Since the
J. League kicked off two teams have dominated both domestic cup competitions.
Across the League and Emperor’s Cups, Shimizu S-Pulse have made nine final
appearances, with this weekend making a round ten. The Shizuoka team rank only
behind Ibaraki rivals Kashima Antlers who will notch up their 14th visit to the
National Stadium* when the two head off for the League Cup on Saturday.
While the
two clubs lead the country in cup finals, one crucial statistic separates them.
From Kashima’s thirteen finals, they have won eight. By contrast S-Pulse have
returned from Tokyo empty handed on seven of nine trips.
My
conversion to a Shimizu fan was completed in April 2004 after a dramatic 4-3
league victory. That my second game was a dour home defeat in torrential rain
mattered not. The damage had been done. That season also saw local legend Kenta
Hasegawa begin his reign as manager. The S-Pulse old boy moulded a team around
crowd favourites like Cho Jae-Jin, Ito, Aoyama, Ichikawa, and Okazaki. Crowds
flooded to Nihondaira to watch dynamic, attacking football, and a return to the
glories of the late 90s looked just over the horizon.
But during
his six year tenure I repeatedly watched Kenta’s carefully constructed squad
play like champions for half a season, only to choke and fade when it mattered
most. Cup football was no exception. Between 2004 and 2010, Shimizu lost three
semi finals and three finals. 2008’s League Cup final typified the era.
Relative J1 newcomers Oita Trinita walked out for their first final clear
underdogs against on-paper favourites S-Pulse. In practice we hesitated,
faltered and never looked in it. A 2-0 defeat to a team who would get relegated
in emphatic style the following season.
Hasegawa’s
local standing granted him more leeway than most, but patience eventually wore
thin. As we fell limply away from the 2010 title race he announced his
resignation, and in Iran national team coach Afshin Ghotbi’s appointment a
revolution began. The tightly-knit squad and deeply ingrained pecking order
broke apart. The local-is-best inward looking ideology was replaced overnight
by the internationally experienced Ghotbi’s global vision.
The culture
of nearly-men had to be attacked from the ground up, and while player
departures may have robbed the club of some talent, it wiped the slate someway
clean to begin work to that end. Shrewd signings like Hayashi, Lee, Jong-a-Pin,
Muramatsu, and Kawai formed the new heart of the team. Players previously on
the periphery such as Omae became regular starters. Remaining members of the
old regime, unhappy at struggling to hold down positions, were shipped out on
loan.
By no means
a painless process, I’ve witnessed tensions on the terraces as the wholesale
changes robbed fans of long standing favourites. Bumps along the path as the
new look team took time to gel found me urging patience is some of those around
me. Now as 2012 nears its climax everybody’s hard work may be about to bear its
first tangible fruit.
That is why
Saturday takes on a special significance. After ten years of falling short, now
is the time for Afshin’s youngsters to prove they’re not the nearly team of
Shimizu’s recent history. The route to the final in itself displays some of
their finest qualities. Going 4-2 down on aggregate in the 87th
minute of the quarter final second leg would for many signal game over. Not
knowing when they were beaten, strikes in the 88th and 93th
minutes levelled the score and gave S-Pulse an incredible away goals victory.
The semi final was a comeback of a different kind. Having lost the first leg
following a ludicrous FC Tokyo dive in the box and subsequent penalty, the 2-1
deficit was reversed after a comprehensive 3-0 win. That initial injustice,
which could have overwhelmed young minds, was instead channelled into revenge.
A first
title for a decade would give Shizuoka City something it’s clearly craving, but
it would be far more than just a trophy. Any lingering doubts or glances
backwards would be wiped away and in the wave of momentum such a triumph
creates, this exciting new team would be propelled on the road to even greater
things.
The league
cup’s value as a competition has on occasion come under scrutiny, but
throughout this campaign S-Pulse have used the tournament to its full. Valuable
match experience, and in some cases full pro debuts, have been gained by
youngsters like Senuma, Shirasaki, Inukai and Ishige. This helped prepare them
for subsequent roles in our league campaign. Whatever the starting eleven for
the final, it’s been a team effort in the truest sense and the day will belong
to everyone who got us there. Victory would herald the arrival of a new era and
Ghotbi’s Shimizu would rightfully claim a spot in S-Pulse history as a team of
winners.
* It
was since pointed out that the 1997 final was played over home and away
legs, so there was no national stadium involved that season.
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