Urawa Reds lead the way in the J-League with seven rounds remaining, having dropped just five points since the mid-season summer break.
Urawa's latest victory came in front of 47,755 fans at a rain-soaked Saitama Stadium, with Brazilian midfielder Robson Ponte scoring a late winner.
Gamba Osaka also needed a stoppage time winner from striker Bare to beat lowly Oita Trinita 1-0. For the second week in a row Bare's stoppage time goal kept Gamba in the title race, but the Osakans are still six points behind league leaders Urawa.
Third placed Kashima Antlers needed a goal from their Brazilian striker Marquinhos midway through the second half, to see off a stubborn Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Big Arch Stadium.
JEF United beat FC Tokyo in a thriller played in atrocious conditions at Fukuda Denshi Arena. The hosts stormed out to a three goal lead thanks to clinical strikes from Tatsunori Arai and Kohei Kudo, before Koki Mizuno converted a second-half penalty for the Chiba side. Tokyo stormed back through goals from Japan international Yasuyuki Konno and Brazilian striker Lucas Severino, but the capital club ultimately ran out of time in their quest to find an equaliser.
The shock of the round came at Nissan Stadium, where Omiya Ardija battled to a 2-0 win over hosts Yokohama F. Marinos, courtesy of goals from ex-F. Marinos midfielder Takashi Hirano and striker Kota Yoshihara.
The victory means that Omiya Ardija are just one point behind Ventforet Kofu, who hold the all-important promotion/relegation playoff place. Kofu finished with nine men in their 1-1 draw away at Kawasaki Frontale, after defenders Arata Sugiyama and Michitaka Akimoto were both sent off. Ken Fujita opened the scoring early on for Kofu, but Kawasaki midfielder Hiroyuki Taniguchi scored a stoppage time equaliser that seriously dents Kofu's hopes of survival.
The highlight fixtures of the next round see FC Tokyo looking to avenge a League Cup quarter-final defeat to neighbours Yokohama F. Marinos, Omiya Ardija travel to an out-of-sorts Albirex Niigata, Shimizu S-Pulse face Nagoya Grampus Eight in a "Tokai Derby," Ventforet Kofu face a JEF United side that is chasing its sixth win in a row, Gamba Osaka are on the road against a tough-looking Kashiwa Reysol, and Urawa return to their spiritual home of Komaba Stadium to take on Oita Trinita.
Consadole Sapporo still lead the way in J2, but their lead has been cut to just four points after Tokyo Verdy hammered the northern outfit 5-1 in front of 11,833 fans at Ajinomoto Stadium on September 30.
Diego scored a hattrick for the fallen giants, whilst Hulk scored his thirty-first goal in just his thirty-sixth game of a remarkable season.
Elsewhere Kyoto Sanga FC missed a chance to pull away from Vegalta Sendai in third place on the table, after they conceded two late goals to draw 2-2 away at Shonan Bellmare. Sendai responded by beating Mito Hollyhock 1-0 on the road, despite losing midfielder Naoki Chiba to a thirty-fourth minute red card.
Nabisco League Cup
League football takes a break next week as the Nabisco League Cup resumes at the semi-final stage.
On October 10, Yokohama F. Marinos host Kawasaki Frontale in a Kanagawa Derby, while Gamba Osaka welcome Japan's most successful team Kashima Antlers to Expo '70 Stadium.
The return legs take place three days later.
AFC Champions League
Just as they did in the first-leg of their quarter-final clash with Jeonbuk Motors FC, Urawa Reds conceded a late equaliser to Korean opposition in their AFC Champions League semi-final clash in midweek.
K-League giants Seongnam Chunma raced out to an early lead through their Brazilian striker Mota, but Urawa roared back thanks to strikes from Tatsuya Tanaka and Robson Ponte. Midfielder Kim Do-Heon kept Seongnam in the tie with a late equaliser, however that failed to prevent Urawa's German coach Holger Osieck from claiming that he was "delighted" with the result.
Kawasaki Frontale were knocked out at the quarter-final stage, losing on penalties to Iranian side Sepahan after both legs of their final eight clash ended in 0-0 draws.
Japanese Players Overseas
Junichi Inamoto and Naohiro Takahara : Eintracht Frankfurt
After featuring prominently in the early part of the season, midfielder Junichi Inamoto has been ruled out for the foreseeable future due to a torn stomach muscle. He joins Naohiro Takahara on the sidelines, who has returned to Japan to receive treatment on a persistent knee injury.
Shunsuke Nakamura : Celtic
Last season's SPL Player Of The Year Shunsuke Nakamura has also been labouring under injury, and he played just six minutes of Celtic's dramatic 2-1 UEFA Champions League win over reigning holders AC Milan, coming on as a late substitute.
Koji Nakata : FC Basel
Combative midfielder Koji Nakata has been an ever-present for FC Basel, and his team booked their place in the UEFA Cup group stage by thrashing Bosnian side FK Sarajevo 8-1 on aggregate in their first round clash.
Daisuke Matsui : Le Mans
Daisuke Matsui has played all but one of high-flying Le Mans' Ligue 1 fixtures this season, with the team from north-western France currently lying in fifth place on the league table.
Alessandro Santos and Tsuneyasu Miyamoto : Salzburg
Both Alex and Tsuneyasu Miyamoto have featured only sporadically for Austrian club Salzburg this season, with neither player featuring in Salzburg's most recent 1-0 UEFA Cup win over AEK Athens - with the Greek side going through 3-1 on aggregate.
Copyright © Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com
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Monday, October 8, 2007
Thursday, October 4, 2007
A Naan and a Leg
The older I get, the grumpier I become. Old people, children and John Motson have all played a significant role in my metamorphosis, but the wife’s driving is almost certainly the overriding factor.
I’m not criticising women drivers in general. I’ve shared a ride with a number of females over the years without any complaint. Although in the interest of fairness, there wasn’t a great deal of time to voice any concerns.
The wife simply struggles to comprehend the basic rules of the road. She’s continually looking at mirrors and playing with indicators, when she should be hitting the horn like it was Lily Allen.
Her attempts at parking are equally frustrating. I’ve lost count of the number of times she’s drove past a perfectly good handicapped spot, only to park up some 50 yards further away. It’s pure selfishness.
Personally, I put her woeful driving down to a lack of confidence. I’ve told her that a few beers would solve the problem, but some people refuse to take good advice.
While these minor flaws are annoying; it’s her refusal to travel at an acceptable speed that sends me into an apoplectic rage. The wife is more than happy to trundle along at 20mph, even when there’s no one else on the motorway. She doesn’t appreciate the fact that speed limits and traffic lights are merely unhelpful suggestions.
Wayne Rooney is definitely a fan of putting his foot down; he once went over 65 in an escort. Manchester United are winning games without getting out of second gear; they’ll roar past Wigan at 1/5.
It’s been reported that a 10 year old has broken a leg after colliding with Steven Gerrard’s motor. The young lad can consider himself fortunate that Frank Lampard wasn’t driving; as he’d probably have eaten the leg. I’ll try to avoid getting knocked over in the rush to back Liverpool at 3/5 against Tottenham.
Blackburn Rovers have something in common with Steven Gerrard; they both own a flash Bentley. Mark Hughes would definitely struggle to sell his model: it looks the part, but you can’t get it to run in the summer. I’ll never grow tired of seeing 4/6 for a Blackburn win over Birmingham.
Gilberto Silva’s luck has deserted him. The World Cup winner was first stripped of the captaincy and then demoted to the bench. If I was Gilberto, I’d steer clear of the tube station. I collapsed like a Brazilian goalkeeper when I saw 1/5 for an Arsenal win against Sunderland.
Alan Curbishley will be keeping one eye on the police when he travels to Villa Park. The West Ham manager sold Marlon Harewood for £4m, so he may well be charged with robbery. It would be a crime to miss the even money for an Aston Villa win.
Michael Owen is on the verge of full fitness, a mere week after undergoing surgery. As far as I’m aware, only Jesus has ever made a quicker comeback, but records are sketchy at best. I’m praying for a Newcastle win over Everton at 11/10.
Reading may have been destroyed by Pompey last week, but I make them my nap of the week to bounce back against Derby. The Rams are about as useful as a second bedroom to Britney Spears: I’m taking the 4/5 for the Royals.
Mariah Carey has claimed to be a distant relative of Ashley Cole; but I can’t see any similarity. The singer has lost the support of thousands of one-time fans, been rocked by accusations of diva-like demands and has had numerous failed relationships with men. I can definitely see the value in backing the draw between Bolton and Chelsea at 13/5.
Gareth Southgate and Sven Goran Eriksson are not on the best of terms. The hostility can be traced back to Sven’s tenure as England manager, where he had the temerity to replace Southgate with younger, better players. It’s always unpleasant to see a high profile pair fall out so publicly, unless they belong to Jennifer Ellison. I’ll have a nice couple of quid on Manchester City at 8/11 against a goal-shy Middlesbrough.
Leroy Lita has a lot to answer for. When the wife read of his mobile phone exploits, she demanded that we follow suit. I originally said that I would only consider the suggestion ‘when hell freezes over’, but I felt the probability was too high, so I changed it to ‘when Benjani scores a hat-trick’. Pompey have tucked me up a treat, they can make it up to me by leaving Fulham with a point at 9/4.
I have no problem with a couple expressing their love via the medium of film; but if I wanted to see an excited whale, I’d rent ‘Free Willy’. Arsenal, Reading, Blackburn, Manchester City and Newcastle form an 11/1 weekend accer that will hopefully improve my disgruntled demeanour.
Copyright (c) Gerry McDonnell & soccerphile.com
I’m not criticising women drivers in general. I’ve shared a ride with a number of females over the years without any complaint. Although in the interest of fairness, there wasn’t a great deal of time to voice any concerns.
The wife simply struggles to comprehend the basic rules of the road. She’s continually looking at mirrors and playing with indicators, when she should be hitting the horn like it was Lily Allen.
Her attempts at parking are equally frustrating. I’ve lost count of the number of times she’s drove past a perfectly good handicapped spot, only to park up some 50 yards further away. It’s pure selfishness.
Personally, I put her woeful driving down to a lack of confidence. I’ve told her that a few beers would solve the problem, but some people refuse to take good advice.
While these minor flaws are annoying; it’s her refusal to travel at an acceptable speed that sends me into an apoplectic rage. The wife is more than happy to trundle along at 20mph, even when there’s no one else on the motorway. She doesn’t appreciate the fact that speed limits and traffic lights are merely unhelpful suggestions.
Wayne Rooney is definitely a fan of putting his foot down; he once went over 65 in an escort. Manchester United are winning games without getting out of second gear; they’ll roar past Wigan at 1/5.
It’s been reported that a 10 year old has broken a leg after colliding with Steven Gerrard’s motor. The young lad can consider himself fortunate that Frank Lampard wasn’t driving; as he’d probably have eaten the leg. I’ll try to avoid getting knocked over in the rush to back Liverpool at 3/5 against Tottenham.
Blackburn Rovers have something in common with Steven Gerrard; they both own a flash Bentley. Mark Hughes would definitely struggle to sell his model: it looks the part, but you can’t get it to run in the summer. I’ll never grow tired of seeing 4/6 for a Blackburn win over Birmingham.
Gilberto Silva’s luck has deserted him. The World Cup winner was first stripped of the captaincy and then demoted to the bench. If I was Gilberto, I’d steer clear of the tube station. I collapsed like a Brazilian goalkeeper when I saw 1/5 for an Arsenal win against Sunderland.
Alan Curbishley will be keeping one eye on the police when he travels to Villa Park. The West Ham manager sold Marlon Harewood for £4m, so he may well be charged with robbery. It would be a crime to miss the even money for an Aston Villa win.
Michael Owen is on the verge of full fitness, a mere week after undergoing surgery. As far as I’m aware, only Jesus has ever made a quicker comeback, but records are sketchy at best. I’m praying for a Newcastle win over Everton at 11/10.
Reading may have been destroyed by Pompey last week, but I make them my nap of the week to bounce back against Derby. The Rams are about as useful as a second bedroom to Britney Spears: I’m taking the 4/5 for the Royals.
Mariah Carey has claimed to be a distant relative of Ashley Cole; but I can’t see any similarity. The singer has lost the support of thousands of one-time fans, been rocked by accusations of diva-like demands and has had numerous failed relationships with men. I can definitely see the value in backing the draw between Bolton and Chelsea at 13/5.
Gareth Southgate and Sven Goran Eriksson are not on the best of terms. The hostility can be traced back to Sven’s tenure as England manager, where he had the temerity to replace Southgate with younger, better players. It’s always unpleasant to see a high profile pair fall out so publicly, unless they belong to Jennifer Ellison. I’ll have a nice couple of quid on Manchester City at 8/11 against a goal-shy Middlesbrough.
Leroy Lita has a lot to answer for. When the wife read of his mobile phone exploits, she demanded that we follow suit. I originally said that I would only consider the suggestion ‘when hell freezes over’, but I felt the probability was too high, so I changed it to ‘when Benjani scores a hat-trick’. Pompey have tucked me up a treat, they can make it up to me by leaving Fulham with a point at 9/4.
I have no problem with a couple expressing their love via the medium of film; but if I wanted to see an excited whale, I’d rent ‘Free Willy’. Arsenal, Reading, Blackburn, Manchester City and Newcastle form an 11/1 weekend accer that will hopefully improve my disgruntled demeanour.
Copyright (c) Gerry McDonnell & soccerphile.com
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Football In India
Football is by no measure India's most popular sport. Cricket rules the roost on the subcontinent and every young Indian boy or girl with an interest in sport wants to become the next Mahendra Singh Dhoni or Yuvraj Singh rather than follow in the footsteps of such paupers as Messi, Rooney or Henry.
No wonder, as India's cricketers are among the best rewarded in world sport or even the highest paid when endorsements and sponsorships are taken in to acount - above such mega-earners as David Beckham in soccer, Alex Rodriguez in baseball and Tiger Woods in golf.
Part of the problem is that so far no Indian soccer player has made it on the world stage, though a couple of players have tried their luck in the lower reaches of world football. Baichung Bhutia, for example, played for Bury in the 1999-2000 season without setting the world alight.
Football's heartland in India is in Bengal, especially Kalkotta (Calcutta) and this area provides the majority of the national team, nicknamed the "Bhangra Boys", who failed to qualify for this year's Asian Cup and languish in a lowly 145th position in the Fifa World Rankings.
India have won the 50-over and 20-over cricket world cups, it will be a while before they can hope to replicate that success in football, but the game is beginning to expand at the grass-roots level, and who knows, maybe in a few years India might at least begin to make its mark in Asian football.
Indian Football
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No wonder, as India's cricketers are among the best rewarded in world sport or even the highest paid when endorsements and sponsorships are taken in to acount - above such mega-earners as David Beckham in soccer, Alex Rodriguez in baseball and Tiger Woods in golf.
Part of the problem is that so far no Indian soccer player has made it on the world stage, though a couple of players have tried their luck in the lower reaches of world football. Baichung Bhutia, for example, played for Bury in the 1999-2000 season without setting the world alight.
Football's heartland in India is in Bengal, especially Kalkotta (Calcutta) and this area provides the majority of the national team, nicknamed the "Bhangra Boys", who failed to qualify for this year's Asian Cup and languish in a lowly 145th position in the Fifa World Rankings.
India have won the 50-over and 20-over cricket world cups, it will be a while before they can hope to replicate that success in football, but the game is beginning to expand at the grass-roots level, and who knows, maybe in a few years India might at least begin to make its mark in Asian football.
Indian Football
Bet with Bet 365
World Soccer News
Soccer betting tips
Soccer Books & DVDs
Tags
Soccer News soccer football India Indian football Betting
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