There is a well-worn tradition in the J. League of championship contenders making their title run much more difficult than it needs to be. Kawasaki Frontale seemed content to follow in that tradition on Saturday, falling two goals behind before staging an explosive comeback in ...
A squad in transition following a surprisingly successful run in the World Cup. A new head coach establishing his vision. A South American opponent ranked fifth in the world. A sold-out Saitama Stadium. An impressive win that fans will look back on as having ...
With rare exceptions such as the franchise-based system of Major League Soccer, promotion and relegation are the law of the land in soccer leagues across the world. The same is true of the J. League's three divisions, with a big caveat. Even if Machida Zelvia ...
All that glitters was not gold for FC Tokyo, whose 20th anniversary celebrations in special gold uniforms were crashed by Shimizu S-Pulse in a 2-0 defeat at Ajinomoto Stadium on Saturday evening. A steady stream of rain throughout the day threatened to put a damper ...
The J. League on Thursday announced its decision on club licenses for the 2019 season, denying Machida Zelvia a J1 license as they sit in the second automatic promotion spot with eight rounds remaining in the season. The club license system, which took effect in ...
While Andres Iniesta has not made the matchday squad at either of Vissel Kobe's matches in the Kanto area since his midsummer arrival, his name alone has drawn thousands of fans who might not normally make the trip to western Tokyo or central Saitama. A ...
Well over 50,000 Urawa Reds fans made their way to Saitama Stadium on Sunday night to see their team take on former Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta and Germany great Lukas Podolski. They may have only gotten half of what they came for, but they surely ...
Two teams arrived at Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium in desperate need of a win on Saturday afternoon, and neither found what they were looking for as Kashiwa Reysol and Sagan Tosu battled to a 1-1 draw in the first of the day's J. League ...
After a trying year that has tested Japan with severe floods, record-setting heat, and fierce typhoons, the country was yet again challenged in September when a magnitude 7 earthquake jolted the northern island of Hokkaido, causing dozens of deaths and leaving millions without electricity. But ...
Kawasaki Frontale's weekend began as so many recent weekends have: with the team staring up at what appeared to be an insurmountable point gap between it and runaway J. League leaders Sanfrecce Hiroshima. What a difference 90 minutes can make. Attacking explosions in both halves gave ...
