Cerezo Osaka　セレッソ　大阪

Club World Cup 2015: Club America 2 - 1 TP Mazembe & Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0 - 1 River Plate

2015-12-17T08:43:00.000+09:00

I lost two tickets for these games but a match run by FIFA emphatically takes credit cards (VISA) and it was worth it. The normally calm and expert beer pourers were mobbed, the shops closest to the River Plate Ultras sold out of draught beer and the Argentinians supporters did themselves proud. The first game showed TP (stands for Tout Puissant meaning 'Almighty' which shows the roots of the team from the Benedictine monks) Mazembe have a lot to offer the competition as do Club America but it was more like a friendly as throughout the River Plate fans chanted about their Copa Libertadores victory which got them here. Hiroshima were spot on with their tactics but an unfortunate error by their keeper meant the River fans left happy, drunk and the stadium was largely unscathed, only the beer pourers mental state was affected. I can't wait for the next time this competition is held here, when you notice some fans carrying bog rolls you know you're in for a treat.

Not a good picture as the stadium was rocking, literally AC/DC for some reason, but from the away end the tallest building in Japan, Abeno Harukas, can be seen

Club America supporters vastly outnumbering TP Mazembe fans

I was wondering about this before the game but...flair play to the River fans they brought flares

2 flares to be precise but again flair play to them

The moment I realised the planned Hiroshima stadium project (which looked amazing) had been cancelled

Hiroshima fans can be proud of their team if not the result, I usually praise any away fans that make the trip but the River Plate fans displayed a new level of dedication

So many flags and banners, did they have room in their suitcases for anything else? A rooster suit?

At the bottom of this picture, it looks huge, but it was one of many UFO-like balloons handed out in the River Plate section

Studying Spanish? Speak Spanish? Knock yourself out

Club World Cup 2015: Club America 1 - 2 Guangzhou Evergrande & TP Mazembe 0 - 3 Sanfrecce Hiroshima

2015-12-16T05:33:00.000+09:00

The Mexican fans weren't happy after this one. Ex-Spurs 'player' (did we really get 9.8 million GBP for him?) scored the winner. This was the first time FIFA has held Club World Cup games in Osaka and there was a whiff of money making around. The matchday programmes were more expensive than the tickets. Yanmar Stadium reverted to Nagai Stadium or Osaka Nagai Stadium which meant the massive Yanmar sign on the stadium was painted over. The tickets were very reasonable though with the cheapest starting at ￥2000. This was some of the best football I had seen in the stadium for a long time, mainly because Cerezo weren't playing. Evergrande showed their riches with Robinho starting, their 2nd World Cup winning coach, Scolari (he won the Japan/Korea 2002 WC with Brazil) patrolling the dugout and the club even giving out free football tops to fans. Thank you for taking Paulinho from Spurs.

Celebrating the win, when they were quiet you could hear a pin drop but when they got going it was quite the racket

Club America's custom flags for made for Japan

Someone managed to bring this one from Mexico

Hiroshima fans started to take up seats for their game as the Guangzhou supporters filed out

Lots of Guangzhou Evergrande support, many with free kits from their generous team

6th December Playoff Final: Avispa Fukuoka 1 - 1 Cerezo Osaka

2015-12-16T04:47:00.000+09:00

How did we get here? Well we drew the playoff semi-final 0-0 (of course) with FC Ehime which meant that we "won" by virtue of finishing above them in the regular season (can you see where this is going?). So we needed to win the final to go up. I was one of the few (perhaps the only) Cerezo fans (there were almost 30,000) who genuinely wanted us to lose. Why? We have been rubbish all season and I'm pretty sure we'd come straight back down. We finished 15 points behind Fukuoka who had a storming season. We played both these playoff games in our home stadium when it should be played on a neutral ground which annoyed a lot of J. League supporters. At this point Paulo Autuori had resigned and Kiyoshi Okuma was at the helm. I was happy to be in J2 another year, Fukuoka deserve it and at least stand a chance of staying in J1. Hopefully we can learn how to put a run together and finish in the automatic promotion spots next year.

Our fans have been great all season, unfortunately the team has not, we belong in J2

Plenty of Fukuoka fans happy with the 1-1 victory. All the best in J1!

23rd November 2015: Moniwa steps up Cerezo Osaka 2 - 0 Tokyo Verdy

2015-12-15T21:14:00.000+09:00

We needed this win to keep us on course for an undeserved playoff spot and Moniwa, who had hardly started this season after returning from Bangkok Glass, got a brace to lift spirits at the fag end of the season. Over 12,000 on this rainy day in Kincho.

I got distracted, it was still a pretty bad game, and ended up using Jermain Defoe's arm to point out some nice nail art

Pink ponchos were required today

Tokyo Verdy fans do well to fill the away section

25th Oct 2015: Cerezo Osaka 0 - 0 Kamatamare Sanuki

2015-12-15T20:57:00.000+09:00

Again a very respectable crowd of just over 10,000 watched some dire football.

Passion, power, pride...all pointless, or technically we got one point I suppose.

Kamatamare fans doing well to fill up the away section

4th Oct 2015: Cerezo Osaka 0 - 1 Avispa Fukuoka

2015-12-15T20:45:00.002+09:00

Bear in mind Avispa Fukuoka were the team we ended up playing in our home stadium for the J1 promotion playoff final. Wellington had his shooting boots on this particular day despite the worst efforts of the 3 Cerezo players near him. Again we were still averaging very respectable gates, over 13,000 on this day, considering the quality of the football we had to endure.

Again it looks like they didn't bring so many fans but it's a massive stadium in J2!

How do the supporters put up with it?

23rd Sept 2015: Cerezo Osaka 2 - 2 Mito Hollyhock

2015-12-15T20:31:00.000+09:00

I don't remember too much about this one but Mito Hollyhock weren't one of the higher placed teams in J2 so needless to say it was another annoying game in the end. Almost 15,000 for this game. You can see a goal from one of our seasonal random Brazilian loanees.

Tashiro looks down over I4 in Yanmar Stadium

Mito is not an easy place to travel from, in the big stadium so it looks a little sad but I think they left happy

23rd Aug 2015 Oita Trinita 1 - 3 Cerezo Osaka Away Day Happiness!

2015-12-15T20:17:00.000+09:00

Took the overnight ferry called the "Sunflower" from Osaka to Beppu for this one. Hot springs and 3 points awaited. The "Big Eye" was used in the 2002 World Cup.

The "Big Eye" makes more sense from here

Bumbaclot!! Random and insulting. Well done Trinita, thumbs up for this banner.

Oita is not a convenient place to get to!

Looks like a UFO from here

The home supporters doing their team proud by filling up a big section

12th July Cerezo Osaka 3 - 1 Consadole Sapporo

2015-12-15T19:55:00.000+09:00

Almost 10,000 for this game in Kincho.

"For the Top of Dreams"

Sapporo fans saw us on one of our rare good days unfortunately for them

Avispa Fukuoka 1 - 0 Cerezo Osaka Golden Week Result

2015-05-05T21:26:00.000+09:00

I'm pretty sure I went to an away game in Fukuoka a few years ago but have no idea whether that was in J1 or J2 at the time. I was either too happy, disappointed or lazy to blog about it as I can find no record but I do remember having Hakata ramen and the stadium too. Anyway this was certainly in J2, none of our managers ever place any emphasis on defending set-pieces and those chickens have come home to roost...or went away to roost in J2 on this occasion.

J2 Away day finishes Kamatamare Sanuki 1 - 3 Cerezo Osaka

2015-04-29T19:11:00.000+09:00

This game was over after 15 minutes. I spent the rest of the match swatting away some silly insects which reminded me that this is J2. As did the local flavour of things and the need to get a bus to the stadium. Anyway I remembered the last time we were in J2. So good to see Kusukami doing what he can surely do very well (in J2) after seeing flashes of his skill for the last two seasons. Will he keep his place though? Kazuki Ganaha scored the goal of the game for Sanuki after being teed up beautifully by Hotaru Yamaguchi (he played in the last World Cup for Japan). I was one of the few from Osaka not to sample the famous udon of which the "Kamatama" version appears on the club crest.

How far away is that? A short but steep walk to get to Marugame Castle which looks like it has a mustache, and glasses.

Close to the Boy's Festival so the carp streamers were out on display

A Cerezo fan scratches his head as he realises it wasn't that far away, just very a small castle surrounded by some impressive stone walls.

Not a bad view from the castle although one of our group commented that the area on the right out of picture looks like Sakai City which if you know of it is no compliment.

Marugame Mascots, this is Japan (in J2)

Ikkaku was the top ranked restaurant on Tripadvisor in this area. Marugame is also famous for chicken as well as Sanuki Udon. I found out on my 5 hour train journey that this place is a chain and has a shop in Shinsaibashi, the heart of Osaka.

The Udon didn't make the cut for this poster of famous things in Marugame.

This mascot is working hard judging by the sweat/grease/oil dripping from his (bone-in) chicken leg head. The other more important banner behind and to the left could well be advertising a game between the New Zealand and Japan women's teams but I got distracted by the chicken bone header.

Marugame Stadium

A nice stand there but...

...the grassy knolls behind the goals served to remind us all it was in J2

Cerezo 1 - 2 Thespa Kusatsu Gunma

2015-04-23T22:51:00.000+09:00

Second loss at home in a row (in J2). A great attendance of 17212 but it must be said lots of freebie tickets for various Osaka kids teams who despite their youthfulness must have realised there are more problems than answers for Paulo Autuori at the moment. Forlan's early goal only served to infuriate as we once again looked like the team of last season that consistently struggled against lower division opposition in the Emperor's Cup. Now we are in the lower division things have evened out. We still can't defend set pieces for toffee.

Very little power from the team, lots of it from I4, absolutely no glory for anyone in Pink.

At the time we wondered how many fans made the trip, now, if you like, you can count how many did and added to the huge attendance (in J2).

Bemused Paulo Autuori, let's hope we don't see this look too many times this season. The seats that were first used when Man United visited still bear the original stadium name before yet more money flooded in our direction and we ended up...in J2.

Oh Dear. Cerezo Osaka 0-2 Zweigen Kanazawa

2015-04-16T22:08:00.000+09:00

Zweigen Kanazawa didn't exist ten years ago but it didn't take them long to figure out that if they kept calm and played football, beyond the hype (in J2), we are more than beatable this year. Once they realised that for brief moments they looked like vintage Barcelona for short spells, we were that bad. Mesmerised by a team able to string more than a few passes together. Still we were treated to Sato's beautiful goal and then they were treated to a soft penalty given as a parting gift from Maruhashi to Kanazawa with love. What next (in J2)?

Just bad timing with this picture, there must be millions of better pictures of Forlan playing for Cerezo...taken by other people.

Kanazawa fans expectant after some nice spells and a wonder strike

Despite the best efforts of behind the goal flag waving this went in

Did Puma ask for a refund due to poor product placement?

FC Gifu 0 - 2 Cerezo Osaka

2015-04-06T11:22:00.000+09:00

Highlights from Sunday's game at Nagaragawa Stadium (in J2).

JEF United Chiba 4 - 4 Cerezo Osaka

2015-04-04T06:50:00.001+09:00

This was a proper old skool result and match for us with a very fortunate equaliser at the end, was it a goal?

Cerezo Osaka 2 - 0 Yokohama FC

2015-04-01T09:36:00.002+09:00

This really felt like an exhibition game, whether I'm still getting used to Sunday matches or seeing 48 year old Kazu Miura being warmly applauded by our supporters for doing the simplest of things it was an odd game. No tackles of note, no real passion or drive and no distinct pattern of play. Our star players failed to dominate this game and King Kazu didn't look his age at all. Forlan missed a penalty but goals from Hasegawa and Pablo Felipe mean another listless performance will soon be forgotten. Shame because on paper it looked like a really attack-minded team. We are now in 3rd place (in J2). We face the early league leaders next.

Enough people turned up today (14518) to make the appearance of the big flag possible

Physio 1: Did you remember to bring the bandages? Physio 2: I'm sure I put them in there. Physio 1: The king is waiting.

Looks worse than it was

This was Autuori's main pose today as we were pretty shoddy for most of the game

Huge respect for the Yokohama FC fans who made the trip down

Fagiano Okayama 1 - 1 Cerezo Osaka

2015-03-28T20:54:00.000+09:00

Feelgood Factor returns for a few minutes! Cerezo Osaka 3 - 1 Omiya Ardija

2015-03-20T15:43:00.000+09:00

Keiji Tamada bagged a brace on his home debut and Ogihara scored a beauty. As usual our defence had a brain fart defending a cleared corner but despite that and the rain (which meant a slightly lower than expected attendance of 15584) everyone was happy for the last few minutes. All the goals came in the 2nd half. Tamada gave us the lead early in the 2nd half with a calm finish after a neat flick from Sekiguchi, who also made his home debut. Omiya equalised with minutes remaining but two injury time goals were enough to see us grab 3 points. Ex-captain Moniwa came on for little cameo as the Squirrels left empty handed. Omiya Ardija came down with us from J1 last year and usually do pretty well when they come to Osaka so this was a good result for us (in J2, always remember this is J2).

This is J2! Again

Like the old Chelsea shed end but with less cars

One of those horrible heart breaking finishes to a game for away fans

Back in J2! Tokyo Verdy 1 - 1 Cerezo Osaka

2015-03-11T18:23:00.001+09:00

We did enough to win but couldn't quite get the winner. Pablo Felipe looked good, well good enough for J2 anyway, but managed to get himself sent off. No predictions for this season based on that performance although you'd hope we won't get relegated again and have only one manager this year. If our players enjoy playing under Paulo Autuori we have more than enough quality to put a run of games together and get back to J1. After the disaster of last season I'll only be truly happy if we return as champions...when the 2 stage format in J1 has been scrapped ideally. I can go back to enjoying football more this year in J2 anyway, Forlan should too if he keeps playing and scoring. Just over 12,000 came to Ajinomoto Stadium and I suspect we will manage to beat that figure this coming Sunday in Yanmar Stadium. I think they lookalike anyway (see the last two pictures).

Outside the stadium is surrounded by the colours of Verdy's ground sharing partners FC Tokyo

Very impressive numbers and as always loud and enthusiastic

Dejan Savicevic

Pablo Felipe

On the 4th Anniversary of the Tohoku Earthquake & Tsunami: Some pictures from a trip to the region in 2013

2015-03-11T17:08:00.000+09:00

These were taken during an away trip to Vegalta Sendai two years ago. Minami Sanriku was one of the areas hit the hardest and where the flags of fishing vessels once flew in the port they became replaced with flags from sports teams. Click on this link and you can find a list of teams and people who tried to help in some way along with pictures and past event details.

New manager Okuma keeps his 100% record: Cerezo Osaka 2 - 0 Kashiwa Reysol

2014-09-16T22:24:00.000+09:00

Okuma kept faith with Nagai and Sugimoto up front and they repaid him with a goal apiece. Our first win in the league since May 3rd! The players clearly weren't up for working with Marco Pezzaiuloi or Popovic for that matter. I wonder if we'll get any Rio Ferdinand style revelations about why, but none of our players have a book to sell so maybe not. New, undoubtedly well paid, signing Cacau is injured along with our captain Yamaguchi who was linked with a move to Serie A before the World Cup. Ogihara looks to have regained some form now and Kusukami too looks to be reveling in finally being given a chance at a run in the team. As for the two chaps up front, great stuff which should see them both keeping hold of their places for the foreseeable future. Forlan made a cameo appearance after the game was settled. Sugimoto scored a header from Sakemoto's free kick and it was nice but huge questions marks over the Reysol defending as he wasn't really challenged despite three players being around him. Ryo Nagai scored in the second half. A very similar goal to the last one he scored in the cup as he was going away from goal but swiveled back to score, this one took a deflection on the way though. Be positive stay positive and win in Suita and we can start forgetting about the money Cerezo have spunked away this season and our current league position. A healthy 22491 in Yanmar Stadium thanks largely to the club giving away an enormous amount of tickets to the Osaka primary school kids affiliated to a local or school football club.

"Play Dirty Go Hard" and "We're Kashiwa Stupid" two of my picks from the ~~Kashima~~ Kashiwa banners

Indirect free kick so close to the 6 yard box, a rarity, always looks exciting but usually disappoints and this was no exception

We are in the draw for the next round of the Emperor's Cup! Cerezo 2 - 0 Jubilo Iwata

2014-09-11T21:40:00.001+09:00

New manager Yuji Okuma started with a win against Jubilo Iwata who are 3rd in J2 and as we are currently 3rd from bottom in J1 that should make us pretty evenly matched right? Just over 4000 people turned up for this in a stadium that was used in a World Cup so you can imagine it looked a bit odd. Kusukami started and showed what he can bring to the team by setting up Minamino who finished well for the first. Ryo Nagai worked tirelessly all night and was rewarded with a goal he took thanks to his speedy footwork and thinking. Our injured captain Yamaguchi wasn't missed as we got our first meaningful win in a long time. Everyone put a decent shift in tonight compared to our performances in the league. I'm hoping Okuma doesn't feel pressured to bring back any big names, match-fit or not, for the next game on Saturday against 6th place Kashiwa Reysol. Kagawa has returned to Dortmund recently but in bigger news Mitch Nichols quietly joined Perth Glory on loan after a ridiculously wasted (first?) spell in Osaka.

The unusually sparsely populated I4

This is what a world cup stadium looks like for a dry Wednesday night Emperor's Cup game in Osaka

Someone's sitting there mate

The acoustics are great in Yanmar Stadium so their efforts were heard

Lonely jobs, all of them, cameraman (or woman?), manager and linesman (or woman or assistant referee?)

New gaffer Yuji Okuma gets nervous as he is surrounded...by drink bottles lined up and ready to spring the offside trap

Kansai Derby ends 1- 2 as Vissel Kobe leave with 3 points

2014-09-03T17:28:00.000+09:00

It's the hope isn't it? For so so long we looked comfortable especially after Minamino's deflected effort gave us the lead. Then Jin-Hyeon was called upon a couple of times to keep us in it. But eventually new boy Cacau, who had shown some nice touches, lost the ball for the move that led to old boy Simplicio (why did we let him go?) equalizing before we were finished off in injury time with Morioka slotting home despite an army of pink shirts around him. Changes in the management structure loom while I have to put up with Gamba fans remembering my insults as they slipped down to J2 and fellow Cerezo fans just worried, furrowed brows everywhere.

They left happy but they would have been disappointed not to leave without 3 points against relegation candidates

The scoreboard indicates why the Kobe fans were happy leaving behind so many disappointed fans in Osaka

Cerezo Osaka 2 - 2 Yokohama F. Marinos

2014-07-20T14:27:00.000+09:00

Pezzaiuoli's first J1 game in charge ends in defeat 1 - 2 Kawasaki Frontale

2014-07-16T07:16:00.000+09:00

World Cup returnees Yamaguchi, Kakitani, Forlan and Okubo were presented with flowers before the game at which point I realised that Kakitani wouldn't be starting his last game before joining FC Basel and Forlan would be a spectator. This game was sold out and fans got to see the new gaffer play a 4-1-4-1 formation and give Minamino the responsibility of starting in central midfield. Never one to shy away from a scrap Takumi was shown a straight red. It wouldn't be a red in most other leagues but the ref could argue he kicked Oshima's arse then got up and shoved him after a bit of a tussle. A well worked goal with a tidy finish from the otherwise ineffectual Ando saw us take the lead before a soft penalty conceded by Fujimoto let Okubo equalise and sub Kanakubo ensured Frontale left with 3 points with an opportunistic shot. Kakitani came on for a cameo and there was the standard ceremony Cerezo fans are used to as he now leaves for FC Basel. He has promised to return as a better player but I don't want to think about that. He's gone now so until he comes back I don't care. The club stuck by Kakitani when we loaned him out instead of getting rid of him and he then promised to stay with Cerezo and win a title here. Perhaps I'm a tad jaded after seeing us turn into a feeder club with no trophies to show for all our young talent. Still, as always, things will be interesting here as Pezzaiuoli looks to reshape our team for the future.

The fans behind the goal were in amazing form that the team couldn't quite match

Standard German manager's fashion style overshadowed by a banner about Kakitani and a coach with a schoolboy approach to bench use. The first kanji character means to charm or bewitch.

Do I not like that red card, although there is yet another impressive banner in the background.

Ryo Nagai prepares to come on

Cerezo Osaka セレッソ 大阪

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Cerezo Osaka　セレッソ　大阪