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. Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags J-League S-Pulse Grampus

Rising Sun News The doyen of English-language J. League websites, The Rising Sun news has documented the ups and downs of the Japanese game for more than eight years. Reputedly now on strike (according to the author himself), the Rising Sun News is the definitive voice on Japanese football and, like the sadly dormant Football (Japan) Lost In Translation blog remains an excellent online record of Japanese football - with a lively and active message board to boot. Go! Go! Omiya Ardija An excellent site that has documented the fortunes of Omiya Ardija since early 2005, Go! Go! Omiya Ardija is run and administered by a group of Omiya fans including Furtho, who also runs the outstanding Japanese Non-League Football News Site ( furtho2.blog32.fc2.com ). Tricolore Pride Started in response to the lack of English-language information coming out of Yokohama F. Marinos, Tricolore Pride is an eye-catching new site that details the daily happenings of the club. The site also complements the hilarious M.O.I.S.T. - sadly no longer updated due to the author's departure to Singapore, although it nevertheless remains one of the funniest and most insightful of the personally-maintained blogs. Soilent Green A devastatingly funny account of the fortunes of Tokyo Verdy, the URL provides a glimpse into the confused allegiances of its author. A highlight of last season was an emotional confession from the author himself that he would rather watch Omiya Ardija play then follow the the hapless team in green! Oretachi No Kyoto Loosely translated as "Our Kyoto," Oretachi No Kyoto begun in early 2007 following Kyoto Sanga's relegation from the top flight a season earlier. Kawasaki Frontale Supporters Slightly off the radar is this well-written account of one Japan's most exciting teams. While Kawasaki Frontale do at least acknowledge the presence of English-speaking fans through a rudimentary English page on their website, this Kawasaki supporters blog provides an in-depth match-by-match analysis of the Kanagawa side - although full match reports can be be somewhat sporadic. Mito-Hollyhock.com Heavy on text but with plenty of insight into life at the wrong end of Japanese professional football, author Vendo's site acts as a de facto English-language partner to the Ibaraki outfit's Japanese site. Forza FC Gifu Having been around for a while - despite the fact that FC Gifu were only promoted to J2 at the start of this season, Forza FC Gifu has proved particularly useful for those seeking English-language information on one of Japan' newest professional teams. Cerezo Osaka Fansite An excellent site that belies its title, the Cerezo Osaka fansite may be authored by a pink-hued Norwegian, but it actually contains fairly comprehensive match reports from all games played in J2. Super Avispa! An interesting and at one-time bilingual blog, Super Avispa! holds plenty of interest for both German and Australian fans of the J. League, as well those interested in the general fortunes of Avispa Fukuoka. Plenty of new sites continue to pop up on a regular basis, including the likes of an FC Tokyo fansite Aishiteru Tokyo ( www.aishiteru-tokyo.com ), the ever-expanding S-Pulse UK Ultras blog ( s-pulseukultras.blogspot.com ) and Consadole Ole! ( www.consadole.net/carlossb ) - an account of Consadole Sapporo's fortunes as viewed by an English-speaking Spaniard, as well as old favourites like Alan's Jsoccer ( www.jsoccer.com ). Further proof - if it was needed, that the world game truly does command a global audience. Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer Blogs soccer J-League

Sunday, 18 May Urawa Reds top the J-League going in to the summer break despite a 3-2 home loss to Gamba Osaka in front of 50,000 spectators at Saitama Stadium. The match was marked by some of the worst crowd trouble in J-League history after Gamba fans pelted Reds players with plastic bottles following the final whistle and were in turn attacked by the Urawa hard core. The visiting fans had to be kept locked in the stadium for over two hours before they were allowed to leave. JEF United gave new coach Alex Miller a winning start with a 1-0 win over Oita but remain rooted to last place. J1 Sapporo Consodole 1 Nagoya Grampus 3 Urawa Reds 2 Gamba Osaka 3 Iwata Jubilo 1 FC Tokyo 2 Kyoto Sanga 1 Yokohama F Marinos 0 Kashima Antlers 1 Kashiwa Reysol 1 JEF United 1 Oita Trinita 0 Kawasaki Frontale 2 Omiya Ardija 3 Vissel Kobe 1 Niigata Albirex 1 Tokyo Verdy 4 Shimizu S-Pulse 1 Leading Positions Urawa P13 Pts 26 Grampus P13 Pts 26 FC Tokyo P13 Pts 23 Reysol P13 Pts 20 Frontale P13 Pts 20 J2 In J2, Sanfrecce are four points clear of Vegalta and Cerezo. Sagan Tosu 0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1 Cerezo Osaka 2 Shonan Bellmare 0 Vegalta Sendai 3 Montedio Yamagata 2 FC Gifu 0 Thespa Kusatsu 1 Tokushima Vortis 2 Roasso Kumamoto 0 Yokohama FC 1 Avispa Fukuoka 1 Mito Hollyhock 1 Ehime FC 0 Leading Positions Sanfrecce P13 Pts 29 Vegalta P13 Pts 25 Cerezo P13 Pts 25 Bellmare P13 Pts 24 Yokohama FC P13 Pts 23 Sagan P13 Pts 21 Previous week's J.League results and standings Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags J-League Results

Josip Kuze became the second manager in the J.League first division to be sacked in the 2008 season, following Holger Osieck's marching orders from the Urawa Reds after just two matches. JEF United Chiba announced on their website that they had terminated the 55-year-old Croatian's contract on Wednesday without providing further details. It is not immediately known who will replace Kuze. JEF are winless in 11 matches and are in last place with two points from two draws. We caught up with Kuze following United's 3-0 loss to the Urawa Reds at Saitama Stadium on Tuesday, less than 24 hours before his firing. Did you think you could have gotten something out of today's match with the score locked at 0-0 at halftime? "I'm disappointed, of course. We lost. They scored three goals. We have the right organization but we made mistakes and gave the opponent the advantage." And now you're 10 points out of 16th place (just above the drop zone). "It's a difficult situation and the other clubs have big advantages. We have only two points, we are analyzing everything, we need new players." The Japanese papers cited sources within JEF who said you were planning to step down if you didn't win today. So these rumors were obviously not true? "Newspapers always speculate. I was talking with the club and we are talking about all the possibilities. They say no way, I will stay. I want to stay and they want me to stay. We are thinking positively. Of course we have to analyze things and first of all we want to get more players. That's all I know." So the team told you they were happy with your perform ance? "I didn't say that, I am just trying to be objective. In my opinion we are working hard. As a coach I try all day to analyze things. The players are happy, the coach is happy, everything is OK. But I wasn't prepared to come here and find that we lost four or five players in the midfield before our preseason even started. But even that is not the problem. In my opinion it's because we had many injured players and many players are slowly coming back into the team. For example (Ryota) Aoki, he started playing only three weeks ago. (Seiichiro) Maki has a problem. (Shohei) Ikeda started two weeks ago. Reinaldo played only one game. (Takuya) Kokeguchi also, and (Yuta) Baba. All those players, one by one they have been coming to the team and that's a problem." So in your opinion the mood at the club is good? "It's not a bad atmosphere. We have a good working atmosphere. We are trying to make a more enthusiastic mood and to make a competitive and winning spirit. But everything is OK--in the dressing room and in the training. The only bad thing is that we cannot win." What needs to be done to stop the rot? "In my opinion it is time to analyze everything after the game against Oita (on May 10). Because after that we have a break. It's time to sit down and figure out what's the best thing for JEF. Anyway, I have a lot of experience. I want to stay. I think I can turn things around. But I have demands. To make a good team, we need to change some positions on the team and bring in some strong figures." Do you have any players in mind? "Yes, of course, but it is a difficult time for foreigners right now because we can't do anything until the first of June. And for Japanese players also we are talking to some clubs but they also want to finish that first stage and then they can say for certain who they can or can't trade away." What's JEF's biggest problem right now? "Our problem is our defense. In my opinion we have no intelligence in defense, soccer intelligence. Without intelligence you can't make a compact defense. Individually they have power, they can cover and everything, but thinking and reading the game is a problem. Correcting things during the game is a problem. And we need one leader in defense with intelligence." Your team put up quite a fight today for the first hour. They seem more motivated than in previous games. "This bad situation is motivation for our players. And they know that now each game is so important and so I think our attitude is OK, and our organization is good, but individual mistakes put us in a difficult situation. And that's difficult to learn. That's a problem. Can they learn it or can they not learn it? And how long will it take for them to learn it? We have no time to wait." Copyright: C.G. Williams & Soccerphile.com Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Sunday, 20 April Dragan Stojkovic's Nagoya Grampus top the J-League after a come from behind home win over bottom club JEF United. Reigning J-League champions Kashima Antlers are second after a goalless home draw with Gamba. Shimizu S-Pulse move out of the bottom three positions after a 1-1 draw away to Marinos. J1 Nagoya Grampus 3 JEF United 2 Kashima Antlers 0 Gamba Osaka 0 FC Tokyo 4 Kawasaki Frontale 2 Niigata Albirex 1 Kyoto Sanga 0 Vissel Kobe 1 Sapporo Consodole 1 Kashiwa Reysol 5 Tokyo Verdy 1 Yokohama F Marinos 1 Shimizu S-Pulse 1 Omiya Ardija 0 Urawa Reds 0 Iwata Jubilo 1 Oita Trinita 1 Leading Positions Grampus P7 Pts 19 Antlers P7 Pts 16 FC Tokyo P7 Pts 14 Marinos P7 Pts 13 Urawa P7 Pts 13 J2 In J2, Sanfrecce still lead the standings despite a first loss of the season 2-1 at home to Ventforet. FC Gifu 2 Yokohama FC 3 Ehime FC 1 Vegalta 1 Thespa Kusatsu 1 Montedio 1 Cerezo Osaka 1 Roasso Kumamoto 0 Avispa Fukuoka 2 Sagan Tosu 0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1 Ventforet Kofu 2 Vortis 2 Mito Hollyhock 0 Leading Positions Sanfrecce P7 Pts 14 Yokohama FC P8 Pts 13 Bellmare P7 Pts 12 Vegalta P8 Pts 12 Sagan P7 Pts 12 Last week's J.League results and standings Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags J-League Results

The best thing on display in a Shimizu S-Pulse shirt yesterday at pretty Nihondaira Stadium was the pre-match entertainment dancers. Listen to the sounds of the Shimizu fans On the pitch, Shimizu were poor again and lost 2-0 to an improving Nagoya Grampus. The loss of ace marksman Korean Cho Jae-jin seems to be key to the Shizuoka Prefecture club's poor form this season. The tall Cho Jae-jin, who has returned to the K.League with Jeonbuk Motors after a move to the English Premier League fell through, has been replaced with a 1.65 meter Brazilian, Marcos Aurelio, plucked from his country's third division in a piece of ill-advised transfer activity by a literally short-sighted board. Over 14,000 supportive fans saw the match but crowds are slipping as the team continues to slide in to the bottom three of the J-League. Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League S-Pulse Shimizu

Sunday, 6 April Reigning J-League champions Kashima Antlers stay unbeaten with maximum points, followed by Nagoya Grampus, and Gamba Osaka. The largest crowd of the weekend, 27,866, saw Urawa Reds, improving under new coach Gert Engels , defeat Jubilo away. Only 7,339 spectators were in attendance for Ardija's 2-0 win at home over visiting Trinita. J1 Omiya Ardija 2 Oita Trinita 0 Iwata Jubilo 1 Urawa Reds 2 Kashima Antlers 4 JEF United 1 FC Tokyo 1 Sapporo Consodole 0 Nagoya Grampus 2 Yokohama F Marinos 0 Gamba Osaka 2 Shimizu S-Pulse 0 Vissel Kobe 0 Tokyo Verdy 1 Kawasaki Frontale 0 Kyoto Sanga 1 Kashiwa Reysol 0 Niigata Albirex 0 Leading Positions Antlers P5 Pts 15 Grampus P5 Pts 13 Gamba P5 Pts 10 J2 Thespa 1 Bellmare 2 Ehime FC 1 Sagan 2 Yokohama FC 1 Sendai Vegalta 1 Roasso 1 Montedio 2 Ventforet 3 Cerezo 2 FC Gigu 1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1 Leading Positions Sanfrecce P5 Pts 11 Sagan P5 Pts 11 Yokohama P6 Pts 10 Vegalta P6 Pts 10 Last week's J.League results and standings Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League Betting

Gert Engel's first match in charge of Urawa Reds, following the sensational sacking of Holger Osieck , ended in defeat. Urawa's loss to Vissel Kobe 1-0 in the Nabisco League Cup was Urawa's third successive loss without scoring. Group A Nagoya Grampus 0 Kyoto Sanga 1 Urawa Reds 0 Vissel Kobe 1 Group B Shimizu S-Pulse 3 FC Tokyo 1 Tokyo Verdy 0 Jubilo 2 Group C Kawasaki Frontale 0 JEF United 2 Kashiwa Reysol 1 Sapporo Consadole 1 Group D F Marinos 1 Oita Trinita 0 Albirex Niigata 2 Omiya Ardija 2 Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League Nabisco Cup Betting

Saturday 9 March / 10 Sunday Kashima Antlers' 4-0 thrashing of newly promoted Consadole sent out a strong message that the Ibaraki-based club is determined to defend its J-League crown in the new season. In the opening round's big clash Yokohama F Marinos edged rivals Urawa Reds 1-0. J1 Yokohama F Marinos 1 Urawa Reds 0 FC Tokyo 1 Vissel Kobe 1 Kawasaki Frontale 1 Tokyo Verdy 1 Gamba Osaka 0 JEF United 0 Shimizu S-Pulse 0 Oita Trinita 2 Nagoya Gampus Eight 1 Kyoto Sanga 1 Kashima Antlers 4 Consadole 0 Omiya Ardija 2 Albirex Niigata 0 Kashiwa Reysol 2 Jubilo Iwata 0 Leading Positions Antlers P1 Pts 3 Ardija P1 Pts 3 Reysol P1 Pts 3 Trinita P1 Pts 3 Marinos P1 Pts 3 Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League Betting

Japan begin their quest to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa when they meet Thailand at Saitama Stadium tonight. The Blue Samurai warmed up for the fixture by recording a 0-0 draw with Chile at the National Stadium in Tokyo on January 26, before beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 at the same venue four days later. Koji Yamase came off the bench to score twice against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the Yokohama F. Marinos star is not expected to start against Thailand. 19-year-old Kashima Antlers youngster Atsuto Uchida is widely expected to feature in the run-on side in place of experienced Gamba Osaka defender Akira Kaji. Coach Takeshi Okada has also named a 35-man interim squad for the upcoming East Asian Championship in China. Kashima midfielder Mitsuo Ogasawara was a notable omission, while there was a surprise recall for Alessandro Santos, who recently rejoined Urawa Reds after spending a season at Austrian club Salzburg. Okada looks set to become embroiled in a club versus country row with Urawa Reds coach Holger Osieck. The German-born Osieck has asked for the club's new star signing Naohiro Takahara to be excused from the East Asian Championship, with another long J-League campaign set to kick-off in March. Japan kick-off their East Asian Championship campaign against DPR Korea on February 17, before they take on hosts China and finish off with a clash against arch-rivals Korea Republic. Pan-Pacific Championship The inaugural Pan-Pacific Championship gets under way in Hawaii on February 20, with J-League side Gamba Osaka set to take on David Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy, in a match that is sure to generate plenty of interest in Japan. The other clash sees fellow MLS side Houston Dynamo take on either Sydney FC or Queensland Roar, with the outcome of the A-League finals series set to determine which Australian team makes the trip to Hawaii. The respective winners of the two matches meet in the tournament final on February 23. Japanese Players Overseas Shunsuke Nakamura and Koki Mizuno : Celtic Shunsuke Nakamura has returned from a knee injury that plagued him towards the end of 2007 and was instrumental in Celtic's recent 5-1 Scottish Cup thrashing of Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. New signing Koki Mizuno was not included in the squad having only just completed his move from JEF United. Tsuneyasu Miyamoto : Salzburg With Alessandro Santos having rejoined former club Urawa Reds, ex-Gamba Osaka defender Tsuneyasu Miyamoto is now the sole Japanese player at Austrian club Salzburg. Miyamoto is currently injured and is unlikely to feature in the Salzburg starting eleven when the Austrian Bundesliga resumes on February 15. Daisuke Matsui : Le Mans Former Kyoto Sanga FC man Daisuke Matsui is enjoying a stellar season in the French Ligue 1, and he scored the winner in Le Mans' 1-0 win over glamour side AS Monaco last weekend. Shinji Ono : VfL Bochum Injury-plagued former Japan international Shinji Ono has joined Bundesliga club VfL Bochum from 2006 J-League champions Urawa Reds, and the ex-international made a dream start, coming off the bench to set up both goals in Bochum's come-from-behind win over high fliers Werder Bremen at the weekend. Naoya Kikuchi : Carl Zeiss Jena Former Jubilo Iwata star Naoya Kikuchi injured ligaments in training shortly after signing for 2.Bundesliga strugglers Carl Zeiss Jena. The midfielder, who is serving a year long domestic ban after his arrest for having sex with a 15-year-old-school girl last year, is expected to miss between four to six weeks of action for his new club. Copyright © Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com J.League News Tags J-League soccer football Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting