Pohang Steelers are just 90 minutes away from making soccer history. On Saturday night, the team from Gyeongsang province could become the most successful club in Asia – ever.
The South Koreans meet Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad in Tokyo in the final of the Asian Champions League. The opposition also has two wins under its belt. 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...

That's how you do it, lads! Dragan Stojkovic, coach of Japanese side Nagoya Grampus, showed his players that he could still walk the walk with a spectacular goal from his technical area. The ex-Yugoslavia international found the net with a beautiful strike. And he did it in formal shoes. The match officials were quite so impressed and [. 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...

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...

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...

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...

On the other side of the world to the eupohoria filled European Champions League, there is another ‘Champions League'. The AFC Champions League. For those of you unaware of this league, 35 teams participate, either though direct qualification, or if you're from the UAE, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand or India, you have the arduous task of a playoff.

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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...

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...

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

Sunday, 26 July
Albirex Niigata 1 Montedio Yamagata 1
Jubilo Iwata 1 Yokohama F Marinos 1
Kyoto Sanga 3 Kawasaki Frontale 1
Saturday, 25 July
Gamba Osaka 1 Oita Trinita 0
FC Tokyo 0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0
JEF United Chiba 1 Shimizu S-Pulse 2
Kashima Antlers 1 Kashiwa Reysol 1
Urawa Reds 0 Nagoya Grampus 3
Vissel Kobe 1 Omiya Ardija 2
Kashima Antlers top the J-League by 10 points from Albirex Niigata and Urawa Reds. Click to continue reading...

So the Canberra lad won the National TV Football Superstar Melbourne Victory contract. Nice one Luke.
And with so many Canberra boys coming through wouldn't it be nice, nay deserved on quality alone, to see a team in the A-League from this region.
So here goes with current transfer value in brackets. Click to continue reading...

"It's Groundhog Day!"
There's no sign of Punxsutawney Phil, but Nagoya Grampus coach Dragan Stojkovic must be checking his calendar in disbelief as the Aichi-based side prepare to face FC Tokyo at Ajinomoto Stadium for the second time in three days.
Naohiro Ishikawa looks set to play the Ned Ryerson role to the Serbian coach's Phil Connors, with Ishikawa causing opponents plenty of irritation with some career-best form. Click to continue reading...

If there's one team that can stop the Kashima Antlers juggernaut from steam-rolling to a third successive J. League title, it's Kawasaki Frontale.
The Kanagawa side geared up for an epic showdown with Kashima on Sunday by beating Gamba Osaka 1-0 at Todoroki Stadium in a rescheduled Round 10 fixture overnight. Click to continue reading...

Kyoto Sanga V. Sanfrecce Hiroshima (2-0)
37' Someya
67' Mizumoto
Kyoto pulled out a good win. Rookie Someya dribbled past a couple of players and took a shot that deflected off a Hiroshima defender. Mizumoto put in a nice header off a freekick.
Jubilo Iwata V. Kashiwa Reysol (2-3)
20' Naruoka
29' Suganuma
58' Nishi
63' Suganuma
89' Lee
Kashiwa Reysol finally got an away win. Click to continue reading...

Albirex Niigata V. Nagoya Grampus
Background: This is a really important fixture in terms of the future of these teams. Niigata are flying high and currently occupy second place while Grampus and performing below expectations at 9th. If Niigata win then they will look comfortable to stay where they are, but if Nagoya win then they will probably use this as a boost to push up the table. Click to continue reading...

This was an exciting week of matches with a few key upsets.
Kawasaki Frontale V. Oita Trinita (2-0)
26' Renatinho
61' Renatinho
Oita's terrible run continues with 11 loses in a row in league. Renatinho scored a brace for Kawasaki. One from a nice run combined with a good through pass from Yabu and the second was a header from a Yokoyama cross. Click to continue reading...

The Kashima Antlers juggernaut shows no sign of slowing down as the Ibaraki giants beat Gamba Osaka 1-0 in front of a capacity crowd of 19,092 at Expo '70 Stadium in Osaka.
Former Japan international Koji Nakata stepped into midfield in place of the suspended Mitsuo Ogasawara, and the ex-FC Basel star promptly scored the only goal of the game after just sixteen minutes. Click to continue reading...

They say that great goalscorers become renowned for the timing of their goals as much as the quantity.

Such a maxim might well apply to 20-year-old NSW product Jason Hoffman after he popped up with the winner in the first-half of Newcastle's historic AFC Champions League victory over Ulsan Hyundai last night.

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Like it's much-maligned English cousin, the League Cup in Japan is facing an image crisis. That's nothing new for J. League officials, who for years have struggled with the competing interests of Japan's biggest clubs.
A revamped Asian Champions League has brought the League Cup issue to a head. Click to continue reading...

Twelve games played. Seven defeats. Four draws. One win.
That's the record A-League clubs currently hold against their Japanese counterparts in the Asian Champions League, with Australian teams struggling to hold their own against the might of the Japanese game.
The trend continued this week when Central Coast Mariners lost for the second straight time to Kawasaki Frontale, while Newcastle Jets missed a penalty in succumbing to Nagoya Grampus at home. Click to continue reading...

Nagoya Grampus (名古屋グランパス) (formerly Nagoya Grampus Eight) is a Japanese Association football club which plays in the first division of the J. League. The team is based in Nagoya and was founded as the company team of Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939. Grampus Eight are one of only six teams to have competed in Japan's [. Click to continue reading...

The dire fare served up on a beautiful spring evening between Nagoya Grampus and Newcastle Jets was not a great advert for the 2009 Asian Champions League.
Just over 7,000 fans forsook the lively bars and stunning cherry blossom around Mizuho Stadium to watch two poor teams struggle through a a J- v A-League bore draw. Click to continue reading...

(All times UK)
Monday 22 September
19:45 Kettering v Burton Albion, Blue Square Premier, Setanta Sports 1
A big week of Non League action kicks off with second placed Kettering against steady eddies Burton, managed by Nigel Clough (or Old Li'l 'ead as he likes to be called). Click to continue reading...

Shimizu S-Pulse fans are some of the best in the J-League - friendly, vocal and loyal. They turn up in numbers both home and away.
S-Pulse are having a poor season in the league this year and lost this match away to Nagoya Grampus at the Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya.
Look out for the woman falling off her seat about 60 seconds in. Click to continue reading...

With the international break yielding a positive result for Japan and the autumn leaves starting to make their first appearances on the tree-lined avenues surrounding the National Stadium, attention now turns to the business end of the J. League season.
Five teams are still in with a genuine chance of lifting the trophy, but northern outfit Consadole Sapporo are certainly not one of them. Click to continue reading...

Bottom club JEF United stunned table topping Kashima Antlers as the J. League resumed following the week-long All-Star break, winning 3-1 at a packed Fukuda Denshi Arena in Chiba.
Australian defender Eddy Bosnar opened the scoring for United with a thunderbolt free-kick just before half-time, but it was talismanic striker Seiichiro Maki who stole the show, steering home two superb headers after the interval. Click to continue reading...

Round 19 in the J. League could prove a turning point for several clubs with a number of marquee fixtures set down for the weekend of July 26/27.
The pick of the Saturday fixtures see FC Tokyo host Yokohama F. Marinos at Ajinomoto Stadium, as teams from Japan's two largest cities get ready to rumble in the capital. Click to continue reading...

Kashima Antlers lead the way as the J. League nears its halfway point, with the defending champions in a familiar position atop the league standings.
Kashima are the most successful club in Japan, and the Ibaraki giants have fired a resounding warning to the rest of the league by embarking on an ominous four-match winning streak. Click to continue reading...

Japan's Olympic Football squad for Beijing 2008: Coach: Yasuharu Sorimachi, 44 Goalkeepers: Kaito Yamamoto (22) (Shimizu S-Pulse) Shusaku Nishikawa (22) (Oita Trinita) Defenders: Hiroki Mizumoto (22) (Kyoto Sanga F.C.) Hajime Hosogai (22) (Urawa Red Diamonds) Naoaki Aoyama (22) (Shimizu S-Pulse) Masato Morishige (21) (Oita Trinita) Michihiro Yasuda (20) (Gamba Osaka) Atsuto Uchida (20) (Kashima Antlers) Maya Yoshida (19) (Nagoya Grampus) Midfielders: Yasuhito Endo (28) (Gamba Osaka) Takuya Honda (23) (Shimizu [. Click to continue reading...

While the rest of the world has at least one eye on the European Championships, the domestic season resumed in Japan on June 25 when Kashima Antlers and Gamba Osaka hosted rescheduled Round 11 fixtures.
In a season punctuated by World Cup qualifiers and the Beijing Olympics, Kashima and Gamba were forced to reschedule their Round 11 fixtures against Oita Trinita and Kyoto Sanga FC respectively, as the original match date clashed with AFC Champions League fixtures. Click to continue reading...