Japan will meet World Cup bound Angola in November at home on November 16. Japan was slated to play against the Ivory Coast. That was nixed when Ivorian officials left Chelsea star Didier Drogba off the list of players coming to Japan.
Following that, Togo was named to replace the Ivory Coast. Togo representatives never showed up to sign an official contract and were dropped.
Japan gave up a penalty with just minutes to go in the second half. Ukraine slotted home easily to take the match. A Shevchenko-less Ukraine had hit the bar and had the lion's share of chances in a physical and fast-moving match. World Cup-bound Ukraine is clearly in a completely different league from Latvia.
Down a man for most of the second half, Japan held on well. Koji Nakata was sent off for a wild tackle in the 8th minute of the second half. Added to his gift pass in the Ukraine match, which led to the tying goal for Lativa, a disastrous two matches for the Marseille midfielder.
Latvia pulled even at the very end of the match to steal a 2-2 draw. Against the 63rd ranked team in the world, Japan started well, going ahead 2-0 on goals by Naohiro Takahara and a penalty by Shunsuke Nakamura. In the second half, however, Japan looked sluggish and yielded a goal in a confusing scene in front of its own net. Then, with a minute left to play, a fatal pass from Koji Nakata in midfield landed at the feet of forward Andrejs Rubins, who easily chipped in, to pull things even. And that is where they ended.
Daisuke Matsui and Atsushi Yanigisawa both played well for the visitors.
May 2006 Friendly against Germany
Japan Football President Saburo "Captain" Kawabuchi announced in late September that Japan will face Germany in a May 30, 2006, friendly at Leverkusen Stadium. If, however, Japan and Germany are drawn into the same group for the World Cup, the match will be called off. The draw will take place in early December.
The Dai Ichi Seimei economic research institute has estimated that next summer's World Cup will have a $4 billion economic effect for qualifier Japan. Sales of flat-screen televisions, tours to Germany, and more will expand greatly. Looking at data from last summer's Athens Olympics, in addition to sales of televisions, DVD recorders, and digital appliances, the surge in electricity use late at night all resulted in an economic boost of $227 million, or a bump of 0.2% in Japan's GDP. The World Cup is expected bring in considerably more in "special demand," and resulting in another positive blip in the nation's economy.
The Great One was in Japan in mid-September to promote a collection of stamps commemorating his 203 goals in Italy's Serie A. While in Tokyo, he dismissed rumors that he might play in the J.League. "As a player, my career is closed."
Hidetoshi Nakata, Bolton:
Nakata got his first goal in the Premiership. After being fouled, Nakata took a free ckick and slammed home against West Bromwich. This was the opener in a 2-0 victory.
Nakata was named Man of the Match in his first start for his Premier League club. In a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth, Nakata shone in midfield. He moved well, guided the offense, and nearly scored.
Japan captain Hidetoshi Nakata has finally been let onto the pitch. He got his first touch in a Bolton uniform on the 16th in his new team's UEFA opener against Bulgaria's Locomotiv Plovdiv. In early going, he sent in a beautiful cross that was headed wide; thereafter, his performance was disappointing.
In his first Premier League action, in a match against Manchester City, Hide came on for El-Hadj Diouf in the 56th minute. Bolton defeated Manchester City 1-0, but Nakata had little impact in the match.
Shunsuke Nakamura: Celtic
Nakamura is being pulled in two directions. he has a friendly for Japan--and two SPL derbies at the same time.
Nakamura continues to impress in Scotland. He set up a fifth-minute goal in a 1-0 win over Hibernian on the 16th - and came close to scoring when his free kick hit the post.
In his next match, Shunsuke had yet another standout game. In a 2-1 win over Falkirk, Celtic was helped in both games by its Japanese midfielder. The former Reggina star made two picture perfect passes, both of which led to goals. As the Celtic faithful sing: It's so Japaneasy.
For the second match in a row, Shunsuke had a hand in two goals. Against Inverness on the 25th, he set up the winner in a 2-1 Celtic victory.
Shinji Ono: Feyenoord
Shinji Ono made his season debut in a 5-1 win over Heerenveen. He came in at the 41-minute mark.
In his first start, Ono played well after coming back an assortment of nagging injuries. Feyenoord won 3-1 away at Twente Enschede. Feyenoord is now 6-0 and tied for first place.
Sota Hirayama: Hiracles
The lanky forward made no impace in a 2-0 loss to Sparta Rotterdam. Hirayama is taking time off from Tsukuba University to play in the Dutch first division.
Naohiro Takahara, Hamburg SV
Takahira's HSV is in second place after five matches. Takahara however has only seen action from the bench or as a substitute late in games.
On the 3rd against Kaiserslautern, Taka started and played for most of the match, finally being subbed out at the 74th minute. He was not involved in any of the goals in a 3-0 Hamburg win.
Yoshito Okubo, Mallorca
Okubo turned in a stellar performance as Mallorca came back to down Real Sociedad 5-2 on the 18th. The little tank of a forward came off the bench in the second half and had a hand in two goals. He assisted in goals on the 59th and 86th minute-mark.
Yanagisawa came off the bench to assist in a match against at Siena. Messina, however, lost 4-2.
Daisuke Matsui, Le Mans
Matsui got his first Ligue goal as Le Mans downed Racing Stasbourg 2-0 on the 24th.
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In J2, Kyoto Purple Sanga clinched promotion to J1 next year.
Following the 25th match of the J1 season, Gamba is still in first place - barely. After a thrilling 3-3 tie at home against second place Kashima Antlers, Gamba has 48 points to Kashima's 47. Urawa and Jubilo are both surging, and tied in third place with 41 points.
King Kazu Signs with Sydney
Former national team striker and JLeague MVP Kazuyoshi Miura--aka King Kazu--has signed with the A-League's Sydney FC on a loan deal. Miura leaves J2 team Yokohama FC and joins the Australian side on November 7. His contract lasts until the beginning of January. If he performs well, he may even be in the starting lineup for the World Club Championships, which take place in Tokyo in December.
Ruy Ramos hired as Reysol Coach
Former national team midfielder, Ruy Ramos has been hired as an assistant coach at struggling Reysol. Ramos will work under current coach Hiroshi Hayano, who is under contract until January 21, 2006. the Brazil-born Ramos was formerly the head coach at FC Kariyushi; this however is his job as a coach in the J.League.
Since then, Reysol has defeated Gamba and lost a tough match to Jubilo 1-0.
JOMO All Star Game Voting
In pre-All Star match voting, JEF United and sometime Japan midfielder received more votes than any other player - 237,504 - to win honors for the second year in a row. Leading scorer and probable League MVP Araujo, however, will not be appearing. League rules limit three players from any one team, and Gamba Osaka teammates Masashi Oguro, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, and Yasuhito Endo were all voted in by the fans.
Nagoya Grampus Cans Nelsinho
After a string of bad results, Nelsinho got his walking papers in mid-September. He was in his third year at Grampus, and never brought a trophy to the well-funded club. He will be succeeded by Hitoshi Nakata.
Ref Blows Call in Vissel-Antlers match
Vissel Kobe wants a recent match against Kashiwa Reysol to be replayed after referee Yoshitsugu Katayama blew a call. Katayama showed Ryo Kobayashi his second yellow card for time-wasting as the player took too much time to make way for a substitute.
Katayama, however, still allowed replacement Harutaka Ono to come on for Kobayashi for the remaining few minutes of the match. Kobe ended up losing the match 1-0 and remain at the bottom of the J1 table.
"It's unacceptable and we will lodge a formal complaint," Kobe general manager Sadayuki Adachi said. "We want the game to be replayed or at least the last few minutes plus injury time."
Leading Goal Scorers, 8 October 2005
| Name | Goals | Shots | PK | Games |
Araujo, Gamba Osaka |
28 | 112 | 0/0 | 26 |
| Washington, Tokyo Verdy 1969 | 20 | 81 | 3/4 | 25 |
| Masashi Oguro, Gamba Osaka | 16 | 109 | 0/0 | 26 |
| Alex Mineiro, Kashima | 13 | 50 | 0/0 | 20 |
| Edmilson, Albirex | 13 | 65 | 1/1 | 25 |
| Hisato Sato, Hiroshima | 12 | 48 | 0/0 | 24 |
| Mitsuo Ogasawara, Kashima | 11 | 54 | 2/3 | 24 |
| Magno Alves, Oita | 11 | 68 | 1/2 | 25 |
| Seiichiro Maki, Hiroshima | 10 | 34 | 0/0 | 25 |
| Ryoichi Maeda, Jubilo | 10 | 42 | 0/0 | 20 |
| Bobby Cullen, Jubilo | 10 | 40 | 0/0 | 23 |
| Joninho, Kawasaki | 9 | 80 | 1/2 | 23 |
J2: Kyoto Purple Sanga Leads the Pack
Sanga thrashed Sapporo at home 4-0 on the 24th. Kyoto now leads J2 with 72 points after 33 matches. Second place Avispa trails by 14 with 58. Sanga could clinch a spot in J1 next season as early as October 15.
