Saturday, November 3rd, 13.00 – National Stadium, Tokyo
Shimizu S-Pulse v. Kashima Antlers
This weekend sees Shimizu S-Pulse – trophy-less for a decade – take on the holders of the Nabisco Cup – as it is conveniently known in its shortened form, for the first trophy of the season. In 2011 the tournament was cut short after the Tohoku Tragedy of March 11th, with group games abandoned and a knockout format installed that commenced in June.
Kashima were one of the teams given a bye to the quarter finals, due to ACL commitments, and they took care of Yokohama F.Marinos and Nagoya Grampus in their two matches to get to a final against Urawa Reds, which they won by the solitary goal from Osako in extra time.
For Antlers, a victory would be their 5th in this tournament, following on from 1997, 2000, 2002 and last season’s tragedy-affected tournament.
After losing the first two finals of this competition, in 1992 and 1993 – both against Verdy Kawasaki – they were victorious in the 1996 tournament, finally beating Verdy in that final, on penalty kicks, after a 3-3 draw after extra time. S-Pulse fans will be hoping to make up for ten years of bare cabinets with the Nabisco Cup 2012 to add to the sole Emperor’s Cup in 2001, an Asian Cup Winners’ Cup in 2000 and two Xerox Super Cups (2001/2002). The team also won the 1st Stage of the J.League – in a Two Stage season – in 1999 – losing to Shizuoka rivals Jubilo in the Championship Play-Off.
Kashima Antlers are well ahead of their opponents in the trophtystakes, of course, with seven J.League titels, the four aforementioned Nabisco Cups, four Emperor’s Cup and five Super Cups to their name, but a gloried past has not helped them this season as they fight relegation with just four games to play and an Antlers fan who would prefer a Nabisco Cup and a J2 place will be hard to find, which may well give S-Pulse an advantage this weekend, as Antlers coach Jorginho and his team will have one eye on a Wednesday night tie with Omiya Ardija to contend with. A loss at Omiya would put the Kashima team in deep trouble, while a victory would see them all but safe.
Of course, a win in the Nabisco Cup might gloss over the problems that have faced Antlers this season and perhaps a change in coach is on the cards right now, but a cup win might placate the powers-that-be and fool them into thinking all is OK? That’s another story!
Shimizu S-Pulse are probably in a completely different boat, with Afshin Ghotbi having worked his magic on the team, despite losing, quite literally half a team AFTER he had signed on in early 2011! The departures of Japan internationals Shinji Okazaki and Jungo Fujimoto, as well as Norwegian talisman Frode Johnsen was bad enough. He also saw experienced players like Teruyoshi Ito and Daisuke Ichikawa move on before the ink on his contract had dried. He molded a new team around young talent, brought in some experience and easily fought off the expected relegation fight that many expected, and has continued the improvement into this season.
It’s not all been plain sailing, of course, and the team’s ups and downs – though very much in the up as the season comes to a close – have been due to the careful phasing out of players who, while being favourites of some of the hierarchy at the club, were not necessarily the right mix for the team. Whether the likes of Tsujio, Edamura and Iwashita will return better players remains to be seen, while the loss of Alex Brosque to the riches of Qatar came with a high compensation, which I was assured by Afshin Ghotbi himself would go a long way to developing more of the young talent that the club has seen break through this season. The no.9 shirt has been a complete saga in itself – with Freddie Ljungberg departing early in the year, his replacement Jymmy Franca not settling in and being farmed out to Tokyo Verdy, and, finally, perhaps, Kim Hyun-Sung – though wearing the no.35 shirt – finally becoming the no.9 that the fans were looking for? Maybe that’s premature, but a vital goal against Kashima Antlers in league play last weekend has put S-Pulse in the driving seat toward an ACL place, while surely giving them the psychological advantage going into this final, also!
It would be remiss not to mention Shinji Ono, who moved to Western Sydney Wanderers in Australia’s A-League. He had become a fringe player with the club and when the chance to broaden his horizons came along, the club did not stand in his way and allowed a free transfer, wishing the player all the best.
All the outgoing action has almost, but not quite overshadowed the breakthrough of such talent as Ryohei Shirasaki and Hideki Ishige – who will be training with Manchester City in the close season, it seems – the maturing of the likes of Genki Omae and Toshiyuki Takagi, the fight for a goalkeeping spot between two international class keepers in Kaito Yamamoto and Akihiro Hayashi, and the development of a defensive leafer in Calvin Jong-a-Pin, all of which has helped Shimizu S-Pulse become a team that sees them – in the final weeks of the season – still in the hunt for all three trophies in the Japanese game, plus that 2013 ACL spot, of course.
Kashima Antlers, of course, are not without their developing talent – from Koroki and Osako, the talented duo up front, the trio of Endo, Nishi and Masuda all approaching their prime, and Shibasaki and Yamamura making the breakthrough – to mention a few – but perhaps the difference in these two teams is just that – the word team! S-Pulse seem to have become a team under Afshin Ghotbi, while Antlers have struggled under Jorginho. Saturday afternoon will see one team triumph, another disappoint. Who do you fancy?
