Provisional Squad for Japan’s Samurai Blue excursion to Australia for the Asian Cup has been announced… December 30th this will be pared down to the final 23.
Masaaki Higashiguchi (Gamba) – transformed a team that was known for leaking goals into a trophy-winning team with a tight defence.
DEFENCE:
Koki Yonekura (Gamba) – filled Akira Kaji’s shoes, and more. Created, scored, worked hard. Many years ahead of him, too!
Tsukasa Shiotani (Sanfrecce) – Burst onto the scene as a goalscoring defender who proved that he can play in a Japan NT back four, also. Hope Sanfrecce keep hold of him for a season or three more!
Daisuke Nasu (Reds) A rock between two hard cases (Moriwaki and Makino). Often the only glue that held those boys together. With the attacking tendencies (and referee/opposition-baiting tactics) of his co-defenders, he was the one that stood tall.
JaeSuk Oh (Gamba) Covered right back when needed, but mainly displaced Hiroki Fujiharu at left back, who had been ever-present for two seasons in the Gamba back four.
MIDFIELD:
Yasuhito Endo (Gamba) – The name is enough!
Gaku Shibasaki (Antlers) – Endo’s heir apparent in the national team and Ogasawara’s long-term replacement at Antlers.
Yasushi Endo (Antlers) – Chimed in with goals to back his flair and workrate. Deserves a shot at the national team, too?
Hiroyuki Abe (Gamba) – Unsung hero of Gamba’s attacking bunch. In particular, his early-season goals were important, but his overall workrate up and down the right wing is phenomenal. Another one who deserves Aguirre’s attention.
FORWARDS:
Takashi Usami (Gamba) – Simply changed Gamba’s season (along with Patric’s arrival) upon his return from injury about ten games in!
Yoshito Okubo (Frontale) – Goalscoring phenomenon, and a player everyone hates playing against their team!
Gamba Osaka 0-0 Tokushima Vortis – single point enough to overcome the (non-) challenge from Reds, in the end!
Despite a scoreless draw against a plucky Tokushima Vortis – showing too late what they might have been capable of – Gamba Osaka took the J1 Championship trophy for the second time in their history on Saturday, the single point earned in Tokushima enough to take top spot.
Gamba started the day ahead of Urawa Reds on goal difference at the top – the first time they had hit the top spot this season – and Reds started their match well with an early goal from Tomoaki Makino, to put Reds ahead in the “live table”.
The scores remained unchanged at the break, with Gamba failing to break down a resilient Vortis defence and Reds ahead by the single goal. As it stood, the Championship was going to Saitama… but things are never that simple in J.League, are they!?
Gamba boss Kenta Hasegawa brought on Shu Kurata for Hiroyuki Abe at the start of the second period to try and stimulate his offensive players but it was the home team that came out brighter with some resolute defending by the Gamba defence ensuring that the tie remained goalless in the opening exchanges.
Takashi Usami started to show glimpses of the form that should bring him a Japan call sooner rather than later, but the proverbial parked bus of Vortis, along with some fine goalkeeping kept the blue and black hordes at bay as the game – and the season – reached its climax.
And suddenly the result here didn’t seem to matter as Reds conceded and equaliser and then, unbelievably went behind. As the game went into four minutes of additional time most of the crowd seemed to know – as did the Gamba bench – that even a late goal for Vortis would not be enough for Reds, and Gamba would be champions.
The final whistle blew and, there was a lull in the action, with the buzz growing slowly around the ground – and on the field – as, unless Reds managed two goals in their additional time, the title was Gamba’s. Suddenly there was pandemonium as news came in from Saitama that the game had ended in defeat for Urawa! Gamba were champions, having turned around a huge deficit after the World Cup break.
Consider this in closing – when Gamba met Vortis in matchday 12 – a 3-0 win for Gamba – it was a match between the bottom two teams!
Gamba Osaka – Nabisco Cup – winners. J1 – winners. Next stop, the Emperor’s Cup!
Part 1 with Thomas Birch on the J1 title race runs to 34:10, then Steve Barme chats about the two-horse Relegation Dogfight to 49:45. Jon Steele and Stuart Smith then discuss the J2 playoffs and the J2/J3 promotion/relegation playoff to the end of the podcast at 1:18:29.
It’s always great to see interest in the Japanese game from overseas and one of the names we see regularly on Twitter is
@JleaguefanChris who follows the game from afar. I thought I’d find out a little more about the man behind the Tweets and the web site: http://jleaguefanchris.wordpress.com
JS: Chris, thank you for agreeing to tell us about yourself. The first question is obvious: who are you!?
JLeague Fan Chris: Well, a short intro is needed first… My name is Chris Rowcroft aka JLeaguefanChris, and I am from a small town in County Durham in the North East of England, where my “main team” in English Non League Level is Spennymoor Town FC, who currently play in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League First Division North, I have been a fan of Spennymoor (United, which folded in 2005 and evolved into the current incarnation) since I was ten years old,. For the past six years I have been a volunteer at the club; as a steward, selling programmes and also filming games, but I’ve been given the full role of the club’s cameraman for this season after stepping down as a steward.
JS: Wow, that is certainly deeply involved in the club. How do you find time to watch Japanese Football and, of course, why? And how?!
JLFC: How I got into Japanese Football is an interesting story. When I was in college a few years ago, I stumbled across a news article on the Japan Times website about Tokyo Verdy’s financial problems. Tis struck a nerve and I felt sorry for the club as a team close to my heart – and closer to home, of course – Spennymoor United, had folded a few years before due to financial problems, so I instantly made a decision to follow Verdy, and support them. I also did a bit of research on the team, and the J.League at that time, but I didn’t really do much more than keep up with Tokyo Verdy’s results to begin with.
JS: I am guessing there is more to this story on the way then ….
JLFC: Indeed, a few years later (on March 15th, 2013, to be exact) I started my Twitter account and immediately got more involved in the Japanese game through people like yourself at JSoccer Magazine and Angus at Japan Footy on Twitter being extremely helpful with anything I asked or discussed with my account. So I soon got started updating the 2013 J.League season matchdays at 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning – UK time – while watching a live game. I was then up till maybe 12 noon before heading out to watch Spennymoor play either home or away, and film the game.
JS: An interesting story. It’s fun to hear how people got into a certain team, or league, or player. Just a little sympathy for Verdy started it all! And then came a web site, too!
JLFC: In September 2013 I started a WordPress blog for all things J League. It began with an Emperor’s Cup 2013 1st/2nd, 3rd Round Draw article and, here I am, still blogging about J.League to this very day. I love learning new things about Japanese Football these days – from the JFL to the Women’s game – Nadeshiko League and Challenge League.
JS: I am sure I’ve seen a soft sport for another team in your writings?
JLFC: Yes, indeed. Another team I follow closely in the Japanese football world is A.C Nagano Parceiro – currently playing in Division 3. of course, I watched a live match when Parceiro were playing in the JFL and they stormed the game, playing some really good football and I instantly fell in love with the club.
JS: Another love at first sight meeting in Japanese Football! So, when are you coming
over?!
JLFC: My dream is to travel to Japan and watch a game from each of J.League divisions 1, 2 and 3, as well as the JFL and some Regional League games, It has been a dream of mine to visit Japan because of a love of anime/manga, in addition to the football! Can I take this opportunity to thank you – Alan – since a few of my articles have made it onto JSoccer. com and JSoccer’s Facebook page, thank you for the support.
JS: No, thank YOU for YOUR interest and support ofJSoccer – the magazine and the web site – and all things Japanese Football. It’s always nice to have enthusiastic new faces on the “scene”. And now you’ve also “made it” into the magazine. Keep up the good work, sir!
Caio for Japan
A Brazilian Samurai in the Making – EXCLUSIVE!
by Tiago Bontempo
The Samurai Blue could have a naturalized Brazilian by the next World Cup – unless Brazil calls him first! At 20 years old and in his debut season as a professional, Caio Lucas Fernandes is one of the brightest prospects in the J.League. His impressive performances for Kashima Antlers have supporters wondering whether he would be willing to represent Japan at international level.
(C) Kashima Antlers
“I would accept it, without any doubt”, he replied without hesitation in an interview with JSoccer Magazine. “This country has helped me a lot, I turned professional here. I think I owe a lot to Japan”, he added.
Born in the city of Araçatuba, Caio played for Brazilian giants São Paulo FC’s youth levels between the ages of 11 and 16 years old. In 2011, when he was 17, he attended a player selection trial promoted by Chiba International High School in Brazil. Caio impressed and was invited to go to Japan to study and play football for them.
The youngster left his family in Brazil and moved alone to the Land of the Rising Sun to see what Japanese football had to offer. But he also needed to study and so began the process of learning the Japanese language. “[At school] everything was in Japanese, the only person who spoke Portuguese was the headmaster. He didn’t speak much, but he helped me a lot.” Now Caio can manage his everyday life on his own and does not need a translator.
In the school’s football team, Caio had the company of a compatriot: Wellington Daniel Bueno, affectionately known as Bueno. One year younger and playing at centre-back, he arrived in Japan via the same route as Caio.
“In the beginning it was difficult to pay attention in the classes, I understood very little. Eventually things improved, but to start with it was really complicated”, Bueno reveals.
Taking part in the Japan national high school tournaments, the two got noticed by scouts of some of the big clubs in J.League. Caio recalls: “We helped take Chiba Kokusai to a historical fourth place [in a national tournament], something that had never happened before. For us personally, too, everything went well and, thankfully we caught the attention of some clubs.”
Caio got a contract with Kashima Antlers in January this year, and, in August, Bueno signed with Shimizu S-Pulse.
In Japan, the transition from high school to professional football often takes a while, with most rookies getting little playing time in their first season in the J.League. “To tell the truth, many didn’t believe I would play”, Caio admitted. “But I am indeed playing, scoring goals, and helping my team”, said the promising youngster.
The Antlers’ no.33 got his J1 debut in matchday 3, against Sagan Tosu, as a substitute. In matchday 6 he got his first start, scored against Gamba Osaka, and cemented his place in Toninho Cerezo’s starting eleven. Deployed mainly as a left midfielder in Antlers’ 4-2-3-1, at the time of writing the Brazilian has seven goals and two assists in 28 J1 games (23 as starter). It’s the most promising start in Kashima Antlers’ history for a player coming straight from high school.
(C) Kashima Antlers
Despite having naturalization in mind, Caio can’t help also thinking about the possibilities of playing for the Brazilian national team, especially after seeing Eduardo, a centre-back who plies his trade in Kashiwa Reysol, receiving a call-up for Alexandre Gallo’s Brazil Olympic squad. “It gave me more motivation”, he told us. “It gave me one more reason to try even harder because you can see they are scouting the whole world. Of course every Brazilian footballer dreams about playing for his national team. It is nice to hear, sometimes, the people here in Japan saying they want me to play for the Samurai Blue. Of course, I still have to wait a while to get the citizenship. But I really feel like doing it”, he admits.
To his mentor, Toninho Cerezo, Caio is, “…still a boy who is shaping himself here in Japan. He grew a lot this year. He is a fast player, who can hold the ball well. He has powerful right-foot finishing. He just needs to refine his vision and make better use of his shooting ability, but these he can improve with training.”
Regarding an eventual naturalization, Cerezo says: “I don’t know. He’s making his own history here in Japan. But he could still be called to Brazil U21. I think his dream is inclined towards Japan because he lives here, he speaks the language, he studied in a Japanese school. He certainly has Japanese traits, like discipline and respect for the opponent. But he still has that Brazilian ‘swing’! He knows how to protect himself and avoid harsh plays. He still needs to mature, but he is on the right path. His future choices will be his alone.”
