Is there any reason why the ACL final is played in Tokyo? Beyond the fact probably that they bid the most, they provide most of the sponsors, they are the best organisers and the wives of the senior officials can enjoys a few days shopping in Japan.
But beyond that and in footballing terms why is the final there? Click to continue reading...

There are three teams left in the J. League title race after Shimizu S-Pulse and FC Tokyo both dropped out of the running following the latest round of fixtures.
A Renatinho hat-trick propelled Kawasaki Frontale to a 3-2 win over relegated JEF United in a thriller watched by 18,470 fans at Todoroki Stadium. Click to continue reading...

We start off this week's predictions with the Asian Champions League final as football increases in popularity in Asia this competition is going to get a bigger and bigger profile. Staying in Asia, we have a crunch game for the leaders of J-league, then some big games involving some the front runners in England, France and Spain, before we go south to a basement battle in Argentina.

Click to continue reading...

Today, our tifo series swings to Asia for the first time.

We check out Japanese fans at the Nabisco Cup (also known as the J-League Cup) final between Kawasaki Frontale and FC Tokyo, held earlier this week.

This video is a little slow to get going, but there's some gorgeous colour, some impressive banners, and generally well choreographed displays from supporters of both teams.

Click to continue reading...

FC Tokyo have been crowned 2009 Yamazaki Nabisco League Cup champions after beating Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 in the final in Tokyo on November 3.
Before a sell-out crowd of 44,308 fans at a packed National Stadium, teenage midfielder Takeuji Yonemoto opened the scoring with a swerving long-range drive that appeared to catch Kawasaki goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima off-guard. Click to continue reading...

An ultra of Hungarian side Újpest, belonging to the Viola Fidelity supporters' group. October 30, 2009.

Photo credit: The ever-amazing photoreti on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

Related posts:

1. Photo Daily: Újpest FC Ultras Pyro Display Pyro display by ultras from the Hungarian club, Újpest.

Click to continue reading...

All the colour of the Japanese Yamazaki Nabisco League Cup final will descend upon the National Stadium in Tokyo on November 3, with this year's showpiece event set to be an all-local affair.
FC Tokyo have reached their first League Cup final since 2004, with Hiroshi Jofuku's team winning through on the back of some impressive displays. Click to continue reading...

It's a little-known fact that Hulk, star of Portugal and selected to the Brazilian national team for the first time yesterday, once played for Japanese team Consadole Sapporo. Supporters made a banner for Hulk in his Japanese and Brazilian kit.

Photo credit: Sasakei on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

Click to continue reading...

Strange stuff Strange stuff
So, I found this bizarre moment from the J-League over on the Guardian's website. It shows Grampus Eight Manager Dragan Stojkavic "scoring" a great goal as he half-volleyed a rolling ball into the net from in front of his bench. Click to continue reading...

Sunday October 25
Kawasaki Frontale 7 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0
Nagoya Grampus 3 Jubilo Iwata 3
Shimizu S-Pulse 1 FC Tokyo 2
Urawa Reds 0 Omiya Ardija 3
Saturday October 24
Gamba Osaka 0 Yokohama F Marinos 0
Kashima Antlers 3 JEF United Chiba 0
Kashiwa Reysol 0 Montedio Yamagata 1
Kyoto Sanga 1 Oita Trinita 1
Vissel Kobe 1 Albirex Niigata 0
Kawasaki Frontale lead the J-League after 30 rounds of the J1 championship following an incredible 7-0 thrashing of Sanfrecce. Click to continue reading...

J-League Division 2. Sapporo 1-0 Tochigi, October 21st 2009

Photo credit: Sasakei on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

Related posts:

1. Photo Daily | November 5 | J-League Division Two
2. Photo Daily | November 9 | Sapporo's Mr Pitch
3. Photo Daily August 12 J-League Div Two Fans

Click to continue reading...

When the draw for the AFC Champions League group stage was made back in December 2008, few tipped unheralded Japanese side Nagoya Grampus as potential title contenders.
The general consensus was that Dragan Stojkovic's team had been lucky to sneak into third place in the J. League, and thereby qualify for the Asian Football Confederation's recently revamped continental jamboree. Click to continue reading...

Sunday October 18
JEF United Chiba 1 Kyoto Sanga 1
Oita Trinita 2 Shimizu S-Pulse 1
Saturday October 17
Albirex Niigata 0 Urawa Reds 1
FC Tokyo 4 Kashiwa Reysol 0
Jubilo Iwata 0 Kashima Antlers 0
Montedio Yamagata 1 Vissel Kobe 0
Omiya Ardija 2 Kawasaki Frontale 3
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2 Gamba Osaka 2
Yokohama F Marinos 2 Nagoya Grampus 1
Kawasaki Frontale now lead the J-League after 29 rounds of the J1 championship. Click to continue reading...

Â

Today, the United States is likely to clinch its sixth consecutive trip to the World Cup Finals. For a nation, who followed up its famous 1950 victory over England with nine consecutive World Cup misses, the achievement is nothing short of remarkable.

 In the current, hyper competitive climate for world football, the US achievement is extraordinary.

Click to continue reading...

There's a new league leader atop the J. League table with Shimizu S-Pulse overtaking Kashima Antlers on goal difference following another dramatic round of action.
A 1-1 home draw with fellow high-fliers Sanfrecce Hiroshima was enough for Shimizu S-Pulse to take over atop the standings, as Japan international Shinji Okazaki cancelled out an earlier strike from Hiroshima star Hisato Sato. Click to continue reading...

Vissel Kobe (ヴィッセル神戸) is a Japanese professional football (soccer) club, currently playing in the J. League Division 1. After finishing last season in a respectable 10th position last season, Vissel Kobe is currently in 14th position in the 2009/10 J.League. Here's a look at the Vissel Kobe Asics 2009/10 home and away kits. Click to continue reading...

Sunday September 27
Shimizu S-Pulse 1 Vissel Kobe 0
Urawa Reds 1 Yokohama F Marinos 2
Saturday September 26
FC Tokyo 3 Jubilo Iwata 2
Gamba Osaka 2 Kawasaki Frontale 1
JEF United Chiba 1 Montedio Yamagata 2
Kashima Antlers 1 Nagoya Grampus 4
Kyoto Sanga 1, Omiya Ardija 3
Oita Trinita 0 Kashiwa Reysol 0
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1 Albirex Niigata 2
Kashima Antlers remain top of the J-League but now only by a single point as the season approches its traditionally tight finish. Click to continue reading...

A good start to the season for Spanish giants, a 15 minute game in J-League, and more trouble for under-fire Argentinian manager, Maradona it seems diamonds aren't forever. Also, potential financial problems at Queens Park Rangers, and allegations of players being racially abused all get a look in on this week's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Click to continue reading...

Kawasaki Frontale were left kicking themselves after they went down 2-0 to Urawa Reds in front of a capacity crowd at Todoroki Stadium in the J. League last weekend.
That defeat was a further blow to the Kanagawa side's chances of winning a first ever J. League title, but for now coach Takashi Sekizuka will turn his attentions to the Asian Champions League. Click to continue reading...

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatar's Emir and football association president

Saving the world's oldest football club has an emotionally satisfying ring to it. Like bringing back the Elgin Marbles And what grander experiment then taking it from League 2 all the way to the Premier League.

Click to continue reading...

Good

Well, at last UEFA has shown some sense and overturned the ban on Eduardo for diving. A couple of week's ago we featured that decisions in our Ugly section - it just seemed crazy to start handing out bans for simulation - a can of worms. It seems that UEFA has agreed and backed down after Arsenal protested.

Click to continue reading...

The J. League has announced that the clash between Kashima Antlers and Kawasaki Frontale will be resumed from the 75h minute after last weekend's fixture was halted due to torrential rain.
Second placed Kawasaki had taken a 3-1 lead at the home of their league leading rivals when referee Masayashi Okada was forced to call time on a waterlogged pitch. Click to continue reading...

It is being reported locally that Chonburi keeper Kosin Hathairattanakul will sign for Persib Bandung after the TPL season has finished.
He is signing on a loan for half a season because in March he will join Gamba Osaka in the J League.
According to one report he is being joined in Bandung by Rangsan Viwatchaichok who currently plays with PEA and has also played for Geylang United. Click to continue reading...

Referee Masayoshi Okada took centre stage at Kashima Stadium as he called a halt to the top-of-table clash between Kashima Antlers and Kawasaki Frontale.
With Kawasaki leading 3-1, they were left furious when the match was abandoned after 73 minutes as monsoonal rains swept across the ground. Click to continue reading...

Sunday August 30
Kashiwa Reysol 0 Kyoto Sanga 0
Kawasaki Frontale 1 Shimizu S-Pulse 1
Montedio Yamagata 1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2
Saturday August 29
FC Tokyo 2 Oita Trinita 0
Jubilo Iwata 1 Gamba Osaka 3
Nagoya Grampus 1 Albirex Niigata 0
Omiya Ardija 3 Kashima Antlers 1
Vissel Kobe 3 Urawa Reds 2
Yokohama F Marinos 1 JEF United Chiba 1
Kashima Antlers remain top of the J-League followed by Kawasaki Frontale, Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Shimizu S-Pulse. Click to continue reading...

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

Football news from Japan, Northern Ireland and the Premier League in England all feature in this week's good, the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster's football podcast. Click on the links below to find out more on all of these stories.

Click to continue reading...

Adam Griffiths is hardly the biggest name in Australian football.
He wasn't the most high-profile star at his A-League club. He's not even the most recognisable player in his family.
But the twin brother to Joel and older brother of Ryan made headlines this month when he swapped A-League club Gold Coast United for Saudi side Al-Shabab after just one game. Click to continue reading...

Sunday August 23
Gamba Osaka 2 Nagoya Grampus 3
Kashima Antlers 3 FC Tokyo 1
Kawasaki Frontale 2 Montedio Yamagata 0
Saturday August 22
Omiya Ardija 1 JEF United Chiba 1
Albirex Niigata 1 Kyoto Sanga 2
Shimizu S-Pulse 5 Jubilo Iwata 1
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2 Urawa Reds 1
Kashiwa Reysol 1 Yokohama F Marinos 1
Kashima Antlers continue to lead the J-League followed by Kawasaki Frontale and Shimizu S-Pulse. Click to continue reading...

A country whose folklore is so rich and replete with hobgoblins, pixies, gnomes, druids, and writers like Shakespeare, Arthur Conan Doyle, JRR Tolkien, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and now JP Rowling has not kept up with a commensurate streak of imagination when it comes to naming their clubs.

I mean how many clubs can be called United, City, County, and Athletic.

Click to continue reading...

(All times - UK)
Friday 21st August
19.30 Hoffenheim v Schalke 04, Bundesliga, ESPN
Hoff will be looking for their first win of the season against a Schalke team in bullish form. Hoff have only won twice in nine attempts in their new home, the Rhein-Neckar Arena, so Schalke will be looking to maintain their 100% start. Click to continue reading...

It's now officially a crisis.
When they needed desperately to win, Urawa Reds slumped to one of the most stunning defeats in recent J. League history as the Saitama giants were torn apart by second-from-bottom Kashiwa Reysol.
The 4-1 scoreline is only half the story.
Kashiwa's masterful passing game had the Reds chasing shadows, and when Urawa did pour forward they were hit time and again by Reysol's incisive counter-attacks. Click to continue reading...

LONG SHOOOOOOOOOT! Holy sushi, that is one brilliant finish, just as impressive as David Beckham's famous lob against Wimbledon, or Xabi Alonso's effort against Newcastle Utd. If you're interested, Uesato plays for Consadole Sapporoin the J-League's second tier. His goal...

Click to continue reading...

Sunday, 16 August
FC Tokyo 0 Yokohama F Marinos 0
Omiya Ardija 1 Jubilo Iwata 1
Shimizu S-Pulse 1 Albirex Niigata 1
Saturday, 15 August
Gamba Osaka 1 Urawa Reds 0
Kashima Antlers 1 Oita Trinita 0
Kyoto Sanga 1 Montedio Yamagata 0
JEF United Chiba 0 Kashiwa Reysol 0
Nagoya Grampus 0 Kawasaki Frontale 2
Vissel Kobe 0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0
Kashima Antlers lead the J-League followed by Kawasaki Frontale, Albirex Niigata and Urawa Reds. Click to continue reading...

It's been a tough week for the citizens of Shimizu.
Faced with the indignity of not one S-Pulse player making the J. Allstars team, football fans awoke last Tuesday to a sizeable earthquake shattering the peace of their sleepy town.
It'll be a different noise rocking the port city this evening, with all 20,330 tickets snapped up for tonight's "Orange Derby" against high-flying Albirex Niigata. Click to continue reading...

A 70yd, J-League Super Terrific Scud Missile from downtown Tokyo! Mammoth. Click to continue reading...