Vissel could only come up with a home point against Kyoto Sanga on Sunday, June 8th, even though it was with a wonder goal from rookie Baba in the 63rd minute breaking the deadlock. Baba won the ball from a defender out on the right wing with a determined challenge, turned inside, lifted his head and stroked a curling 25 yarder into the far corner with the outside of his right boot. Baba had replaced Kurihara, who had gone off with a facial injury in the 35th minute.Kyoto Sanga got the draw with a left volley from Tahara, after he had wrestled Ishibitsu, his marker, to the ground and turned away from him. The referee missed the foul, along with a couple of other OBVIOUS Vissel Kobe PK calls, and two points were lost, and with it, place in the Nabisco Cup Quarter Finals!So, the Kobe-less Quarters look like this:Quarter Final 1st Leg 2nd July Kashima Antlers vs. Shimizu S-PulseJEF Chiba vs. Nagoya GrampusFC Tokyo vs. Oita TrinitaGamba Osaka vs. Yokohama F. MarinosThe 2nd leg will be played 6th August.

Urawa Reds 2-3 Gamba OsakaJubilo Iwata 1-2 FC TokyoJEF Chiba 1-0 Oita TrinitaKyoto Sanga 1-0 Yokohama F MarinosKashima Antlers 1-1 Kashiwa ReysolConsadole Sapporo 1-3 Nagoya GrampusThe only thing sure about this season’s J1 is that it’s NOT going to a one horse race at the top…. Gamba are recovering, FC Tokyo and Nagoya are surprising, Kashima are faltering, Reds had a bad start, came back, now beaten at home… Reysol, Trinita, even Vissel – as players come back from injury – and Albirex – who seem to have finally hit stride, are gunning for a top 6 place! It’s anybody’s title right now!

Players should be encouraged to become referees…… and given breaks, incentives and all the help needed!

Here’s my take on the current refereeing stories….

The referees in Japan are always getting it in the ear… they may be wrong, but the referee is right, is what the players should be thinking…. and get on with the game… but, sometimes, it’s just too much…. here’s a story from Ken, at Rising Sun News – it’s been reported BIG time in the Japanese press, but Ken has put it all into a language I understand (ie. English!!)…

Now, they’re getting so upset with themselves they’re telling players to die ? Who knows… here’s the story anyway…. I shall be looking into it myself, since J1 referees seem to be getting worse this season… with so many games being affected by red cards, mostly mistaken, or over-reactions, or victims of simulation (hello Mr. Yano!)….

Gamba march on…. through the rain!

Although Antlers and Gamba players are not in this squad, due to ACL commitments, there are a few new names for Okada to look at, including Yuzo Kurihara (Okada was his boss at F Marinos…. shades of Osim nepotism? Hopefully not!)….. Cerezo’s hot shot Kagawa also gets a call-up! Although we can expect this 28 man suad to lose at least ten before the games… and expect at least Uchida (Antlers), Endo, Yasuda and Hashimoto (Gamba) to return…. Bando still injured, Yamaguchi still ignored!!

Vissel dominate yet Grampus score late winner!Reds get first point of the season.Trinita ride on… Frontale whipped again!Group AVissel Kobe 0-1 Nagoya GrampusKyoto Sanga F.C. 3-3 Urawa RedsGroup BJubilo Iwata 0-2 F.C.TokyoTokyo Verdy 0-0 Shimizu S-PulseGroup CConsadole Sapporo 2-1 Kawasaki FrontaleJEF United Chiba 1-1 Kashiwa ReysolGroupDOmiya Ardija 0-0 Yokohama F･MarinosOita Trinita 3-0 Albirex Niigata

Urawa Reds have fired Holger Osieck, the day after being beaten by Nagoya Grampus at home, yet only three months after the German coach led Urawa to victory in the Asian Champions League….. not a surprise for jsoccer.com, read on…..