Shizuoka shocker

Wow. After my tirade against Adelaide United's technical skills, I sure hope no other Australians saw tonight's Shizuoka derby. 

In what will surely rank as one of the worst games of the season, Jubilo Iwata beat local rivals Shimizu S-Pulse 1-0 thanks to a Ryoichi Maeda goal barely twenty seconds after the half-time interval.

Persistent rain kept the crowd in Fukuroi to just under 25,000 but the fans who stayed home were the lucky ones, as Jubilo and Shimizu turned in an error-fest of embarrassing proportions.

The highlight - or lowlight, depending on which team you were supporting - came just after the restart when S-Pulse defender Naoaki Aoyama, under no pressure whatsoever, attempted to pass the ball to his goalkeeper from the kick-off, only to stumble and trip, presenting the ball to Jubilo striker Ryoichi Maeda who dutifully dispatched a skidding low drive passed a perplexed Kaito Yamamoto.

How the fans must have wished that had been a golden goal, as S-Pulse in particular turned in a performance totally bereft of inspiration and creativity, so much so that the beaten League Cup finalists were booed off the pitch at the end, despite receiving good support from the S-Pulse faithful throughout the ninety minutes. 

As far as J. League games go, this was as bad as it gets, and how Shimizu hammered Gamba Osaka 3-1 the other day I'll never know. Forget the AFC Champions League. If Adelaide United want to restore some confidence right now, they should challenge Kenta Hasegawa's misfiring team to a duel.