Gamba Osaka have won the 2007 Nabisco League Cup in Japan, beating Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 in front of 41,569 fans at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

Japan under-20 international Michihiro Yasuda scored the only goal of the game, sliding in at the far post to produce a scrappy finish to Bare's low cross.

Gamba had to withstand an early onslaught from Kawasaki - who were playing in only their second major final, but ultimately the Osakans deserved their win.

They were denied a seemingly cast-iron penalty by referee Toshimitsu Yoshida midway through the first half when Kawasaki shot-stopper Eiji Kawashima up-ended Gamba midfielder Takahiro Futagawa inside the box.

Gamba also hit the post through their elusive Brazilian marksman Magno Alves in the second half, as they eventually began to assert their superiority.

Gamba's next appointment is a Fourth Round Emperor's Cup clash with J2 strugglers Montedio Yamagata on November 7, but for the rest of the Japan, the Emperor's Cup action takes place this weekend.

With Urawa Reds hosting Shikoku side Ehime FC of J2 and Omiya Ardija taking on J1 cellar dwellars Yokohama FC, there's a potential Saitama derby looming on the horizon in the next round.

Elsewhere there's an all J1 clash between JEF United and Oita Trinita, while Yokohama F. Marinos take on Japan Football League high-fliers Sagawa Kyubin. There's an Ibaraki derby between neighbours Kashima Antlers and Mito Hollyhock, while Sagan Tosu travel to the crucible of Big Swan Stadium for their clash with Albirex Niigata.

The students of Juntendo University and Meiji University are also still involved. Juntendo knocked out J2 promotion hopefuls Vegalta Sendai in Round Three to book themselves a date with Jubilo Iwata, while Meiji University take on Jubilo's local rivals Shimizu S-Pulse, after Meiji University beat Kyoto Sanga FC in the last round.

The action wraps up on Wednesday night when Gamba clashes with Montedio Yamagata, while Kawasaki Frontale have a tough looking contest with J2 side Cerezo Osaka to contend with. 

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.

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.