WHOAH!

So I'm missing Japan's Kirin Cup clash with Montengro at Ecopa Stadium on June 1 because I'm going to Tokyo to see New York Hardcore legends Sick Of It All instead. I'll have to tune into the match with a bunch of rowdy FC Tokyo fans at Footnik Pub in Shibuya, and I bet they won't be the only ones annoyed with Japan coach Ivica Osim's team selection.

In the past Osim has claimed that selecting European-based players "disrupts the squad." Perhaps he has a point, but when those players include the likes of Shunsuke Nakamura from Celtic and Eintracht Frankfurt striker Naohiro Takahara, could he really afford not to call those players up? When Japan beat Saudi Arabia in their final Asian Cup qualifier last November, Nakamura was holidaying in Japan anyway!

As it is, Nakamura, Takahara and FC Basel midfielder Koji Nakata have all been given call-ups for the Kirin Cup, but new Frankfurt signing Junichi Inamoto and wantaway Le Mans winger Daisuke Matsui have been overlooked. Those exclusions are not necessarily that surprising - especially since so many Japanese players have demonstrated that simply playing in Europe doesn't necessarily make one a good player, but it seems strange not to have called up Inamoto in particular, with the combative midfielder having been a virtual ever-present for Galatasaray this season.

Still, that won't be what has put a bee in Japan fans' bonnets. No, instead it is the fact that Ivica Osim has selected five JEF United players in his squad that has Japan fans scratching their heads. Or not scratching their heads - depending on how cynical those fans are. You see, JEF United are coached by none other than Ivica Osim's son! More importantly, the Chiba club are currently stuck in the relegation zone. How a team scrapping it out with the likes of Yokohama FC and Omiya Ardija at the foot of the J-League can have five international call-up's is anyone's guess.

Yet there are still fishier things afoot with Osim's squad. Although JEF United striker Seiichiro Maki has scored just one league goal this season - and that was an own goal according to everybody but the J-League, he still gets the nod up front alongside Takahara. This is despite the fact that Kawasaki Frontale striker Kazuki Ganaha scored three goals during the Asian Cup qualifying campaign. Yet Ganaha has been overlooked! What the? Meanwhile Gamba Osaka striker Ryuji Bando has lost his place in the Gamba line-up to ex-Ventforet Kofu striker Bare, yet Bando has still been named in Japan's Kirin Cup squad.

Another player overlooked is Yokohama F. Marinos' talismanic midfielder Koji Yamase. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but if there's one thing that Japan could use more of it is midfield creativity, if for no other reason than to take some of the pressure of Shunsuke Nakamura. Instead the squad is full of midfield grafters like Hideo Hashimoto and Yasuhito Endo, or players that aren't even first choice starting midfielders at their clubs, like Akihiro Ienaga, Yasuyuki Konno and Yuki Abe. Sure Japan have some promising youngsters - and JEF United's Koki Mizuno is one United player who deserves to be there, along with the likes of Shimizu's Jungo Fujimoto and Kawasaki's Kengo Nakamura, but Osim's team seems to smack of a man who has hardly seen any Japanese players in action.

It will be interesting to see if the likes of Hiroshima's Yuichi Komano and Nagoya's Keisuke Honda receive some game time during this Kirin Cup, or if the starting eleven will indeed by comprised of players from the axis of evil - Urawa, Gamba Osaka and...JEF United. Still, I won't be there to see it. Sick Of It All on the Thursday, pub food on the Friday and Magma Fest on the Saturday. It's a tough life, but somebody's gotta live it!

There's nothing like bandying about some good old clichés to get your point across. So there'll be no love lost when two of Japan's biggest rivals clash at Saitama Stadium this weekend! There, I said it. Urawa are playing Gamba Osaka, and no doubt the English-language media in Japan will be working themselves into a frenzy.

Saburo Kawabuchi - head of the Japan Football Association, claimed last week that the Asian Champions League needs reformatting. It invariably does, but it's difficult to see how Kawabuchi's vision of allowing more clubs from Japan, Korea and Australia to enter is going to help clubs from South-East Asia develop.

Recently the Australian media has been falling over itself to proclaim Urawa Reds as "the biggest club in Asia." Eh? Two years ago Urawa weren't even the biggest club in Japan. Maybe that fact has been lost on the likes of Kawabuchi, who dream of full houses at matches between clubs like Urawa Reds and Sydney FC.

Of course, Urawa's final Asian Champions League encounter with Sydney on May 23 very well COULD draw a full house. But it would be a first. The reality is that clubs like Kawasaki Frontale, Gamba Osaka and anyone else that qualifies for the Champions League, will continue to play in half-empty stadiums, fielding less than full-strength teams. The fact that Urawa have somewhat bucked that trend recently (even though few media outlets pointed out that two crowds of around 30,000 in the Champions League so far still meant that Saitama Stadium was only half full) makes it easy for the media to claim that Urawa are Asia's biggest club.

The fact that they have just one league title to their name suggests that they are not. The same could be said of Gamba Osaka, with the Panasonic-funded club having only the 2005 J-League crown to show for their efforts. Yet the winds of change have blown through Japanese football, so no longer can traditional powerhouses like Kashima Antlers, Jubilo Iwata and Yokohama F. Marinos claim to be the biggest teams in the country.

These things are often cyclical, so now it's Urawa and Gamba Osaka's turn to be labelled "the biggest arch rivals in Japan!" In reality, they've probably only been rivals for two years, but since Urawa thwarted Gamba Osaka at every turn last season - and Gamba responded in kind by smashing Urawa 4-0 in the 2007 Super Cup - this match is sure to be a hotly contested affair.

There are plenty of stars on show, and Marcus Tulio Tanaka's tussle with Magno Alves should prove fascinating. There will also be plenty of scrutiny on Urawa's Brazilian striker Washington - if he gets on the pitch. Out-of-form, heavily criticised, dropped and then restored...now Washington "supposedly" has an injury, but the rumours coming out of Saitama are that the temperamental striker doesn't see eye to eye with new coach Holger Osieck.  

Anyway, it should prove an exciting match, irrespective of how dubious any claims of "the biggest club in..." are. Gamba are currently on top of the table, while Urawa are in second, and with the likes of Jubilo Iwata, Yokohama F. Marinos and Kashima Antlers all floating about in mid-table, it looks like the new status quo of Japanese football is here to stay for some time yet.

Ah, to be alive during 'Golden Week!' Golden Week is that magical time in Japan where fifty million public holidays join together to create one lengthy footballing extravaganza! Or at least that's what Golden Week means to me. And what would Golden Week be without the obligatory hate-fuelled derby to spice things up? You and I both know the answer, so let's look at the match-up's!

A full round of fixtures takes place on Thursday March 3, and Gamba Osaka make the thirty kilometre trip to Kobe Wing Stadium in fine spirits, ahead of this 'Kansai Derby' against home team Vissel Kobe. Gamba have been banging in goals like it's nobody's business - a leisurely nineteen in their opening eight league fixtures. The Osakans are in irresistable form at the moment, but there's nothing like an inferiority complex to fire up a hitherto listless team, so Vissel Kobe will hope to go one better than their recent 2-2 draw with Gamba in the League Cup, and knock off their "big brother" from down the road in this one.

Yokohama F. Marinos are one of the genuine heavyweights of Japanese football, and they won't appreciate being over-shadowed by upstarts Kawasaki Frontale in the Kanagawa Derby. After winning the J-League in 2003 and 2004, F. Marinos have struggled in recent seasons. They'll be determined to get one over Frontale at Nissan Stadium, with Kawasaki having finished second in the league last season.

The first Shizuoka Derby of the season takes place at Nihondaira Stadium on Thursday night, when Shimizu S-Pulse host bitter rivals Jubilo Iwata. Jubilo beat Shimizu on penalties in the 1999 championship decider, and with S-Pulse fans having long memories, Jubilo can expect a hot reception at a packed Nihondaira, with all tickets for this game having been snapped up.

On Sunday March 6, two struggling southern clubs in the form of Oita Trinita and Sanfrecce Hiroshima meet, with the former currently languishing in the relegation zone. 

After facing FC Tokyo at Ajinomoto Stadium on the Thursday, Kashima Antlers return to Kashima Stadium for another tough encounter, when they take on a rampant Yokohama F. Marinos. Following a recent 5-0 hammering of hapless Oita, F. Marinos then went one better and smashed Albirex Niigata 6-0 in their most recent match!

Kawasaki Frontale take on neighbours FC Tokyo at Todoroki Stadium, while the Chiba Derby should ensure a full house at Fukuda Denshi Arena, when JEF United host the high-flying (or should that be high-kicking?) Kashiwa Reysol.

So plenty to look forward to in the J-League then, with the weather not the only thing currently heating up in Japan.

 

 

Just kidding folks, just kidding, but you've gotta strike while the iron is hot! 

And things are certainly hotting up in the J-League, where several scintillating matches took place this weekend.

Things kicked off in front of 22,168 fans at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo, where FC Tokyo finally cracked a home win, beating Oita Trinita 1-0. Paulo Wanchope made his first start in some time for Tokyo, and he laid on the only goal for the capital club, heading down for ex-Japan international Yasuyuki Konno to finish.

The real excitement took place just up the road, however, where 50,531 fans packed into Saitama Stadium to see a genuine slugfest between Japan's two Asian Champions League combatants. This match had everything, including a bizarre public spat that took place before kick-off between Marcus Tulio Tanaka - arguably Japan's best defender, and Japan coach Ivica Osim.

Coach Osim had scheduled a brief training session for Japan before this weekend's round of J-League matches. Urawa had claimed that Tanaka was injured, but sent the tenacious defender to the camp anyway. It was here, Tanaka claims, that Osim forced him to take part in several drills, where he further inflamed the injury that kept him out of the match with Kawasaki. 

A forlorn Tanaka sat high in the stands at Saitama Stadium and watched in horror as ex-JEF United midfielder Yuki Abe (these days a defender at Urawa, whose policy of signing ten midfielders for every one position now appears to be hindering them) stood idly by while Kazuki Ganaha burst in behind him to tap home Masaru Kurotsu's gently rolling cross.

For all those non-Urawa fans watching on TV (like myself) things got even better, when Urawa generously allowed the rangy Juninho time and space to deliver a cross. He delivered a cross alright, straight into the path of Magnum, who gleefully waltzed in front of goalkeeper Ryota Tsuzuki to "knee" the ball into the back of the net, in a somewhat unsightly fashion. 

Not to be outdone in the scrappy goal stakes, Urawa then scored the scrappiest one of them all, when Satoshi Horinouchi produced a spectacular - and rare - diving shoulder goal, after he appeared to be bear-hugged from behind by several desperate Kawasaki defenders. That was the only goal that the Reds could muster, however, as Frontale silenced the legion of Urawa glory-hunters fans packed into the stadium.

After that match I set out for Nihondaira in high hopes and with high spirits.  It wouldn't last. Kashima Antlers beat Shimizu S-Pulse 2-1, with former Messina striker Atsushi Yanagisawa - who some believe the word ineffective was actually invented for, miraculously scored twice to see off the home team. Worse still, his finishes were clinical - and the second came from a cross by ex-S-Pulse striker Marquinhos! Shimizu could only respond with a thirty-five yard rocket from defender Daisuke Ichikawa that threatened to send the goal-frame hurtling over Mount Fuji, but that was as much as a disappointing S-Pulse could conjure, as they sunk to a second home defeat of the season.

I came home to learn that Ventforet Kofu had come from behind to beat Kashiwa Reysol 3-2. I had the opportunity to watch Ventforet Kofu vs Vissel Kobe a few weeks ago, but chose not to. A wise decision, if I may say so, given that Kofu only managed a weak, last minute, come-from-behind 4-3 win over Kashiwa, who were at the time flying high near the top of the table. This time around Kofu opted for a more subtle comeback of the two goal variety. They went 2-1 down when substitute Tadanari Ri scored for Reysol, and things looked bleak with ten minutes remaining when another substitute in Kazunari Hosaka entered the fray. "Not to worry," thought Hosaka, who promptly scored twice for Kofu in the space of six minutes, to seal an improbable 3-2 win for the team from rural Yamanishi Prefecture.

Fortunately things calmed down on the Sunday, where nil-nil draws were always going to be the order of the day. That's not how it panned out, mind you, as Gamba Osaka smashed Jubilo Iwata 5-2 - bringing joy to the hearts of disgruntled Shimizu fans everywhere. Not to be outdone, Yokohama F. Marinos annihilated Oita Trinita 5-0 at Nissan Stadium, prompting thousands of J-League fans to simultaneously quip, "I never expected that!" Such is the wonder of the J-League, where unexpected results are never more than ninety minutes away.

I'm beginning to understand what the great Australian football broadcaster Les Murray was getting at when he said in his autobiography "By The Balls," that analysing football for a living can be a grinding experience.

That's certainly what watching Shimizu S-Pulse's 0-0 League Cup draw against Kashiwa Reysol last Wednesday night felt like. That result means that, for the second season in a row, Shimizu S-Pulse have been knocked out at the group stage of the League Cup.

The result was arguably more interesting for the fact that Kashiwa bludgeoned their way to a draw, with any promising S-Pulse attack invariably broken up by a foul. That tactic has brought Kashiwa success in the J-League as well, but it's sure to infuriate opposition players and fans alike - and the angry scenes after Kashiwa had beaten S-Pulse in the League Cup earlier in the season, bear testament to that.

Elsewhere in the League Cup, defending champions JEF United look a good bet to progress to the quarter-finals, despite their 1-0 loss to Gamba Osaka in their most recent match. They should be joined by Oita Trinita and Ventforet Kofu, although Shimizu's group is a lot tighter, with Omiya Ardija the favourites to go through.

After the disappointment of Wednesday's result, I was hoping for better things in Shimizu's J-League blockbuster with Kawasaki Frontale on Sunday. As it was, Shimizu went down 2-1 in a pulsating encounter, but only after a terrible backpass by Arata Kodama (I think...I may have been blinded with rage at the time) gifted an equaliser to substitute Masaru Kurotsu. A shell-shocked S-Pulse immediately conceded a second, to the delight of the majority of the 21,208 fans inside a packed Todoroki Stadium.

The real match of the day was probably at the National Stadium in Tokyo, however, where 35,013 fans witnessed Urawa Reds beat the aforementioned Kashiwa Reysol 2-0. Washington and Shinji Ono scored the goals in front of a sea of Urawa fans, with Reysol's Kashiwa Stadium far too small to accommodate the Reds' travelling army.

There was a similar scenario in Yokohama, where a crowd of nearly 20,000 turned out to witness Yokohama FC go down 1-0 to an out-of-form Kashima Antlers on Saturday. Both matches were interesting in that the partisan atmospheres generated at Mitsuzawa Stadium and Kashiwa Stadium respectively were negated, by the necessity to play in a much larger stadium.

Coming full circle then, and its interesting to note that Shimizu S-Pulse have switched their derby with Jubilo Iwata from Ecopa Stadium - a 2002 World Cup venue, back to their spiritual home of Nihondaira Stadium. S-Pulse have even gone to trouble of printing t-shirts proclaiming as much, with the unpopular Ecopa a sixty minute train ride from Shimizu. Just goes to show that when it comes to generating an atmosphere, sometimes less truly is more.

Just kidding folks, just kidding! I thought one way to get everyone interested in Japanese football is simply to talk about the English Premier League.

It seems that interest in Japanese football is on the wane, even *gasp* right here in Japan! While I can understand that Kashiwa Reysol vs FC Tokyo might not capture the attention of your average fan from Barcelona to Bury, I think it's a little concerning that media coverage of the J-League in Japan is plummeting as fast as the attendance figures of certain clubs.

According to The Rising Sun News - which is by far and away the best resource on Japanese football...on the web or elsewhere, interest in the J-League is dwindling, both in the media and with your more casual fans. And on the issue of decreasing interest in the league, The Rising Sun News has been most vocal on the topic of the poor standard of refereeing in Japan. I can see why.

When Shimizu S-Pulse took on Yokohama F. Marinos in the League Cup last weekend, I was really not looking forward to attending the match. That was for the simple reason that, in the previous two matches, both against Kashiwa Reysol - once in the J-League and once in the League Cup, S-Pulse had been on the receiving end of some seriously dubious refereeing. 

I took it with a grain of salt, since in 2006, Shimizu had been the beneficiaries of poor refereeing on numerous occasions. And they were the beneficiaries once again on Saturday afternoon, when referee Masaaki Iemoto gave a straight red card to Omiya's new signing Mauricio Salles just eight minutes into his Omiya debut.

The send-off probably had little impact on the outcome of the match, since Shimizu were playing Omiya off the park anyway. But what impact will it have on the miserly 7,737 crowd that bothered to turn up at Komaba Stadium - where standing behind the goals offers you the same kind of view that you might have if you were standing on the moon? 

I think I know. People stop coming. And who can blame them? When they can just as easily sit at home and watch Liverpool vs Arsenal instead, there's little incentive for the casual fan to get out to a windswept Japanese stadium, only to watch their team's chances disappear down the drain - which is where any credibility that J-League referees once had, has long since disappeared.

So the League Cup kicks off here in Japan this week, and woe any coach who doesn't take this competition seriously!

With talent spread so evenly in the J-League, plenty of clubs realise that the League Cup represents an excellent chance to pick up a piece of silverware.

Conversely, a poor run in the Cup can spell doom and gloom if you're a highly paid foreign coach brought in to win trophies. Just ask Paulo Autori!

The League Cup in Japan features only J1 clubs, and kicks off with a four-team Group stage. There a couple of interesting looking groups this year, but none of that is important...because my home-town team Shimizu S-Pulse have been drawn in the same group as Kashiwa Reysol.

Now I'm a mild-mannered man and I try to be fair and objective. But last weekend in the J-League, Shimizu were robbed thanks to what can only be described as THE WORST DECISION IN THE HISTORY OF FOOTBALL.

Okay, it wasn't really that bad. But I reckon Shimizu will be out for revenge, since it was Kashiwa Reysol to whom they lost at Nihondaira Stadium for the first time in ages, and since they kick-off their League Cup campaign, predictably, against Kashiwa Reysol.

As for the decision in question - let's just say it was another classic piece of J-League refereeing, which saw Shimizu striker Cho Jae Jin pulled down in the box, Shimizu midfielder Fernandinho slot the ball into the net, and J-League referee Tsutomu Anazawa blow for a foul - after the ball had hit the back of the net - against Shimizu.

Anyway, I would say that JEF United are the team to beat in the League Cup, since they've won the last two editions, but I reckon a team of blind monkies could probably beat United at just about anything right now. Kashima Antlers obviously couldn't, but that's another story.

On a final note, Kawasaki Frontale and Urawa Reds are absent from the group stage of the League Cup, as they are competing in the "prestigious" (according to the AFC) Asian Champions League. Kawasaki take on Bangkok University tomorrow, but I must confess a personal interest in the Sydney FC - Urawa game.

I was a Sydney FC season-ticket holder during their inaugural A-League season, and since I possess a healthy disdain for all things related to Urawa, I'll be cheering louder than usual for their opponents in this one.

Kashiwa Reysol in first? Jubilo Iwata coming last? There's nothing like the opening day of the season to expose all your shortcomings as a pundit!

Last week I suggested that FC Tokyo and Jubilo Iwata were two teams to watch out for. I was certainly watching, as both teams were smashed on the opening day of the season. With regard to FC Tokyo, it was a case of "same old, same old," as they conceded four goals to a rampant Sanfrecce Hiroshima. FC Tokyo scored two themselves, but they seem to struggle with the concept of outscoring their opponents, in order to secure all three points. It was interesting to note that one of their big-name signings from last season, Sota Hirayama, finally cracked a place in the starting line-up, while Costa Rican World Cup star Paulo Wanchope warmed the bench. I guess that means that Wanchope should expect to make his FC Tokyo debut around the year 2008 - watch this space, he could be primed for a cracking start to his Tokyo career in about twelve months time.

Jubilo Iwata, meanwhile, seemed to be suffering from shock in their match against Kashiwa Reysol. Kashiwa employed some interesting tactics, which seemed mainly to revolve around kicking wildly at any Jubilo opponent within a ten metre radius. That opened up a lot of space for Kashiwa...since Jubilo were reluctant to go anywhere near the ball, and they exploited it by scoring four goals, to Jubilo's somewhat paltry none. At one stage I thought the fourth official should have run on and handed a pair of boxing gloves to Masahiro Koga and Norihiro Nishi, especially since Nishi looked like one of the few Jubilo players who was willing to duke it out! Kashiwa travel to Sanfrecce Hiroshima this weekend, which means that Kazuyuki Toda's eyes have probably already started to glaze over. Whatever odds you can get in Vegas on Toda being sent off, I think you should take them!

All eyes this weekend will of course be on Japan's second largest city, Yokohama. It's been eight years since Yokohama Flügels were "absorbed" into the Yokohama Marinos, sparking the wrath of the Flügels' support. Instead of sitting around and pining for days gone by, the Flügels fans did what any normal, slightly-insane football fan what do - they started their own club. Fast forward to March 10, 2007 and Yokohama FC are making their top-flight home debut at Mitsuzawa Stadium. Who should be their worthy opponents? Why none other than Yokohama F. Marinos, of course! Expect a positively nuclear reaction from the Yokohama FC fans, when the F. Marinos players step onto the pitch. Keep an eye on Yokohama FC's Tatsuhiko Kubo as well - he smashed home a 35 yard piledriver against Urawa Reds last weekend, as you do, and he joined Yokohama FC from...you guessed it, F. Marinos.

I myself will be delivering my own, somewhat warbled reactions, from JEF United's brand-spanking-new Fukuda Denshi Arena in Chiba. Okay, so the stadium is a couple of years old now, but at least it was built in the last three hundred years, unlike some other stadiums in Japan. JEF United were beaten 2-0 by Nagoya last weekend (remember how I said that that match could be really interesting? It wasn't!) and now they're under a bit of pressure, as they take on Shimizu S-Pulse in their first home match of the season. While I wouldn't like to suggest that JEF United Chairman Takahiro Yodogawa is trigger happy, I certainly get the feeling that coach Amar Osim could be headed for the unemployment office sooner, rather than later, if United don't take something from this match.

So there you have it. Lots of interesting things happening in the J-League, but if you have any sense, you probably won't take my word for it!

Wow, sorry for the cryptic Raised Fist title. Who would have thought that a kid who wears glasses listens to dodgy Swedish metalcore?

But moving right along, the J-League is indeed back and just like those breakdown-crushing, bicep-rippling Swedes, it may or may not be stronger than ever. FC Tokyo and Jubilo Iwata are certainly stronger, although ironically Tokyo strengthened by signing some of Jubilo's surplus requirements for this season. In Takashi Fukunishi (and to a lesser extent, Takayuki Chano), FC Tokyo may finally find some of the leadership and experience that they lacked last season. Yet in cutting loose the aforementioned Fukunishi and Chano (as well as Toshihiro Hattori and Hiroshi Nanami), Jubilo may free up room in their squad for several of their promising youngsters to come through. It worked last season with Yoshiaki Ota, and it could reap even bigger rewards this season.

Elsewhere, Urawa are still licking their wounds from a 4-0 thrashing handed out by Gamba Osaka in the Super Cup last weekend. Urawa may have been missing a few players through injury - including 2006 J-League MVP Marcus Tulio Tanaka, but given that they've assembled a squad that is the envy of every other J-League team, one couldn't help but notice the muffled cheers of joy from fans of every other J-League club, at the spanking handed out by Gamba. Spare a thought for Urawa's cross-town rivals Omiya Ardija though - they take on a potentially rampant Gamba on Saturday evening. (Actually spare a thought for last season's J2 champions Yokohama FC. They take on a potentially vengeful Urawa in their first ever top flight match!).

Kashiwa Reysol take on Jubilo on Sunday afternoon, but I reckon a far more interesting match-up takes place between Nagoya Grampus Eight and JEF United, in a match that could be billed as "the battle of the biggest mid-table clubs." Nagoya have the explosive Frode Johnsen up front, and his duel with JEF United's new Serbian defender Nenad Dordevic could prove fascinating. Whoever losses this match could be in for a nightmare season.

Personally, I'll be at Nihondaira Stadium this weekend, and it looks like I won't be the only one. As of writing, there were just 1,000 tickets left for Shimizu S-Pulse's clash with promoted outfit Vissel Kobe. The visitors can expect a hostile atmosphere (well, as hostile as Japanese crowds get) at a packed Nihondaira, and they'll have their hands full containing the likes of Fujimoto, Hyodo and co. Not to mention new signings Akinori Nishizawa and Fernandinho.

That's right kids, the J-League is back! And I for one, couldn't be happier.

Gamba Osaka probably do. Their nightmare run of crucial losses to Urawa Reds began in last season's Super Cup, when they were spanked 3-1 in front of 35,674 fans at the National Stadium in Tokyo. They hit back - kind of, by drawing 1-1 with Urawa on the opening weekend of the 2006 season, but they then lost 3-2 in the last round of the J-League, to hand the crown to Urawa. To top it off, they also lost 1-0 in the Emperor's Cup Final, despite outplaying the Saitama-based club for the entire match.

So it's back to the drawing board for Gamba, and they might look upon this match with some degree of tedium, given that the team standing in the way of a potential piece of silverware is the ubiquitous Urawa. Fans in Japan could be forgiven for getting slightly bored with the endless Gamba - Urawa grudge matches, but the J-League has never shied away from giving a dead horse its proverbial flogging. Urawa won the double last season, meaning the traditional showdown between League and Cup winners was made redundant, with Cup runner's-up Gamba getting the nod over Kawasaki Frontale, who finished second place in the league.

There are actually some talking points in this match - and its not just the debut of Yuki Abe in Urawa colours that has the fans buzzing...or at least, humming softly. Last season Gamba Osaka scored 80 goals in the league - 42 of them coming from their strike force of Magno Alves and Ryuji Bando, but they conceded 48. Their chance to catch Urawa on the final day of the season was hindered by the fact that the Reds had a better goal difference than Gamba. So what has the club decided to do? Naturally they have decided to sign another high-profile striker!

By bringing in Bare, who scored 14 goals for Ventforet Kofu last season, coach Akira Nishino seriously risks upsetting the balance of his side. How three of the more fragile egos in Japanese football fit into two striking positions is anyone's guess - unless Gamba opt for a 3-4-3 formation this season, which could see them concede even more goals against teams top-heavy with quality midfielders. Like Urawa.

At any rate, the Super Cup clash between Urawa and Gamba promises to be a mildly interesting affair. I won't be there personally - there's only so much of the National Stadium that I can take, but rest assured, I'll be putting my feet up and occasionally flicking over to the game from whatever bizarre soap opera I'm watching, to bring you all the thrills, chills and occasional spills of the match.