So it's always good to win a a match, as is winning a trophy, but is the Nabisco Cup something the Reds wants to win? In 2008 Oita Trinita won the cup; then in 2009 they were relegated to the J2. In 2009 it was FC Tokyo's turn to win the Nabisco Cup, but in 2010 FC Tokyo got relegated to the J2. Now ok I know that last year's winner Jubilo Iwata are currently sitting fifth on the J1 table, but anything can happen right? Plus the fact is that when it comes to the Reds; at the moment losing comes easy, so relegation is something that must be considered. I think winning a competition would please the uppers of the Reds; so it might be something we have in our sights.
The format of this year's Nabisco Cup is different from previous years, the 2011 edition of the Nabisco Cup is a home and away knock-out format. Well sort of; not every team starts in the first round. The top three teams from last years J-1 enters in the semi-final, Niigata and Omiya enters in the quarters and the Reds take on Yamagata in the opening round.
And after a long spell of draws and defeats, a victory does feel good. The final score of 2-0 is a good result for the Reds. Convincing it wasn't, but a win is a win, considering we played Kato in goals and Nobu Yamada replacing Spiranovic, who's away on international duties with Australia. I think what impressed me the most was the clean sheet as and how we pressed for the second goal; which we scored in the 89min through Haraguchi. Edmilson was the Reds other scorer, scoring his second goal in 2 matches at the stroke of half time.
Considering that the Reds played at relative full strength; I think it's safe to say that we are putting in 100% into the Nabisco Cup. This is how we lined up against Yamagata
GK: Kato
DF: Takahashi; Yamada (No); Nagata; Ugajin
MF: Keita; Kashiwagi; Richardes; Haraguchi
FW: Takasaki; Edmilson
Subs
57min Kashiwagi > Tatsuya
67min Takasaki > Mazola
83min Edmilson > Naoki
The first half was boring, but the second was great. Mazola should be a starter on this team.
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