Re: 88th Emperor's Cup Thread [R] I'm glad that justice was ultimately delivered. If Gamba had not made the AFC Champions League then I would have been pissed. They played the most games in J-league history which is an accomplishment in itself. I commend them for a fantastic season.
Re: 88th Emperor's Cup Thread [R] Not sure what everyone else thinks, but I thought this year's Emperor's Cup was a stinker. From an S-Pulse supporter's point of view, we had a midweek clash with JEF United that drew about 4,000 fans, our six thousandth trip to Kashima Stadium for the season... and then I missed out on a trip to the semi-final with FC Tokyo because it was in Sendai and I couldn't make it back for the CWC in time. Great! There are rumours going around that the JFA is unhappy with the drop-off in crowds and is looking to change the format *again.* I hope it happens because at the moment I think the Emperor's Cup sucks. http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/01/02/the-japanese-game-is-not-all-smiles-and-sunshine/
Re: 88th Emperor's Cup Thread [R] Congrats Gamba!! Justice is served getting to defend their ACL title now.
Re: 88th Emperor's Cup Thread [R] Well, it doesn't surprise me either, I for one, wasn't really interested in the 2008 Emperor's Cup this time until the semi-finals this time. Here's a Emperor's Cup piece from Wikipedia: The knockout phase of the competition begins towards the end of the year. In 2006, 48 teams took part in the first two rounds - the winner from each of the 47 prefectural championships and the collegiate champion. The top team in the JFL standings and all thirteen J2 teams joined in the 3nd round. Finally, the eighteen J1 teams joined in the 4th round, making a total of 80 participating teams. The big problem I've got is that ALL the J2 teams in Round 3 get the home game against prefectural opponents. Plus in Round 4, ALL the J1 teams get the home game against prefectural/JFL/J2 opponents. It's already a staked deck for the "lesser known" teams, but to make each one play J2 or J1 opposition AWAY, what the hell is the JFA thinking? I personally don't have a problem of when J2 or J1 enter the competition (Round 3 or 4). It's the "who plays who" and "where they play". IMHO, if the JFA want to get the crowds back involved. For each round, put all the remaining teams in a hat and start drawing, Match 1 - Home v Away, and so forth. Granted, you might have the top J1 teams playing in a Round 4 match more suited for a semi-final or final. Or perhaps two prefectural qualifiers going at it in a quarter-final. I still think that until you get a major upset or two (i.e. a J1/J2 top team knocked off by a high school/university/prefectural qualifier) to really get the interest back into this tournament. Just my two cents on this topic. VN