Kashima Antlers hold all the cards in the race for the J. League title after beating Oita Trinita 1-0 in front of 31,744 fans at the Kyushu Oil Dome.

The loss was just Oita's second league defeat at home this season, but it has ended their title hopes after the Kyushu side succumbed to a fifty-fifth minute strike from Kashima's dynamic young full-back Atsuto Uchida, who is currently attracting interest from a host of European clubs. Click to continue reading...

At a time when the J. League is crying out for a team to take the championship by the scruff of the neck, the top five continue to falter in their race for the title.

Kashima Antlers continue to lead the way on 54 points, but they will be disappointed with their most recent 0-0 draw at home to the defensive-oriented Albirex Niigata. Click to continue reading...

"I let the players down, and I want to apologise to the fans who came all the way out here to see us. I know it's over and done with, and that there's no sense in getting down about this."

"But this one hurts, and it's depressing. I can't find the words to describe how badly I feel."

Shimizu S-Pulse coach Kenta Hasegawa's sombre quip to The Daily Yomiuri in the wake of his team's 2-0 League Cup final defeat to Oita Trinita on November 1 stood in glaring contrast to the euphoria emanating from the Trinita dressing room. Click to continue reading...

Around 50,000 fans will descend on the National Stadium in Tokyo on November 1 as Oita Trinita do battle with Shimizu S-Pulse for the 2008 League Cup trophy.

Oita Trinita go into the match as rank outsiders, particularly with the Kyushu club missing influential midfielder Shingo Suzuki through suspension. Click to continue reading...

Shimizu S-Pulse fans are renowned as some of the most passionate in Japanese football.

I caught up with one fan - Shimizu-born Yuichi Korenaga - after Shimizu's most recent 2-0 win over Kawasaki Frontale, to discuss his opinion on Shimizu's season and his attitudes towards football in general. Click to continue reading...

All eyes will be on Chiba for the 28th round of the J. League as JEF United welcome Urawa Reds to the Fukuda Denshi Arena.

A month ago JEF United looked certainties for relegation, but Alex Miller's men have launched a late bid for salvation as the Chiba Dogs chase their fifth straight win in this match. Click to continue reading...

Givanildo aka Hulk: Hulk Smash

My thesis is that the lack of inches on the Arsenal defense bemoaned by Wenger and Toure is a convenient excuse for the generally brain dead defending that sunk us so badly against Hull. In short we are freaked. Seriously, I hope this nonsense is not being internalized by the club players because it does not bode well.

Click to continue reading...

After thoroughly enjoying the AFC Champions league match between Adelaide and Kashima on Wednesday it got me thinking, where is my "FoxSports Football" channel.

Late last year a lot of rumours were circulating that FoxSports was set to launch a dedicated Football channel. The channel was rumoured to have a much more expanded coverage of Football across the globe including :

1.

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(All times UK)

Friday 26 September

19.30 FC Koln v FC Schalke, Bundesliga, Setanta Sports 1
Top-of-the-shop Schalke will be looking to find more ways to enrage the demonstrative Koln Head Coach, Christophe Daum. If they can steal a march on their rivals while they're doing it, then that's a bonus. 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...

Add this to the list of many reasons why the J. League needs to come mainstream. Kashiwa player Alex was lining up to take a standard corner against the Kashima Antlers when a fan wielding a giant flag whacked him upside the head with it. Alex stayed down for a while but got back up [...] Click to continue reading...

Kashima Antlers' AFC Champions League chances have take a severe blow with the news that captain Mitsuo Ogasawara will miss the rest of the season after suffering knee ligament damage in Kashima's 1-1 draw away at Kashiwa Reysol overnight.

The influential midfielder was stretchered from the field after colliding with Kashiwa's Alex in the sixteenth minute, and there was more drama just three minutes later when Kashima fans appeared to strike Alex with a flag-pole as the Brazilian midfielder lined up to take a corner. Click to continue reading...

While five teams remain in the hunt for the 2008 J. League crown, several of the league's most recognisable clubs are in serious trouble at the wrong end of the table.

There's an epic relegation six-pointer at Ecopa Stadium in Round 25, where three-times J. League champions Jubilo Iwata host another three-time champion in the form of Yokohama F. Click to continue reading...

(All times UK)

Friday 19 September

19.30 Bayer Leverkusen v Hannover 96, Bundesliga, Setanta Sports 1
Last week, Bayer shipped three goals and Hannover scored five. These Friday night Bundesliga games have been largely disappointing, so lets hope they put on a good show.

Saturday 20 September

07. Click to continue reading...

Courtesy of MLSNet.com


NEW YORK -- Major League Soccer and its Japanese counterpart, the J.League, continued to develop their relationship this month, as a J.League delegation toured several MLS markets during the month of September. The 33-person delegation included representatives from 28 of the J. Click to continue reading...

SINGAPORE, 16 September 2008: Coach Kageyama Masanaga named a 21-man squad for the AFC U-16 Championship which is set to begin on 4 October in Uzbekistan.

They will be flying to Japan on 18 September for a two week training camp before heading off to Tashkent for the AFC U-16 Championship where they will be in Group A together with Bahrain, Iran and host Uzbekistan. 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...

Takeshi Okada is a man under pressure. A poor showing in a recent friendly defeat to Uruguay and some unconvincing performances in the first round of World Cup qualifying has left many wondering whether the former international is the right man to guide Japan to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Okada took over as Japan coach after Bosnian Ivica Osim suffered a tenure-ending stroke in November 2007. Click to continue reading...

Until now Japan has not exactly been a common destination for Australia Footballers. Currently only one Australian is listed on a J-League team (Eddy Bosnar at JEF United ) while a further two (Mark Rudan and Ufuk Talay) are plying their trade at second division team Avispa Fukuoka.

This is all about to change however with news last week that the J-league has allocated a fourth foreign visa place on their squads for next year to Asian only players. Click to continue reading...

I wasn't aware of it until recently but you should all go out of your way to check out the 'Some People Are On The Pitch' blog (link on the left).  It's frequently updated with quality content such as their weekly "Weekend TV Preview' which is an invaluable resource for alerting you to J-league stuff [. Click to continue reading...

Tuesday 26 August

18.00 FC Nordsjaelland v Queen of the South, UEFA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round 2nd Leg (Agg; 1-0), BBC2 Scotland
The dream may finally be over for Queen of the South, but they got out of worse scrapes than this last season.

19.45 Coventry City v Newcastle Utd, Carling Cup 2nd Round, Sky Sports 2 & HD2
I'm feeling strangely confident about Newcastle's ability to have a good season. Click to continue reading...

(All times UK)

Friday 22 August

19:30 Hannover 96 v Energie Cottbus, Bundesliga, Setanta Sports 1
Both teams were hammered 3-0 last week. Of the two, Hannover can at least say that they were beaten by a title contender in Schalke. Cottbuss lost to one of the few teams tipped to finish below them, Hoffenheim. Click to continue reading...

From the multitude of unofficial fan clubs that crowd the terraces to the carefully choreographed chants that ring out for ninety minutes, J. League fans have arguably borrowed as heavily from their native baseball league as they have from European and South American football culture. Michael Tuckerman explains. Click to continue reading...

Kashima Antlers remain top of the J. League after thrashing Tokyo Verdy 4-1 in front of 21,437 fans at Kashima Stadium.
Shinzo Koroki kicked off a routine victory for the defending champions, before Daiki Iwamasa powered home a header just before the break to hand the Antlers a commanding two-goal lead. Click to continue reading...

Freddy Adu did not develop well in MLS

We're constantly hammered with one side of the coin including Sunday at the conclusion of the US-Netherlands match on NBC by Marcelo Balboa: we hear constantly that Major League Soccer is responsible for the US being more competitive in major international tournaments.

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...

(All times UK. Pre-season friendly games are not included.)

Friday

19:30 Barrow v Oxford Utd, Blue Square Premier, Setanta Sports 1
Setanta have reduced the number of live Blue Square games this season. This is possibly because of poor ratings or because they've got other football to show instead. Click to continue reading...

The action begins to pick up this weekend, though it is still a far cry from what we will see in another few weeks or so. Where should we start . . .? How about with a question. Why does it seem that there are never any good MLS matchups over the weekend? There are four MLS games on this weekend and none of them match up teams that would make the playoffs if the season ended today. 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...

Football in Canberra is set to take it's first major step forward in many many years at Senior level. Finally we get to play on the National stage, and take advantage of the game's growth and indeed our move into Asia.

What opportunities for our girls and women to play in a National League? 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...

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...

After over a month of no laser lightshows, and no killer whale mascots, the J League returns to action tomorrow. With the European Championship winding down, the attention in Japan will be returning to domestic football, and since we've been a bit distracted ourselves, let's take a look at how things stand in J [. Click to continue reading...

Anyone who doubted Austria's credentials as a host nation should check out last night's pictures of Vienna's central FanZone.

Photos in this morning's Österreich Zeitung show a roaring sea of humanity, 100,000-strong, stretching from the gothic City Hall to the classical Museum Quarter, absorbing the thrilling last-gasp finish to yesterday's Croatia v Turkey match. Click to continue reading...