Shimizu S-Pulse and Urawa Reds played out a pulsating 2-2 draw in front of 30,851 fans at Ecopa Stadium in Fukuroi yesterday.

In bright sunshine on a glorious Shōwa Day public holiday, it's unlikely that too many of the fans inside Ecopa were reflecting on Japan's period of prosperity under the former Emperor, with football fans concerned by more pressing matters as two of the league's most passionately supported clubs came head-to-head.

The first surprise of the afternoon came with Kenta Hasegawa's ultra-defensive starting eleven, as veterans Teruyoshi Ito and Marcos Paulo Alves were both recalled to start alongside the similarly defensive Masaki Yamamoto, with the S-Pulse game plan apparently to bamboozle Urawa with a series of square balls and back passes.

An even bigger shock was the decision to leave out 4-goal top scorer Shinji Okazaki, as fellow youngster Kazuki Hara started in his stead alongside the recalled Frode Johnsen, with former Urawa striker Yuichiro Nagai dropping back to the bench.

It was the effervescent Hara who was causing all sort of problems for the Urawa defence in the first half, and not surprisingly it was he was who was up-ended in the penalty area some seventeen minutes in. With most S-Pulse fans expecting Frode Johnsen to step up to the spot, it was instead the redoubtable Hara who confidently sent Ryota Tsuzuki the wrong way from the spot.

Despite stringing a defensive wall in front of the back four, S-Pulse were still struggling to contain Urawa's pacy counter-attacks. Not surprisingly it was the Reds who scored next, as Robson Ponte took advantage of Urawa's superior numbers inside the box to level the scores before the break.

With two outstanding teenagers on the pitch in the form of 17-year-old Genki Haraguchi and 18-year-old Naoki Yamada, Urawa possessed plenty of pace and penetration. And didn't the S-Pulse defence feel it, as with sixteen minutes remaining the electrifying Yamada brushed off a series of attempted tackles, before bursting into the penalty area and curling an inch-perfect strike into the far corner of the goal.

Roared on by a partisan and increasingly desperate home crowd, Shimizu S-Pulse surged forward in search of an equaliser. They almost found one when substitute Nagai got his head to a cross, but somehow Ryota Tsuzuki managed to scramble back and claw the ball out before it crossed the goal-line.

Nevertheless with three minutes remaining S-Pulse eventually managed to pull a goal back, and they did so through the unlikeliest of sources, as stand-in captain and full-back Arata Kodama demonstrated his years of experience to place a precise side-footed volley between Tsuzuki and his near post, and send the massed ranks of Shimizu fans behind the goal wild with delirium.

Both teams collapsed to the turf in exhaustion at the final whistle, following a battling display in what was a bruising encounter at times. Respective coaches Kenta Hasegawa and Volker Finke will have plenty of food for thought, however, after an encounter in which both defences were beaten for pace by exciting youngsters, only to see a couple of veterans in the form of Robson Ponte and Arata Kodama chime in with priceless goals of their own.

Liverpool hammer Real Madrid. Barcelona thrash Lyon. Sporting Lisbon capitulate at Bayern Munich, while Chelsea sneak through against Juventus. Arsenal's win on penalties over Roma makes for grim viewing in Italy, as the English Premier League begins to assert its dominance over the struggling Italian game.

None of these things would probably matter in Asia, if it weren't for the fact that the Asian Football Confederation is trying to emulate the success of the UEFA Champions League with a revamped AFC Champions League of its own.

Yet in an opening round in which a crowd of 500 turned out to watch Qatar's Al Gharafa lose 3-1 to Saudi side Al Shabab - and this in a Qatar that one day hopes to host a World Cup - about the closest Asian fans came to the glamour of the European version was when the TV cameras zoomed in on former Tokyo Verdy striker Hulk as he went around for Portugese outfit Porto in their UEFA Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid.

Therein lies the problem. With so many fans in Asia absorbed in the drama that is the UEFA Champions League, it's little wonder that attendances such as the 3,156 that turned out at the 44,466-capacity Big Crown Stadium to witness South Korean outfit Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i lose 3-1 to Toyota-backed Nagoya Grampus, are the norm.

And that's only to scratch at the surface of the problem. Despite a vast increase in prize-money, it still piffles into insignificance compared to the riches on offer in Japan. So it is any wonder to see reigning J. League champions Kashima Antlers sleep-walk through a 4-1 hammering at the hands of recently-crowned K-League champions Suwon Samsung Bluewings? 

A decent crowd of 14,126 turned out for the Suwon - Kashima clash - not a bad effort on a cold, midweek evening, especially since many Asian fans turn in long hours at the office. But a crowd of 23,168 fans turned out just four days earlier to watch Suwon lose to Pohang Steelers on the opening day of the K. League season. And that brings up another vexing issue.

It's a delicate one - and one that probably requires an element of the dreaded political correctness in terms of discussion - but many Asian cultures retain centuries-old superiority complexes when it comes to dealing with their neighbours. Far from viewing their teams as "underdogs" and wanting to see them do battle with regional heavyweight rivals, some Asian fans would rather pretend that their regional rivals simply didn't exist.

Gamba Osaka's 3-0 win over Chinese side Shandong Luneng might have prompted a solemn cry of "we suspected as much!" from some of the 10,312 fans on hand at Banpaku in midweek - and that in itself was a larger crowd than defending champions Gamba usually draw in Asia - but there will be many more fans in attendance when the Osakans host Jubilo Iwata in the J. League on Saturday afternoon. Best to slay a familiar foe than potentially lose face against a regional rival, it seems - and if necessary, test yourself against the best of the world at the FIFA Club World Cup.

Nevertheless, the AFC look set to persist with their "if you build it, they will come" approach. I, for one, am happy to see them do so. Speaking as an Australian, there is much for A-League sides to learn from our Asian counterparts, and the Champions League has the potential to chip away at some of the barriers that still stand tall in Asian culture - even if it is only for ninety minutes.

But clearly, popularising the AFC Champions League is going to take some time. And given the toll it takes on clubs - Kawasaki Frontale, for example, play games on March 7, 11, 14, 18 and 22 in both the J. League and Champions League in what is the opening month of their season - it's not difficult to understand why some sides might prefer to concentrate on domestic duties.

Urawa Reds must be laughing at all of this. Reaching the Champions League might be their goal, but it's the fact that they are not playing in it this season that will probably help them reach it.

The result was a pleasant one for Shimizu S-Pulse fans, but Kenta Hasegawa's men didn't exactly impress in their pre-season friendly with local rivals Jubilo Iwata.

The team from the orange half of Shizuoka came from behind after Jubilo striker Gilsinho opened the scoring with a clinical finish, only for an equaliser a minute from time from substitute Kazuki Hara to snatch the "SDT Cup" from Jubilo's grasp.

If Jubilo fans were annoyed by the last-minute goal, things got even worse three minutes into stoppage time when the impressive Shinji Okazaki blasted home to increase the gloom for the visiting supporters.

In front of an impressive crowd of 11,284 the hosts bossed the game for the opening twenty-five minutes but then appeared to fall asleep for the rest of the match.

New signing Frode Johnsen had some decent touches but it will clearly take time for the lanky Norwegian to strike up a combination with strike partner Okazaki - while fellow new arrival Yuichiro Nagai was missing due to concerns over his fitness. 

Off the pitch, the new naming rights deal struck with "Outsourcing" kicks in at Shimizu's J. League home opener against Yokohama F. Marinos on March 14, so it was into the more familiar "Nihondaira Stadium" that fans filed - with most arriving early to see Shimizu's reserves beat Jubilo's reserves 2-1 thanks to goals from Genki Omae and Shun Nagasawa, after Jubilo striker Hiroki Bandai had opened the scoring for the visitors.

Jubilo's reserve team shirts were probably the most useless pieces of apparal I've ever seen - it took me twenty-five minutes to recognise that their shirts were numbered, so well done to whomever thought that plain white against a pale blue background would work - while it was nice to see the Jubilo team bus inglamorously parked out the front of the stadium, with S-Pulse not bothering to open the parking bay for their local rivals. 

All in all it was a decent day out for S-Pulse fans, who were no doubt compelled to turn out in such numbers by the fact that Shizuoka Dai-ichi TV ironically didn't bother to broadcast the own friendly they helped sponsor.

But with the J. League season just around the corner, there is plenty for S-Pulse coach Hasegawa to consider given what was a rusty-looking display from his team.

The 2009 J. League fixture list is out - leaving husbands and boyfriends up and down the country to explain long absences over weekends and crucial holiday periods (although in the female-friendly J. League... wives and girlfriends mostly drag themselves along).

A convenient "computer glitch" was no doubt behind an opening day crackerjack as Kashima Antlers get set to host Urawa Reds at Kashima Stadium, with the locals no doubt frothing at the mouth to remind the hated Saitama outfit of just who has recorded back-to-back J. League titles.

The rest of the opening weekend Saturday fixtures all look like fairly ho-hum affairs. JEF United doing battle with Gamba Osaka again? Expect another dull scoreless draw.

As predicted, Omiya Ardija host Shimizu S-Pulse on the Sunday in a battle to determine which of the two sides has a more naff-sounding stadium name. The elegant "Nack5" rolls off the tongue like the sort of fur-balls my cat used to produce all over the kitchen floor, but I just reckon Shimizu S-Pulse's new "Outsourcing Stadium Nihondaira" could take the cake for the most ridiculous new stadium name, with S-Pulse fans set to outsource their pride all over the country in embarrassment over that one. 

The other Sunday game sees Kyoto take on Vissel Kobe in a Kansai derby at Nishikyogoku Stadium - although Gamba Osaka have registered an early application in the "pride of Kansai" stakes by actually managing to win one or two things of late.

Matchday 2 sees Urawa Reds welcome hot-headed regional rivals FC Tokyo to Saitama Stadium, while the locals in Chiba will be getting all hot and bothered as Kashiwa Reysol host JEF United in a local derby that always threatens to reach nuclear proportions. Here's hoping that the Reysol fans put away their flag poles for that one!

Japan-based Australian football writers in Shimizu will be furrowing their brows in earnest to come up with some sort of port-related analogy as S-Pulse welcome the team from "that other port" in the form of Yokohama F. Marinos to Hot Sauce Stadium, while the Sunday fixtures on Matchday 2 see J1 returnees Sanfrecce Hiroshima host Omiya Ardija at Big Arch.

The rest of the fixture list meanders along in similar vein for all of 34-rounds, while the format of the Nabisco League Cup group stage has once again been altered to the point that it looks like it was drawn by a blind man throwing darts at a balloon in a wind tunnel.

One thing that does stand out for Shimizu S-Pulse fans is that the club have reverted to playing Urawa Reds at Ecopa Stadium once again. They've cited "security reasons" for doing so (um, yeah right) but they'll want to draw a decent crowd, given that matchday costs are around three-times higher than they are at Nihondaira.

Makes the grand gesture of that "Our pride in this place - all home games in 2007 at Nihondaira Stadium!" t-shirt the club put out a couple of years seem pretty hollow.* Oh well, I guess the price to pay to shield your own supporters from the horrors of Urawa Reds fans willing to insult those wearing Pul-chan hand puppets is an 80km trip down the Tokaido line.

* anyone want to buy a slightly used 2007 Shimizu S-Pulse t-shirt?! 

Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek has named a 22-man squad for his country's upcoming World Cup qualifying blockbuster against Japan in Yokohama.

There are several notable casualties - with Blackburn Rovers midfielder Brett Emerton expected to miss the rest of the season after he suffered cruciate knee ligament damage in Blackburn's scoreless draw with Middlesbrough in the English Premier League last weekend.

Emerton's Blackburn team-mate Vince Grella returns to the squad, but Australia are missing talismanic Galatasaray star Harry Kewell for what is shaping up as the most anticipated clash of Pim Verbeek's reign so far. 

Lanky striker Joshua Kennedy has been named despite falling out of favour with his club side Karlsruher SC, with reports in Kicker Magazin suggesting that Kennedy has requested a transfer after he was substituted in Karlsruhe's dismal German Cup defeat to Second Division side SV Wehen-Wiesbaden last week.

Japan face Finland in a friendly tomorrow in their final warm-up before their clash with the Socceroos at a sold-out Yokohama International Stadium, and coach Takeshi Okada has named a 25-man squad for both matches.

VVV Venlo midfielder Keisuke Honda has surprisingly been dropped following Japan's most recent 1-0 defeat to Bahrain in Asian Cup qualifying, while there was no room for Catania youngster Takayuki Morimoto.

Veteran goalkeepers Seigo Narazaki and Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi are both injured - prompting a surprise call-up for Kashiwa Reysol keeper Takanori Sugeno.

The Australia squad to face Japan is:

Goalkeepers: Mark Schwarzer (Fulham, ENG), Adam Federici (Reading, ENG), Michael Petkovic (Sivasspor, TUR)

Defenders: Scott Chipperfield (FC Basel, SUI), Chris Coyne (Colchester United, ENG), Craig Moore (Queensland Roar), Lucas Neill (West Ham United, ENG), Jade North (Incheon United, KOR), Shane Stefanutto (Lyn Oslo, NOR)

Midfielders: Mark Bresciano (Palermo, ITA), Tim Cahill (Everton, ENG), David Carney (Norwich, ENG), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven, NED), Vince Grella (Blackburn Rovers, ENG), Mile Jedinak (Genclerbirligi, TUR), Mile Sterjovski (Derby County, ENG), Carl Valeri (Grosseto, ITA), Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow, RUS)

Forwards: Richard Garcia (Hull City, ENG), Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar, NED), Joshua Kennedy (Karlsruher SC, GER), Scott McDonald (Celtic, SCO)

The Japan squad to face Finland and Australia is:

Goalkeepers: Ryota Tsuzuki (Urawa Reds), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale), Takanori Sugeno (Kashiwa Reysol)

Defenders: Shuhei Terada (Kawasaki Frontale), Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F. Marinos), Kazumichi Takagi (Gamba Osaka), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Urawa Reds), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Michihiro Yasuda (Gamba Osaka), Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers)

Midfielders: Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic, SCO), Hideo Hashimoto (Gamba Osaka), Junichi Inamoto (Eintracht Frankfurt, GER), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Daisuke Matsui (Saint-Etienne, FRA), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Makoto Hasebe (VfL Wolfsburg, GER), Shinji Kagawa (Cerezo Osaka)

Forwards: Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus), Seiichiro Maki (JEF United), Yoshito Okubo (Wolfsburg, GER), Tatsuya Tanaka (Urawa Reds), Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse)

In yet another piece written by an Australian media outlet containing the perjorative terms "Asian clubs" and "cashed-up," the Sydney Morning Herald has hinted that 2007-08 A-League champions Newcastle Jets - who curiously finished the current campaign bottom of the table - could be casting their eye over three Japanese players in preparation for their upcoming AFC Champions League campaign. 

The three players in question are Taro Hasegawa, Yukihiko Sato and Masaya Nishitani, and fans of Japanese top flight clubs could be forgiven a bout of quizzical head-scratching, with all three having just been released by teams in J2. 

Of the three, 30-year-old Nishitani has the most recent top flight experience. He got on the pitch 21 times for doomed Consadole Sapporo last season, as the Hokkaido club spent an ignominious 2008 campaign glued solidly to the bottom of the J1 table. Despite joining Consadole midway through 2005 - the fact that he only got on the pitch twice at Urawa Reds wasn't enough to stop the Herald labelling him an ex-Urawa player - Nishitani has now been deemed surplus to requirements as the northern strugglers attempt to steady their ship in the Second Division.

Veteran striker Taro Hasegawa managed just 14 appearances for Yokohama FC in their 45 league games in J2 last season, and a strike rate of zero goals won't exactly have Newcastle fans holding their breath that Hasegawa can prove a ready-made replacement should Joel Griffiths decide to join his brother Ryan at Chinese club Beijing Guoan.

Yukihiko Sato arguably carries the most pedigree, having graduated from the veritable football factory that is Shimizu Commercial High School (does that school hold the world record for the highest number of professional footballers produced, or what?) and having started his career at local club Shimizu S-Pulse, he also counts spells at FC Tokyo and Yokohama F. Marinos among his many postings. Sato was at J1 outfit Kashiwa Reysol as recently as 2007 - although he joined the Chiba-based side when they were in the second tier.

One thing that stands out with all three is the fact that they have so far been unable - or perhaps unwilling - to secure employment in the Japanese Second Division. With Australia's little corner of cyberspace often working itself into a frenzy in attempts to draw favourable comparisons with other leagues, it's hard to see how the fact that three ageing, off-contract Japanese journeymen being touted as potential A-League recruits is anything other than a slap of reality.

And that's to say nothing of the fact that convincing just one of the players to move to Australia - let alone all three of them - is a tough task in itself. With Tochigi SC, Kataller Toyama and Fagiano Okayama all joining the J2 party in 2009, there's plenty of work to go around, not to mention the fact that most of the clubs in the third-tier Japan Football League operate on a semi-professional basis.

I certainly hope that Japanese players start making the trip Down Under. So far only Hiroyuki Ishida has graced Australian shores with Perth Glory, and the tricky Sagan Tosu winger is apparently on the radar of several A-League clubs. Yutaka Tahara, meanwhile, once courted by Adelaide United, looks set for a switch to the K-League. That's a shame because he's certainly the kind of player that could do some damage on the Australian scene.

I'm not so sure about Nishitani, Hasegawa or Sato though.

I hope I'm wrong, but only time will tell.

Shimizu S-Pulse have pulled off a real coup, in my opinion, with the announcement that Kenta Hasegawa's side have lured disgruntled ex-Urawa Reds striker Yuichiro Nagai to Nihondaira Stadium.

Nagai has real pedigree - he came up through the youth ranks at Urawa before playing almost 300 games for the Saitama side, and scored four goals during a season-long loan spell at 2.Bundesliga club Karlsruher SC in the late nineties. 

He's also played four times for his country and was named the Player Of The Tournament in the 2007 AFC Champions League, but after being confined to a bit-part role by now departed coach Gert Engels last season, Nagai has departed in a huff to take up a new challenge in Shimizu. 

Nagai will be welcomed with open arms by a club that has released Brazilian attackers Fernandinho and Marcos Aurelio, while the bullocking Takuro Yajima has signed on with Kawasaki Frontale and veteran Akinori Nishizawa has departed for J2 to link up with his former club Cerezo Osaka.

S-Pulse already possess Japanese youngsters Shinji Okazaki - who recently made his full international debut - and Kazuki Hara up front, while Norwegian veteran Frode Johnsen has also inked a deal in Shimizu, as the club look to return to rediscover the form they displayed during Korean striker Cho Jae-Jin's goal-laden spell at the club.

Nagai could be just the kind of player to propel S-Pulse into the AFC Champions League.

He's vastly experienced, deceptively quick, has a good finish and, perhaps most importantly, Nagai has a point to prove.

Like several other Urawa players he grew increasingly disillusioned with the back-room politics threatening to split the Reds star-studded squad apart. Rather than play second fiddle to Edmilson and Naohiro Takahara - who both endured decidedly mediocre campaigns in 2008 - Nagai will instead look to stamp his authority on Shimizu S-Pulse.

At just 29 he's arguably still got his best football in front of him.

He may have arrived from the hated Reds, but Shimizu S-Pulse fans won't care. Yuichiro Nagai is in the prime of his career. Here's hoping that his link-up with S-Pulse proves a match made in heaven.

After lifting their first ever Emperor's Cup title a week ago - following back-to-back extra-time victories in the semi-final and final - the luck has finally run out for Gamba Osaka, after the Suita-based side were handed a tough draw in the 2009 AFC Champions League.

Gamba only qualified for this year's draw by virtue of being crowned domestic Cup champions - apparently lifting the Asian Champions League isn't enough to allow you to back up and defend your title the following season - but Akira Nishino won't be particularly thrilled with a draw that pits Gamba against K-League runners-up FC Seoul, Chinese champions Shandong Luneng and Indonesian outfit Sriwijaya FC.

I caught FC Seoul in action last season and they'll be no pushovers, even if Seoul World Cup Stadium isn't necessarily the most hostile of venues.

Sumatra could certainly prove a hostile venue, however, and with Indonesian star Budi Sudarsono on Sriwijaya's books, Gamba will hardly relish a trip to the island to face the Indonesian side.

Nor will a match-up with Shandong Luneng provide much comfort - with clashes between Japanese and Chinese sides among the fiercest in Asian football.

Lucky for Gamba they've put their ACL winnings to good use then, with the latest arrival Brazilian striker Leandro from local rivals Vissel Kobe - with the burly hit man expected to partner fellow new recruit Cho Jae-Jin in attack.

It'll be a tough ask for Gamba to repeat their heroic double of 2008, however, and with the Osakans desperate to lift just a second ever J. League title, they will be wary of trying to balance their Champions League commitments with a demanding domestic schedule next season. 

Manchester United beat LDU Quito 1-0 in front of 68,682 fans at Yokohama International Stadium, with Wayne Rooney scoring the only goal of a largely one-sided affair.

United had to work hard for their victory following the 49th minute dismissal of central defender Nemanja Vidic for an elbow to the face of Liga de Quito striker Claudio Bieler.

Despite enjoying a one-man advantage Liga offered little in the way of attack, with midfielder Alejandro Manjos going the closest for the underdogs from Ecuador with two ferocious long-range strikes that were brilliantly saved by United's veteran keeper Edwin van der Sar.

Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of the game in the 73rd minute as he took an intelligent pass from Cristiano Ronaldo before burying an accurate right-foot strike in the bottom corner of the goal.

In the day's other game Gamba Osaka won the 3/4 playoff, beating Mexican outfit Pachuca 1-0.

Masato Yamazaki scored the only goal of the game, as the J. League team largely outplayed their central American opponents.

Well, that was a close run thing.

The Shizuoka derby lives to see another day after local misfits Jubilo Iwata got their act together just in the nick of time, beating Vegalta Sendai 3-2 on aggregate in the promotion/relegation playoff to retain their place in the top flight for next season.

The star of the playoff was undoubtedly Jubilo's teenage midfielder Takuya Matsuura.

Matsuura turns twenty on December 21, but his performances belied his young age as he scored the equaliser in the first leg in front of a hostile capacity crowd of 18,974 at Yurtec Sendai Stadium, cancelling out Brazilian striker Nadson's first half goal for the northerners.

The stage was set for an epic second-leg showdown at the compact Yamaha Stadium and 16,693 fans piled into every available vantage point to witness another J. League classic. 

Vegalta are no strangers to top flight football - they spent two seasons in J1 in the early part of the century - and predictably one of Japan's most passionately supported clubs fought tooth and nail to get back to the promised land.

They didn't count on coming up against Takuya Matsuura though, as the youngster chested home a Ryoichi Maeda cross just before half-time to calm Jubilo nerves.  

With Vegalta piling everyone forward in search of an equaliser in the second half, Jubilo took their chance on the break - and what a goal it was, as a long clearance from a corner was picked up by Matsuura on the halfway line, and the youngster twisted and turned inside two Sendai defenders before chipping the ball over keeper Takuto Hayashi, to send the home fans packed into the clock end at Yamaha into frenzied jubilation.

As is so often the case in football, Sendai managed to pull back a stoppage-time consolation that only added to their fans' misery, as ex-North Korean international Ryang Yong-Gi curled a spectacular free-kick over the wall and passed Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi in the final minute of the game, although the Zainichi Korean's strike proved too little to propel Sendai back into the top flight.

So the Shizuoka derby lives to see another day - not that too many Shimizu S-Pulse fans were concerned about the prospect of it disappearing - and Jubilo coach Hans Ooft was a visibly relieved man after the final whistle sounded in Iwata.

Grinning like a cheshire cat, the big Dutchman thanked the Jubilo fans and promised that his club had learned from their mistakes this season.

One would hope so, with the three-times J. League champions coming within a whisker of experiencing a taste of life in the basement of professional Japanese football in 2009.