enough to send them on to round 4. This was a very entertaining game, helped by the fact that you can sit so close. The only negative were the Sendai players faking injury, which I'll talk about shortly. The refereeing wasn't that good either; I felt that a lot of fouls were questionable, particularly the one that led to the winning free kick. Without replay though, I'll never know for sure.

Still, it was a good afternoon and I'd like to go back again, if only to see a fuller stadium. As the early rounds of the Emperor's Cup are not considered a big event, only 5,489 people made it out, or about a 3rd of capacity. That left the cheering sections rather quiet, when I was expecting a much more raucous crowd.

Headed away

More Things I Hate

I love sports, but each game gives me something to hate. Soccer is no different, and without a doubt, my pet peeve in soccer is the biggest annoyance in all of sports.

What drives me nuts is when players are fouled and drop to the ground writhing in pain like they have been shot. The referee runs over, the player grimaces and rolls around some more, the ref calls for the stretcher, the player is carried off the field where, once off the stretcher, he miraculously recovers to re-enter the game as if nothing had happened. Have these guys no shame?

I think if the stretcher comes on and carries you off, you stay off for 5 minutes. Hey, I know it hurts when you get kicked. But be a man! Walk it off! The Sendai players did this so often I wondered if Vegalta was a Latin word for wuss (it's not, rather it's related to the legend of Tanabata).

These fake injuries disrupt the flow of the game and are only used to try to get yellow cards given to the opposition. And FIFA still yaps on about fair play. Maybe they should first put a stop to this tiresome act that makes the game anything but fair.

Next Up

More soccer next week as the ACL final takes place on Saturday night. It features Al Ittihad from Saudi Arabia against Pohang Steelers from Korea. I'm just going to see what it's like - very curious how many fans from each side show up. Sunday I make a return trip to Todoroki, home of Kawasaki Frontale, to see them take on JEF United Chiba. Kawasaki are in first place with just 4 games left, so I'm going to watch a couple of games as they run for the title. Chiba, who I visited earlier this season, are on the verge of relegation unfortunately and this game could be the one that sends them down to J2. Updates will be posted next week.

Best,

Sean

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