Urawa vs Gamba: The Emperor's Cup draws to a dream close

In my last blog, I hypothesized that Urawa Reds couldn't possibly receive more help in their quest to retain the Emperor's Cup. I was wrong.

In their dramatic 10-9 penalty shoot-out quarter-final win over Jubilo Iwata, Urawa's substitute midfielder Tomoyuki Sakai had his spot-kick saved by Jubilo's stand-in goalkeeper Yohei Sato. For some inexplicable reason, referee Masayoshi Okada ordered the spot-kick to be retaken. Sakai converted at the second attempt, and Jubilo defender Yusuke Inuzuka was the unfortunate player to miss, rolling his penalty wide to ultimately hand Urawa a semi-final birth, after a pulsating 3-3 draw in normal time.

Urawa used that let-off to maximum effect, beating Kashima Antlers 2-1 in Saturday's semi-final, to book a grudge match against Gamba Osaka in the Emperor's Cup Final in Tokyo on New Year's Day. You might remember that it was Gamba who came to Fortress Saitama, in the hope of claiming an improbable victory (by three goals, no less) on the last day of the J-League season, to regain the J-League title they won in 2005. Urawa ended up prevailing in that match to clinch the 2006 J-League crown, and the Osaka outfit will be hell bent on extracting revenge.

Gamba booked their own place in the final with a comfortable 2-1 win over Second Division club Consadole Sapporo in the other semi-final. The win means that talismanic captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto - who lead Japan at both the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups, will play at least one more match in the blue and black jersey. The tenacious defender set up Masafumi Maeda's winner against Sapporo, but he will join fellow Japan international and former Urawa midfielder Alessandro Santos at Red Bull Salzburg in Austria, next season.

The other man calling it a day - in what will be an emotional send-off at the National Stadium in Tokyo, is Urawa's popular German manager Guido Buchwald. After finally leading the Saitama club to the J-League crown they so desperately desired, Buchwald has decided to return to Germany to spend more time with his family. Holger Osiek will return for his second spell in charge at Urawa, and the players will be keen to send Buchwald off as a winner and impress their new coach. One man will have to miss out though, and emotions will be high, as fans of both Buchwald and Gamba's Miyamoto urge their heroes on to victory.

At any rate, to say that this is a highly anticipated affair would be an understatement. The National Stadium will be rocking, as both Urawa and Gamba look to end their seasons on a cracking high, and start 2007 on a winning note.