The first game of the year was more eventful than most would have imagined. Well worth seeing a replay if anyone is able to.
I'm nursing a wound right now and don't have much time to type a recap, just to say that both teams played much more strongly than last game, and a controversal call led to an outburst by coach Kiyama, causing him to be sent out in the 22nd minute of his first game. The two goals for Osaka were taken by Kagawa, the second one while Osaka was down by one man.
After the game, I was in the locker room helping to straighten things up when I dropped a table onto my right foot. My choice of footwear for the day wasn't ideal, and looking down I could see blood seeping through the top of the sneaker. I was taken to the team doctor, who looked at it while I poored the small pool of excess blood out of the sneaker. He cleaned it up and wrapped it, and told me I should go to the hospital. Honestly, I don't have time for it, and while it's an incredibly deep cut and I'll probably lose the nail on my big toe, I can take care of it myself. It is hard to walk at the moment, though.
Sorry for a gory description, but I wanted to express great thanks to the coaches and staff who cared for me a lot more than I cared for myself, apparently. :) I also wanted to express great thanks to the Osaka fans. I worked at the away gate and met over 200 fans in pink, and they wre very considerate and respectul. After the match, over 10 of them individually asked about me, and wanted to thank me for various assistance, saying they remembered me from November, invited me to go to Nagai Stadium, ect. Moreso than the fans of any other club, they really made an impact on me. If anyone can recommend an online messageboard where I could post my gratitude directly to them, I would like to do so.
The loss was unfortunate but the play was exciting, and I have more hope for the year should Mito continue to lay like this. It's good to be back.
7 comments:
Nice report Vendo :)Seems Mito were on par with Cerezo for much of this game! You outshot us 24-17 so it must have been a cracker of a game ;)
It's nice to hear so many good words about Cerezo supporters too, they are great aren't they? ^^
About a Cerezo forum, perhaps u can try this : http://www.cerezo.co.jp/cafe/topic_list.php
I think many die-hard Cerezo fans hangs around there, and I guess u understand japanese right? so it won't be a problem for u getting an account there. If u find a video with highlights from the match let me know!
Cheers,
Kaare
hi:
i´m mexican. here in my country exist an information that makes sure that in Mito Hollyhock FC there are a mexican soccer player called Oscar Uriel Martínez. i want to know if that information is it true.
please help me
congratulations for this blog
Ouch - sounds like a very painful afternoon, Vendo. A tough start to the season you have in the schedule, too. fingers crossed you can get some points on the board at Fukuoka.
Thanks for the encouragement. I think it will be a good year. :)
As for the Mexican player, he is here. I'll make a quick post about him.
Mate, I watched the highlights on sky, and although you guys went down by two the game definitely looked alot closer than that and you guys set up quite a few chances that just went astray.
You Looked quite promising. Looking forward to seeing you guys play next week too.
Take care of the foot!
.. and you cant go wrong with the Kansaijin can ya. Great people.
I believe Cerezo will be champions this year, they have great young players Kagawa, Kakitani and Morishima. Hopefully, Mitos youth players can start to shine. Where do you think Mito will finish this year? Not bottom? If bottom three is it relegation to JFL this year or still in J2?
Cerezo is definitely strong and a good pick for J2 champions this year. I'd like to see how Avispa plays as well with the new Australian imports though.
I think Mito will end up mid-table if playing at this level all year. Other predictions? Another last place for Tokushima, and Sendai slipping more places compared to last year than any other team.
There is no relegation to JFL. J. League will continue to expand to no contractions into the future. After J2 is too big, J3 will be created, then J4... Eventually JFL will be much stronger than the lower J divisions as it will only have strong company teams ineligible to become professional. The goal of the league is to have 100 professional teams in Japan within 100 years.
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