Vissel gain first point in journey towards the Asian Champions League!Vissel started with Enomoto in goal, and a back four of (from left right) Ishibitsu, Kitamoto, Komoto and Uchiyama. In midfield, Vissel lined up with Park and Koga on the wings and Kurihara and Kim policing the middle of the field. Two strikers to start the season were Leandro and Matsuhashi.An excellent performance gave Vissel an away point, with a goal from Kurihara.At half time, Park and Matsuhashi were replaced by Botti and Sudo, to freshen up the game. Yoshida replaced Kurihara on 86 minutes for the last substitution.There was a yellow card for Kitamoto during the game.

Shonan Bellmare 1-0 Vegalta SendaiJean earned the points for Bellmare!Ehime FC 2-1 Roasso KumamotoTanaka and Aono took the 2-0 lead within the hour, Takahashi scored Roasso’s first J.League goal on 80 minutes.Sagan Tosu 1-0 Montedio YamagataIio scored a very late winner for Tosu….The game’s afoot!

Gamba Osaka 0-0 JEF United ChibaEx-Gamba coach Josip Kuze gets an away point from Gamba in the season’s first result….FC Tokyo 1-1 Vissel KobeNice away point for Vissel, Konno opened the scoring for FC, Vissel come back with Kurihara’s equalizer.Nagoya Grampus 1-1 Kyoto SangaPaulinho scored a PK, Kyoto’s only shot on target? Johnsen scored on 48 minutes to take the point.Yokohama F Marinos 1-0 Urawa RedsBIG win for F Marinos on a goal from Komiyama on the hour. Roni sent off for 2nd yellow on 69 minutes left Marinos down to ten men for the last 20 minutes, but they held on! First surprise of the day (season?).Shimizu S-Pulse 1-2 Oita TrinitaUeslei, still collecting J.League clubs and goals at 35, opened the scoring for Oita, Morishige added the 2nd, and 13 minutes after coming on as a sub, Edamura scored a piledriver for S-Pulse. 2nd surprise of the day!Kashima Antlers 4-0 Consadole SapporoAraiba (2!), Marquinhos and Sasaki made sure Antlers didn’t slip up after the debacle of the Photocopy Cup. Consadole on the receiving end of a beating!

Mark gives us his view on the opening game for two J1 teams with shortened names in 2008!

This how the J.League official web site saw the game… um, nothing special then??

My initial comments were meant to express disappointment in the TV coverage (as well as some dubious decisions from the referee, which went uncommented on, of course), but there is talk of a fix on other sites……

Antlers 2-2 Sanfrecce, Antlers win on PKs but I was so disillusioned I didn’t even bother to watch the PKs, I wish I had. I came back into the room for the retaken “winner” and the wife tells me there was all sorts of fun! Very disappointed in some of the referee decisions or hastiness in pulling out cards, which then led to more cards.It looked as if Oiwa got a straight red AFTER the final whistle, to add to his yellow. Sogohata also got a yellow after the last PK but, what’s new, the TV coverage was so bad I don’t know what happened – will look into it ASAP…. while not condoning Antlers players (the referee IS always right, even when wrong), my GOD they must have been upset!Certainly can’t condone the fans either, and the fact that 50 or so (who knows, again, scant coverage by TV) Antlers fans ran on to the field at the end was BAD news for J.League and Japanese football in general…. I’ll see what I can learn and get back to y’all.

Half time, 0-0… a 2nd red card, already, again, not necessary, and a goal disallowed for offside… read on…Just before half time, Antlers score, disallowed for offside…… no comment from commentators until a few minutes later when we get two replays – one from behind the goal, wrong angle to even discuss whether it may not have been offside. The 2nd replay is from a better angle, BUT, all we get is Araiba AFTER he has received the ball (in the offside position, allegedly) and just about to cross, and then the cross and “goal” are shown. Again, dumb ignorance in playing the wrong angles? I don’t think so – more following of instructions not to discuss anything controversial? Yes! No doubt!Japanese football COULD be so much better, but it will never improve when this is the coverage we get…. doesn’t help kids trying to learn, doesn’t help referee in covering up mistakes, doesn’t help anyone!

Photocopy Cup, Kashima vs. Sanfrecce – three minutes in and Ogasawara and Stoyanov are pushing each other around, unseen by the officials (and by the TV commentators, even though I saw it on the screen!)……

… and who the #### was that referee? A disgrace to the black (yellow, red, green, whatever) shirt! Tashiro through on goal, hauled down – red card. Keeper shoulder high intentional foot on Yasuda, red card (I await news on possible broken ribs/shoulder injury?). When Suzuki and the Chinese captain got the yellow cards for handbags, the keeper came running out again and pushed Suzuki around, 2nd (3rd!) yellow for the keeper – referee chickened out, therefore another deserved red….. and how about TWO occasions when Chinese forwards left the foot in on Narazaki as he collected a ball (one left him with a cut next to his left eye)!? Fouls on Hanyu, Kaji, Suzuki, Endo, Nakazawa and Nakamura WELL deserving of yellow cards – replays showed intent….. it was getting dangerous to be Japanese on that field…. that referee should be banned, and made to pay back the money the Chinese team paid him! AND Tashiro’s goal was NOT offside! And Nakazawa (or was it Uchida?) got a yellow card for time-wasting! LOL!! Says it all…… well done Japan. Bring on (South)Korea.