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JSoccer Team of the Season / official J.League Best XI 2014 Nominees

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JSoccer’s Team of the Season

GOALKEEPER:

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!

 

Substitutes:

Akihiro Hayashi (Tosu)
Daiki Niwa (Gamba) Masato Morishige (FC Tokyo)
Yosuke Kashiwagi (Reds)
Yoshinoro Muto (FC Tokyo) Patric (Gamba) Yohei Toyoda (Tosu)

MVP for the season Yasuhito Endo (Gamba

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Official J.League Best XI 2014

(Nominees for the J.League Awards, Dec.9th:

GK – Higashiguchi (Gamba) Nishikawa (Reds) Hayashi (Tosu)

DF – Yonekura (Gamba) Nishi (Antlers) Nasu (Reds) Konno (Gamba) Mizumoto (Sanfrecce) Shoji (Antlers) Shiotani (Sanfrecce) Makino (Reds) Morishige (FC Tokyo) Yasuda (Tosu) Ota (FC Tokyo)

MF – Endo (Gamba) Shibasaki (Antlers) Kashiwagi (Reds) Abe (Gamba) Morioka (Vissel) Oshima (Frontale) Abe (Reds) Endo (Antlers) Nakamura (Frontale) Leo Silva (Albirex) Muto (FC Tokyo)

FW – Usami (Gamba) Okubo (Frontale) Patric (Gamba) Kobayashi (Frontale) Koroki (Reds) Renato (Frontale) Toyoda (Tosu)

 

Front Page, J.League, Previews

J1 / J2 – a Big Weekend – all the fixtures!

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J1
Saturday – September 27th

Yokohama F•Marinos v Ventforet Kofu
Sanfrecce Hiroshima v Vissel Kobe
FC Tokyo v Kashiwa Reysol
Gamba Osaka v Sagan Tosu
Omiya Ardija v Shimizu S-Pulse
Cerezo Osaka v Urawa Reds
Kawasaki Frontale v Vegalta Sendai
Tokushima Vortis v Kashima Antlers
Nagoya Grampus v Albirex Niigata

J2
Sunday – September 28th

Roasso Kumamoto v Giravanz Kitakyushu
Oita Trinita v V-Varen Nagasaki
Fagiano Okayama v Mito Hollyhock
Kataller Toyama v Avispa Fukuoka
Matsumoto Yamaga v Consadole Sapporo
Jubilo Iwata v Ehime FC
Montedio Yamagata v Kamatamare Sanuki
Thespakusatsu Gunma v Tochigi SC
Kyoto Sanga v Yokohama FC
JEF United Chiba v Tokyo Verdy
Shonan Bellmare v FC Gifu

Front Page, In the Mix, J.League, Reports

J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup Quarter FInal results …

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1st Leg: Wednesday Sept.3

Cerezo Osaka 1-3 Kawasaki Frontale
Vissel Kobe 1-1 Gamba Osaka
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0-0 Urawa Reds
Yokohama F•Marinos 1-2 Kashiwa Reysol

2nd Leg: Sunday Sept.7

18.00 Urawa Reds v Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Saitama
18.00 Gamba Osaka v Kobe at Banpaku
19.00 Kashiwa Reysol v Yokohama F•Marinos at Kashiwa
19.00 Kawasaki Frontale v Cerezo Osaka at Todoroki

Front Page, J.League, National Team

Javier Aguirre selects his first national team squad…

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Japan squad, as chosen by Javier Aguirre today, 15.30 for games against Uruguay and Venezuela.

Goalkeepers:
Eiji Kawashima (Standard Liege, Belgium)
Shusaku Nishikawa (Urawa Reds)
Akihiro Hayashi (Sagan Tosu)

Defenders:
Hiroki Mizumoto (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Yuto Nagatomo (Manchester Un… uh, sorry Inter Milan, Italy)
Masato Morishige (FC Tokyo)
Maya Yoshida (Southampton, England)
Hiroki Sakai (Hanover 96, Germany)
Tatsuya Sakai (Sagan Tosu)
Gotoku Sakai (VfB Stuttgart, Germany)
Ken Matsubara (Albirex Niigata)

Midfield:
Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany)
Hajime Hosogai (Hertha Berlin, Germany)
Ryota Morioka (VIssel Kobe)
Takahiro Ogihara (Cerezo Osaka)
Gaku Shibasaki (Kashima Antlers)
Junya Tanaka (Sporting Lisbon, Portugal)

Forwards:
Shinji Okazaki (FSV Mainz 05, Germany)
Keisuke Honda (AC Milan, Italy)
Yoichiro Kakitani (FC Basel, Switzerland)
Yuya Osako (FC Koln, Germany)
Yusuke Minagawa (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Yoshinori Muto (FC Tokyo)

What do you think? Who is missing? Who is a shock?

P1010285 B

GK
川島　永嗣　ｶﾜｼﾏ ｴｲｼﾞ（スタンダール・リエージュ／ベルギー）
西川　周作　ﾆｼｶﾜ ｼｭｳｻｸ（浦和レッズ）
林　彰洋　ﾊﾔｼ ｱｷﾋﾛ（サガン鳥栖）

DF
水本　裕貴 ﾐｽﾞﾓﾄ ﾋﾛｷ（サンフレッチェ広島）
長友　佑都 ﾅｶﾞﾄﾓ ﾕｳﾄ（インテル・ミラノ／イタリア）
森重　真人 ﾓﾘｼｹﾞ ﾏｻﾄ（ＦＣ東京）
吉田　麻也 ﾖｼﾀﾞ ﾏﾔ（サウサンプトン／イングランド）
酒井　宏樹 ｻｶｲ ﾋﾛｷ（ハノーファー96／ドイツ）
坂井　達弥 ｻｶｲ ﾀﾂﾔ（サガン鳥栖）＊
酒井　高徳 ｻｶｲ ｺﾞｳﾄｸ（VfBシュツットガルト／ドイツ）
松原　健 ﾏﾂﾊﾞﾗ ｹﾝ（アルビレックス新潟）＊

MF
長谷部　誠 ﾊｾﾍﾞ ﾏｺﾄ（アイントラハト・フランクフルト／ドイツ）
細貝　萌　ﾎｿｶﾞｲ ﾊｼﾞﾒ（ヘルタ・ベルリン／ドイツ）
田中　順也　ﾀﾅｶ ｼﾞｭﾝﾔ（スポルティング／ポルトガル）
森岡　亮太　ﾓﾘｵｶ ﾘｮｳﾀ（ヴィッセル神戸）＊
扇原　貴宏　ｵｳｷﾞﾊﾗ ﾀｶﾋﾛ（セレッソ大阪）
柴崎　岳　ｼﾊﾞｻｷ ｶﾞｸ（鹿島アントラーズ）

FW
岡崎　慎司　ｵｶｻﾞｷ ｼﾝｼﾞ（1.FSVマインツ05／ドイツ）
本田　圭佑　ﾎﾝﾀﾞ ｹｲｽｹ（ACミラン／イタリア）
柿谷　曜一朗　ｶｷﾀﾆ ﾖｳｲﾁﾛｳ（FCバーゼル1893／スイス）
大迫　勇也　ｵｵｻｺ ﾕｳﾔ（1.FCケルン／ドイツ）
皆川　佑介　ﾐﾅｶﾞﾜ ﾕｳｽｹ（サンフレッチェ広島）＊
武藤　嘉紀　ﾑﾄｳ ﾖｼﾉﾘ（ＦＣ東京）＊

※「＊」は日本代表初選出。

Previews

J1 Final Day Preview – Urawa Reds vs Nagoya Grampus at Saitama 15.30, Dec.1st

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Team News
Urawa Reds – no suspensions, DF Mizuta and MF Kashiwagi are both needing a fitness test, MF Naoki Yamada is in training but not match fit after six months out.
Nagoya Grampus – no suspensions, DF Abe, MF Alessandro Santos, FW Kennedy out injured.

Head to Head – 9 wins for Grampus, 7 for Reds and 5 draws since 2003.

Match Preview – Urawa Reds have slipped to 5th place as the final day approaches, with 3 losses in their last five matches, the fans will be disappointed if an ACL spot is not clinched, yet they have to win this – against a team also in the hunt for the ACL – AND rely on results around them, hoping that Reysol and Tosu do not win. It’s going to be a tall order to qualify for the ACL for Reds now but they will have home advantage and, if the fans are reasonable (comparing the last two seasons of relegation battles against this campaign) they may get full support of the crowd and pull through this one.

Nagoya Grampus have had a roller coaster season, up and down, injuries galore and have been consistent in their inconsistency! They had put a decent run together in the final weeks and were looking good for the 3rd spot when they slipped up against Antlers last week and that could well have put paid to their ACL chance. A draw is not good enough for them and, even with a win, like other teams, they have to wait and see what happens around them. They have suffered with the loss of Kennedy for many games this season and he is not expected back in this final match. EXPECT a WIN for URAWA REDS!

Previews

J.League J1 Preview Matchday 32 – 14:00 Urawa Reds vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Saitama

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Team News
Urawa Reds – DF Mizuta out injured, MF Naoki Yamada training but not match fit.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima report no injuries, and there are no suspensions.

Head to Head
9 wins for Reds, 5 for Sanfrecce and 3 draws since 2004.

Match Preview
Urawa Reds have lost three of their last four games yet still find themselves in 3rd place due to the teams around them dropping points. Their defeat at Kawasaki Frontale put paid to their title hopes but they will be hoping they can hold back the tide and stop Sanfrecce all but sealing up the title if they win here and Vegalta fail to win at Kashima. Reds are on a downward spiral, with no goalscorers on the field, while Sanfrecce score for fun, with Sato top of the scoring charts, and know that if they win this they will stay clear at the top, or even stretch their lead. EXPECT a WIN for SANFRECCE HIROSHIMA!

In the Mix, Previews

J1 Preview Nov.7th 19.00 – Kawasaki Frontale vs Urawa Reds at Todoroki

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Team News
Kawasaki Frontale – MF Ohshima and FW Kazama will miss the game on Japan U-19 duty. DF Morishita back in training but not expected to play yet.
Urawa Reds – MF Yajima will miss the game on Japan U-19 duty. DF Hirakawa doubtful, DF Mizuta out. MF Naoki Yamada in training but not yet fit after 6 months out.

Head to Head – 9 wins for Reds, just 4 for Frontale and 5 draws since 2005. Frontale have not won this game since 2009.

Match Preview – Urawa Reds must win this with S-Pulse on their heels for that 3rd ACL spot, while Kawasaki Frontale are also in a must-win situation, for fear of being dragged deeper into the relegation dogfight. Reds still lack a goalscorer, Genki Haraguchi has proved he is not that player, while Despotovic has not featured this season and must soon be on his way! Rumours of Reds approaching Davi of Kofu and Koroki of Antlers have surfaced this week, but any incoming player will be too late for this season.

Frontale are far from safe and another defeat will have their fans biting their nails for 2 or 3 more games yet, especially if Ardija, Gamba and Vissel get the right results. Surely not all of them will win, but I think this is a defeat for Frontale. Certainly, even 2 or 3 wins in their final games should not hide the fact that coach Kazama has problems somewhere – if he finds them, maybe a better season next year! EXPECT a WIN for URAWA REDS!