Currently campaigning in the J. League Division 1 (J1), Cerezo Osaka (セレッソ大阪) is a Japanese soccer team based in the city of Osaka. The team had finished in the top five...

What does a club do when it has just won the second division at a canter and has been crowned national Cup champions for the first time in its history? Sign a new coach, if that club is FC Tokyo.
The capital outfit celebrated beating Kyoto Sanga 4-2 in the Emperor's Cup final on New Year's Day by officially announcing Serb tactician Ranko Popovic as its new coach barely a day later.

2010 and 2011 Japanese J. League Division 1 champions Kashiwa Reysol (Japanese: 柏レイソル) have unveiled their 2012 home and away kits. The uniforms are provided by tennis and badminton specialists...

Omiya Ardija (Japanese: 大宮アルディージャ) is a professional soccer club playing in the Japanese J. League and is based in Ōmiya-ku in Saitama, Japan. Omiya currently competes in the J. League...

Kashima Antlers (Japanese: 鹿島アントラーズ ) is a professional soccer team currently playing in the Japanese J. League Division 1 (J1) and amongst Japan's best-supported sides. Since the J-League's creation in...

Vissel Kobe (ヴィッセル神戸) is a professional Japanese soccer club, currently playing in the J. League Division 1. After finishing last season in 9th position last season, Vissel Kobe is currently...

Se está disputando la O-League, el máximo torneo de clubes de Oceanía. Se trata del nuevo formato que en 2007 adoptó la antigua Copa de Campeones de Oceanía, imitando a la Champions League europea.
En esta edición 2011/12 participan ocho equipos de siete paíes, lo que demuestra un constante crecimiento.

Urawa Red Diamonds (浦和レッドダイヤモンズ ) is a professional soccer club playing in Japan's J. League Division 1 (J1). The side is one of Japan's best supported teams and often boasts...

Shunsuke Nakamura's still got it.

Oh yes he does. Though he's fallen off of our radar a bit since moving to the J.League and playing for the Yokohama F. Marinos, Shunsuke Nakamura couldn't help but show us that he still is one of the best freekick takers in the game. Of course, the circumstances were a little strange, but the class is undeniable.

Amongst Japan's best supported teams, Júbilo Iwata (ジュビロ磐田) is a professional soccer team currently playing in the J. League Division 1 (J1). The "Júbilo" component of the team name means...

The Rapids had two picks in today's 4 round Supplemental Draft, in the 3rd and 4th rounds. In the 3rd round they picked Kohei Yamada, a Japanese midfielder who was an international invitee to this year's MLS Combine. He was considered one of the standouts of the first combine game but his play faded in the other two games.

The Rapids released their preseason plans today. They'll be making two trips, first to Oxnard and San Luis Obispo in California and second to Hawai'i for the Hawaiian Islands Invitational Tournament. In between the trips they'll be training out at the Dick. The first day of training is a week from today, though players report on Thursday for physicals and fitness assessments.

Yokohama F. Marinos (横浜F・マリノス ) is a Japanese soccer team currently campaigning in the J. League Division 1 the top tier of the Japanese soccer pyramid. With three J-League...

Kit launches out of Japan continue ahead of the J. League's March kick-off. One of the latest was the highly-anticipated unveiling of the Sanfrecce Hiroshima (サンフレッチェ広島) Nike 2012 home, away...

F.C. Tokyo (FC東京) is a Japanese J. League soccer team that will return to the top-tier of Japanese soccer, the J. League Division 1 (J1), after a one year stint...

First of all I should start this piece by wishing everybody a happy new year! I've been enjoying myself over the Christmas holiday and have neglected the blog over the last few days so I need to rectify this, starting off with a piece regarding the new Emperor's Cup winners in Japan.

FC Tokyo have done an unlikely league and cup double in Japan following their 4-2 triumph over Kyoto Sanga in last Sunday's Emperor's Cup final.

Albirex Niigata (アルビレックス新潟?) is a Japanese J. League soccer team currently campaigning in the top-tier of Japanese soccer – the J.League Division 1. Nicknamed the Albi, Niigata finished the 2011 J. League season in 14th position. Given the early calendar year start to the 2012 J. League season in February, adidas Japan has launched the [.

Barca duly wrapped up the 2011 Club World Cup in Yokohama on Sunday with a one-sided 4-0 win over South American champions Santos in front of a full house of 68,166 fans.
The team from Sao Paulo in Brazil had looked likely to provide stiffer opposition than they eventually offered after their impressive 3-1 win over J-League champions Kashiwa Reysol in the semi-final on Wednesday at Toyota Stadium.

It may not have been the most difficult challenge that FC Barcelona would have to face in their quest to become FIFA Club World Cup winners. That, however, did not dampen the celebrations as the Spanish and European champions strolled their way past a poor Santos FC team courtesy of a 4-0 victory.

Universidad de Chile are the deserved winners of the 2011 Copa Sudamericana. Their 3-0 second leg victory at home to LDU Quito last night completed a 4-0 aggregate win and brought with it the chance to compete in next year's Copa Libertadores.

Eduardo Vargas, as so often in this competition, proved himself to be the hero for the Chileans.

Kashiwa Reysol's FIFA Club World Cup dream ended today at the hands of South American champions Santos FC. Neymar was amongst the goals for the Brazilians as they claimed a 3-1 win against the J-League champions whilst earlier in the day North and Central American champions Monterrey CF won the 5th/6th place play-off, getting the better of African champions Espérance Tunis by the odd goal in five.

Santos overcame J-League champions Kashiwa Reysol at Toyota Stadium in the first semi-final of the 2011 Club World Cup.
19-year-old superstar-in-waiting Neymar opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a superb looping left foot shot. The genuinely two-footed player was sensational in the opening half, linking well with his team-mates and showing some amazing dribbling skills.

Neymar showed why Europe's best all want to sign him as he inspired Santos to a 3-1 victory over Japan's Kashiwa Reysol in a Club World Cup semi-final in Toyota.

The Libertadores Cup holders are expected to face European champions Barcelona in this weekend's final, barring the unthinkable in Barca's semi-final against Qatar's Al Sadd on Thursday.

An exciting pair of matches in the 2011 Club World Cup took place on Sunday at Toyota Stadium, just outside Nagoya.
In the early kick off, Al Sadd from Qatar defeated Esperance Sportive De Tunis 2-1 in a fractious match which saw a shoe thrown on to the pitch and a solitary fan run on to the field as Al Sadd wasted time at the end to hold on to a hard fought win over the African champions.

Kashiwa Reysol and Al Sadd have booked their semi-final places in the FIFA Club World Cup following hard fought victories over Monterrey CF and Esperance Tunis respectively.

Kashiwa, representing the host nation Japan as the 2011 J-League champions, needed a penalty shoot-out to get past North and Central American champions Monterrey after the two teams had played out a 1-1 draw.

08.12.2011 - Con goles de Junya Tanaka (37') y Masato Kudo (40´), Kashiwa Reysol venció (2-0) a Auckland City en el Toyota Stadium en el partido inaugural del Mundial de Clubes 2011 (repechaje).
Después de una sencilla ceremonia inaugural (ameritada por la poca parcialidad presente), japoneses y neozelandeses alternaron el dominio del juego pero los últimos, incisivos en el segundo tiempo no supieron definir las ocasiones generadas.

AFRICA(Túnez): Esperance Sportive de Tunis: Campeón de Liga y Copa en Túnez + Campeón Liga de Campeones de la CAF (Confederación Africana de Fútbol).
ASIA(Qatar): Al-Sadd: Liga de Campeones AFC.(Japón): Kashiwa Reysol: J League.
EUROPA(España): Barcelona: UEFA Champions League.

08.12.2011 - No podía más que cumplirse con el protocolo inaugural y llevar a cabo una sencilla ceremonia de apertura del Mundial de Clubes 2011. El pobre marco de espectadores (una tercera parte del Toyota Stadium -36.000 de aforo-) para el partido entre el Kashiwa Reysol (campeón de la J League) y el Auckland City (campeón neozelandés por Oceanía) así lo indujo.

The FIFA Club World Cup officially got under way today with two goals just before half-time giving Kashiwa Reysol a 2-0 win over Auckland City in the qualifying play-off to send the Japanese club through to the quarter-finals.

Kashiwa, who clinched the 2011 J-League title last weekend, had Junya Tanaka and Masato Kudo to thank as the pair struck in the 37th and 40th minutes respectively to send the host nation's representatives into the next round.

By JOEY SAMUEL

In previous years, many viewed the FIFA Club World Cup as a minor tournament that was inevitably going to be won by the European or South American teams. This time around, that could still happen, but the 2011 edition is shaping up to be the most competitive yet.

The FIFA World Club Cup Japan 2011 kicks off on Thursday with Japanese J. League Division 1 champions Kashiwa Reysol meeting 2011 OFC Champions League winners Auckland City FC. Next week UEFA Champions League winners FC Barcelona and Copa Libertadores trophy holders Santos FC enter the competition at the semi-final stage.

The Japanese Newcastle
Gamba Osaka 1-0 Vegalta Sendai (26:11:11)
Newcastle United fan Michael Hudson travels to Osaka to see the Japanese version of... Newcastle United...
There are two ways of getting from Nagoya to Osaka by train. The Shinkansen takes just under an hour and will set you back the best part of sixty quid each way; a combination of local and rapid trains is more than twice as long, half the price and perfectly timed to allow you to read at least halfway through the Blizzard while sitting next to a bloke in a gauze face mask whose head keeps falling against your right shoulder.

STARTERS
Clint Dempsey got the games only goal today as Fulham took out Liverpool!
dN
Shalrie Joseph has re-signed with the New England Revolution. He has said during the season that he was going to leave the team. Obviously all the new changes convinced him otherwise.

="">
Barcelona consiguió su segundo título el Mundial de Clubes de la FIFA, goleando en la final 4-0 al Santos brasileño. El argentino Lionel Messi fue elegido mejor jugador del certamen.
Aquí podrás repasar cómo llegaron Barcelona (UEFA Champions League), Santos (Copa Libertadores de América), Espérance Sp.

Kashiwa Reysol secured the J-League title and a place in the FIFA Club World Cup as the host nation's representatives following a climatic finish to the season in Japan this weekend. The title triumph was all the more remarkable given that the team had only won promotion from the Japanese second division last season.

Mexican clubs have dominated the CONCACAF Champions League in recent years and Monterrey CF kept up that trend when winning their maiden title this year. Monterrey, therefore, will enjoy their first appearance in the FIFA Club World Cup with a quarter-final tie against the winner of the qualifying play-off between Oceania champions Auckland City and the J-League champions (as yet undecided).

Shimizu S-Pulse (清水エスパルス ) is a professional Japanese soccer club based in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka. S-Pulse currently competes in the J. League Division 1 (J1). The team was in the news earlier this year for signing former Sweden and Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg following his stints in MLS and with Celtic.

The FIFA Club World Cup kicks off in Japan next month (*groaaaans* all around from our overworked footballers!) and already, everyone is expecting a final between Santos and Barcelona. How rude to ignore the other teams! Did you not know that the ball is round, and the probability of Dani Alves being worn out from running down the flanks is at an all time high?

Kawasaki Frontale (川崎フロンターレ) is a Japanese football club currently campaigning in Division 1 of the J. League the top-tier of soccer in the country. Among the more popular and most successful soccer teams in Japan, Frontale is currently in 12th place in the J. League. On the club's books are Japan World Cup 2010 [.

You may recall that a month or so ago we shared a video of what was generally believed to be the longest headed goal in the history of football. Jonas Samuelson had scored this header from his own half in a Norwegian league match, leading to a well-deserved fifteen minutes of fame.
Well, he must be livid.