Category Archives: In the Mix
Here will be JFL (non-league) and CUP tournaments
Avispa Fukuoka 1-1 Yokohama F•Marinos – highlights, J1 2016 matchday 2
Urawa Reds 1-2 Jubilo Iwata -highlights, March 6th, 2016.
Matchday 2 ACL 2016 Group Stage highlights
FC Tokyo v Binh Duong (Vietnam)
FC Seoul v Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Gamba Osaka 1-1 Melbourne Victory (Australia)
Pohang Steelers v Urawa Reds
Football, Take Me Home – release imminent!
Some of you may have heard about the film project “Football, Take Me Home”, which was based on the people living in the area of the Earthquake/Tsunami tragedy of 11th Match, 2011.
Vegalta Sendai fans are a big part of the film, of course, and even I was interviewed among many others but, apparently I didn’t make the final cut! (I will be waiting for the “Director’s Extended Cut” with bated breath!).
I have heard from the director(s) that the film has finally been completed and has a tentative release date set for May.
There is a private showing in Sendai on March 5th for the local people there and you can keep up to date, or catch up on what this is all about by visiting the web site:
Watching the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MArdQjmyRGI
Following on the Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/FootballTakeMeHome
And following the news here and at www.jsoccer.com
The J-Talk Podcast is Back for 2016!
Listen here:
http://jtalkpodcast.blogspot.jp/2016/02/ep171.html
JSoccer Magazine will raise money for earthquake relief in Taiwan.
Chinese, Bahasa, French, Italian follows the English!
JSoccer Magazine, through an initiative by Lionel Piguet, will raise money for earthquake relief in Tainan, Taiwan.
(** If you have the ability to translate the following English version into Japanese, Portuguese or any other language, please do. I can add it to the post and help spread the word even more – thank you **)
Dear friends around the world
As you surely know, Tainan (in the southern part of Taiwan) was hit by an earthquake on February 6th. Many people lost their homes and people are now in desperate need of help. Taiwan is the country in Asia that donated the most to Japan after the 3.11 earthquake in Tohoku, and now JSoccer Magazine would like to return that kindness by donating money to Tainan City Government Bureau of Social Affairs to assist in earthquake relief.
Myself (JSoccer editor) and Lionel Piguet (regular contributor and Taiwan correspondent) have made arrangements to ensure that ALL future sales of issue 18 of JSoccer Magazine (which includes Lionel’s article on football in Taiwan), will be donated to the Tainan City Government Bureau of Social Affairs to support those in need.
You can purchase the magazine from as little as 300 yen (100 NTD) or pay as much as you want, literally – ALL income after postage costs will go to the fund – the magazine is a donation, no costs will be taken by JSoccer.
Then please add the shipping fee – 510 yen (145 NTD) to Taiwan / 250 yen within Japan.
(Other destinations can be confirmed but 510 yen should cover costs).
You can pay your desired amount by paypal to alan@jsoccer.com or to djstout80@gmail.com or by ATM if you live in Taiwan by sending Lionel an email to djstout80@gmail.com with your address and the amount you would like to pay.
Of course, we will also accept straight donations to the “JSoccer Magazine Fund for Tainan” and will update you regularly on how much has been raised. Thank you!
** Please feel free to link this website/post anywhere you feel it will help the cause **
(Chinese, with thanks to Jennifer Piguet)
相信各位都從報上聽說、或親身經歷了前幾天發生在台灣的206台南大地震。台灣是我熱愛的國家之一，也是日本311大地震捐款給日本最多的國家。身為 JSOCCER編輯，與總編ALAN討論之後我們決定將JSOCCER販賣所得全數捐出，給台灣台南市社會局社會救濟金捐款專戶，運用於災民身上（捐款 後，會將發票公開在本網頁及其他相關網頁上供各位查詢）。方法如下：您可以新台幣100元／日幣300元或以上（但不低於這個價錢）購得一本 JSOCCER雜誌，台灣的買家要另付145新台幣／510日幣的運費（郵便局國際掛號），日本買家則是250日幣。如果您住在台灣或日本以外的國家，請 跟我們告知，我們會於查詢運費後與您聯絡。您可用PAYPAL付款（帳號djstout80@gmail.com)或是ATM轉帳（請EMAIL與我們聯 絡取得帳號，電郵地址相同）。匯款時請告知您欲購買的本數與捐款數目。再此重複說明：一本可以100台幣／300日幣或此價錢以上來購買。所得我們將全數 捐給台南市社會局社會救濟金捐款專戶。也許您對足球沒有興趣，不過如果能用買一本雜誌的錢來為災區盡點心力，JSOCCER將不勝感激。台灣加油.
En Francais …
Chers ami(e)s aux 4 coins du monde,
Comme vous le savez déjà peut-être, Tainan (qui se trouve tout au sud de Taiwan) a été victime d’un tremblement de terre meurtrier le 6 fevrier dernier. Beaucoup de personnes ont perdu leur maison et sont désormais dans le besoin. Taiwan est le pays qui a fait le plus de dons après le tremblement de terre du 11 mars 2011 au Japon, et avec l’aide de Jsoccer Magazine, je voudrais les remercier en envoyant un don au Bureau des affaires sociales de la ville de Tainan.
Alan Gibson (éditeur de Jsoccer) et moi-même (journaliste chez Jsoccer) avons pris la décision de remettre la totalité des ventes du magasine Jsoccer numéro 18 au Bureau des affaires sociales de la ville de Tainan pour venir en aide aux gens qui sont dans le besoin.
Vous pouvez acheter le magasine à partir de 2,50 euros au prix que vous voulez offrir en don tout en y rajoutant les frais d’envoies qui sont de 6 euros pour l’Europe.
Vous pouvez payer par PayPal aux adresses suivantes : djstout80@gmail.com ou alan@jsoccer.com sans oublier de nous mettre votre adresse.
Nous vous remercions en avance !
Bahasa – thank you @AAI☆upupgirls on Twitter
JSoccer Magazine Mengadakan Pengumpulan Sumbangan untuk Membantu Korban Gempa di Taiwan. (Ditulis oleh Alan Gibson pada 8 Februari 2016) JSoccer Magazine, melalui inisiatif dari Lionel Piguet, akan mengumpulkan sumbangan untuk membantu korban gempa di Tainan, Taiwan. Untuk teman-teman di seluruh dunia, Seperti yang anda ketahui, Kota Tainan (berlokasi di Taiwan bagian Selatan) telah dilanda gempa pada tanggal 6 Februari lalu. Banyak masyarakat kehilangan rumahnya dan mereka sangat membutuhkan bantuan. Taiwan merupakan negara di Asia yang memberikan donasi terbesar pada saat gempa Jepang di Tohoku pada Maret 2011, dan sekarang JSoccer Magazine ingin membalas kebaikan tersebut dengan mendonasikan uang kepada Biro Sosial Pemerintah Kota Tainan untuk membantu proses pemulihan pasca gempa. Saya (Editor JSoccer) dan Lionel Piguet (Kontributor Regular dan koresponden Taiwan) telah membuat perjanjian untuk memastikan bahwa SEMUA penjualan dari JSoccer Magazine edisi ke-18 (yang juga memuat artikel Lionel tentang sepakbola di Taiwan), akan didonasikan kepada Biro Sosial Pemerintah Kota Tainan untuk membantu pihak-pihak yang membutuhkan. Anda dapat membeli majalah ini dengan harga 300 yen (100 Taiwan Dollar) atau membayar lebih sesuai dengan yang anda inginkan secara sukarela. Artinya, –SEMUA pendapatan setelah biaya materai akan dimasukkan ke dalam sumbangan- majalah yang diterbitkan merupakan donasi, dan tidak ada biaya yang dipungut oleh JSoccer. Mohon tambahkan biaya pengiriman – 510 yen (145 Taiwan Dollar) untuk pengiriman ke Taiwan / 250 yen untuk pengiriman di dalam Jepang. (Tujuan pengiriman lain dapat disetujui tetapi 510 yen harus menutup biaya pengiriman). Anda dapat membayar sesuai dengan jumlah yang anda inginkan melalui PayPal ke alan@jsoccer.com atau djstout80@gmail.com atau melalui ATM jika anda tinggal di Taiwan dengan cara mengirim e-mail kepada Lionel di djstout80@gmail.com dengan alamat lengkap beserta jumlah yang ingin anda bayarkan. Tentu saja, kami juga menerima donasi secara langsung kepada “JSoccer Magazine Fund for Tainan” dan akan memberikan anda informasi terbaru mengenai berapa jumlah donasi yang telah terkumpul. Terimakasih! ** Silahkan membagikan link website/postingan ini dimanapun anda merasa perlu dalam rangka membantu pengumpulan donasi**
Italian – thank you Emanuele Marlia
Cari amici nel mondo (versione italiana) Come sicuramente sapete, il 6 Febbraio il Tainan (nella parte meridionale di Taiwan) è stata colpito da un terremoto . Molte persone hanno perso le loro case e sono ora in disperato bisogno di aiuto. Taiwan è il paese dell’Asia, che dopo il terremoto del 3/11 (Tohoku) ha donato maggiormente al Giappone e ora JSoccer Magazine vorrebbe ritornare quella gentilezza, donando soldi al Tainan City Government Bureau of Social Affairs per l’assistenza post terremoto.
Io (editor di JSoccer) e Lionel Piguet (collaboratore regolare e Taiwan corrispondente) abbiamo preso accordi per assicurare che tutte le future vendite del numero 18 di JSoccer Magazine (che include l’articolo di Lionel sul calcio a Taiwan), siano devolute al “Tainan City Government Bureau of Social Affairs”, per aiutare chi ha bisogno.
È possibile acquistare la rivista con un minimo di 300 ¥ (100 NTD) o pagare tanto quanto si vuole, letteralmente – tutte le entrate al netto delle spese di spedizione andranno al fondo – la rivista è una donazione, senza costi trattenuti da JSoccer.
Quindi si prega di aggiungere la tassa di spedizione – 510 yen (145 NTD) a Taiwan / 250 yen in Giappone.
(Altre destinazioni possono essere confermate, ma 510 dovrebbero coprire i costi).
È possibile pagare l’importo desiderato da PayPal ad alan@jsoccer.com o djstout80@gmail.com o da ATM se si vive a Taiwan con l’invio a Lionel di una mail a djstout80@gmail.com con il vostro indirizzo e l’importo che si desidera pagare.
Naturalmente,accetteremo donazioni direttamente al “Magazine Fondo JSoccer per Tainan” e vi aggiorneremo regolarmente su quanto è stato raccolto. Grazie!
** Non esitate a condividere il post, in inglese o nella versione cinese, ovunque vi sentirete di farlo, aiuterà la causa **
2016 J.League Slogans
Kashiwa Reysol (above)
Vegalta Sendai (above)
Kashima Antlers (above)
Venforet Kofu (above)
Gamba Osaka (above)
Sanfrecce Hiroshima (above)
Machida Zelvia (above)
Tokushima Vortis
Ehime FC (above)
Nagoya Grampus (above)
Your First Two Weekends of J1 schedule…
Your First Two Weekends of J1 schedule… more to be posted soon, along with J2 and J3. And, of course, they all (should be( available at the J.League web site
February 27th
14.00 Sanfrecce v Frontale
14.00 Jubilo v Grampus
14.00 Sagan v Avispa
15.00 Reysol v Reds
15.00 Vissel v Ventforet
15.00 Bellmare v Albirex
18.30 F•Marinos v Vegalta
19.00 FC Tokyo v Ardija
February 28th
14.05 Gamba v Antlers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 5th
14:00 Antlers v Sagan
15:00 Frontale v Bellmare
16:00 Ardija v Reysol
18.30 Vissel v Albirex
19.00 Avispa v F•Marinos
March 6th
13.00 Ventforet v Gamba
14.00 Reds v Jubilo
15.00 Grampus v Sanfrecce
15.30 Vegalta v FC Tokyo
Kakitani Returns to Cerezo Osaka – has he still got it?
Back in the spring of 2014, Japan’s newest “ace” Yoichiro Kakitani was blazing a trail through the J.League. Fresh off a breakout 2013 where he had scored 24 goals, the young, bleached blond forward with slick movement and a razor sharp eye for goal looked destined to be the next Japanese player to make a name for himself in Europe.
A move to Basel came to fruition in the summer of 2014, but not after the obligatory teary-eyed leaving ceremony after a J.League game against Kawasaki Frontale. His move to Basel was met with mixed reactions; some praised the move, saying that Basel could be a good platform for Kakitani to showcase his talents. Basel, after all, were/are perennial UEFA Champions League participants and are always strong domestically. Others were underwhelmed with the move, pointing out that while Kakitani had chosen the Swiss Super League, many other Japanese players had chosen to go straight to Germany’s Bundesliga, the path trodden by fellow Cerezo alumni Shinji Kagawa and Takashi Inui amongst others.
As it was, it was with hope that Japan sent off its newest golden boy to Europe in the hope/expectation that he could turn into the top class striker that the Japanese national side desperately needed. Unfortunately, for both Kakitani and the national team, things never really went to plan. In his time with the Swiss Super League club, he failed to hold down a regular starting place, and scored only a few goals, not really justifying the hype (although whether he deserved the hype itself is another question entirely! He wasn’t helped by the decision to make a TV show about him, and the swift selling of the rights to the Swiss league to Japanese cable giant Sky Perfect) and ultimately had to settle for a place on the bench most weeks.
Kakitani rarely looked happy during the first half of the 2015-16 Swiss season, and rumours soon started to circulate, both in Japan and in Europe, that Kakitani was looking to make the move back to more comfortable surroundings. In January of this year, it was formally announced that The player had agreed to move back to Cerezo Osaka on a permanent transfer. The financial details of the move aren’t readily available, but given that Kakitani was only 18 months into a four year contract at Basel, it is assumed that Cerezo paid a decent sum for him.
So, what can we, the public, expect from Kakitani in J2 this year? On his day (not that there have been many of those “days” recently) he combines very quick speed of thought with precise execution. He gets into positions that are very hard to defend against. In his stellar 2013, he benefited from having Hotaru Yamaguchi and the then emerging Takumi Minamino (who have both since moved on, to Hannover in Germany, and Red Bull Salzburg in Austria respectively) to provide assists and to help create space. When given time and space, an on-form Kakitani knows exactly what to do. Near post runs, far post headers, running at defenders from deeper lying positions – Kakitani has it all in his armoury. This year, his supporting cast won’t be as A-list as it was during his previous spell, but it won’t be bad by any stretch of the imagination. Mitsuru Maruoka, who has spent the last two years in Germany with Dortmund has returned, as has Kenyu Sugimoto. They’ll also be able to call upon the services of London 2012 Olympic midfielder Takahiro Ogihara and the recently signed Shohei Kiyohara, a lively attacker who enjoyed a superb campaign for Zweigen Kanazawa in 2015.
One wonders though, just what effect his time in Switzerland has had on his confidence. It is a road many aspiring bright young things have traveled down. Lauded and feted in their own country, only to find the going tough when they arrive on different shores. As a side note, this isn’t a solely Japanese problem – one only has to look at Ian Rush’s stint at Juventus, or Ukrainian forward Sergey Rebrov’s ill-fated time at Tottenham Hotspur, for example. For every Neymar that sets the footballing world alight, there are a dozen Denilsons that promise as much, but fall drastically short. However, if he was looking for a place where he could re-discover what made him Japan’s hottest property in the not too distant past, then the verdant surfaces and in-no-way-elite defences of J2 seem ideal.
Ultimately, Kakitani should shred J2 defences. His pace and sharpness is a combination that defenders in Japan’s second tier should find very difficult to cover. Cerezo are hoping he doesn’t have too many problems in the ego department – after all Kakitani has done the whole J2 thing before, spending some of his formative years on loan at a then very untrendy Tokushima Vortis in order to toughen him up, both physically and mentally. Cerezo will be hoping he can call on all his experience – both good and bad – to help lead the pink side of Osaka back to the promised land of J1.