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Japan 2-1 J-League Select: Samurai Blue defeat J-League stars in charity match for disaster victims
Almost US$ 800,000 has been raised for victims of the recent natural disasters in Japan, after a charity match was played out between the national team and a J-League select side.
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Mar 29, 2011 2:24:00 PM
By Cesare Polenghi and Chris Paraskevas
Cesare Polenghi
Japan have won the "Ganbarou, Nippon" charity match in Osaka 2-1 against a select team of J-League stars.
An incredible atmosphere permeated throughout the stadium, with banners unfurled representing most J-League clubs and tens of thousands chanting in support of Vegalta Sendai, the team from the region devastated by the March 11 tsunami.
Over two million yen had been raised in the build-up to the match, which will go towards helping victims of the recent natural disasters which rocked Japan.
The Samurai Blue were energetic and Alberto Zaccheroni fielded his best eleven, including the likes of Yuto Nagatomo, Keisuke Honda and Shinji Okazaki.
Japan opened the scoring in the 15th minute through a curled Yasuhito Endo free-kick, with the Japanese players celebrating the goal by lifting their black armbands to the sky in unison, in honour of those who lost their lives in the disaster.
Shinji Okazaki chipped the ball over Seigo Narazaki to give the national team a 2-0 lead after combining well with Honda.
Though the J-League representatives produced some good football, most had never played together and they rarely tested Eiji Kawashima.
There were a number of changes at half time and both Daisuke Matsui and Shunsuke Nakamura received huge cheers when they came on, though the loudest applause was for 44 year-old legend Kazu Miura.
His lobbed goal sent the 40,000 strong crowd at the Nagai Stadium ballistic, with a number bursting into tears as he performed his trademark dance celebration.
Addressing the audience after the game, the players confirmed that more than 65 million yen - almost US$ 800,000 - had been raised for victims.
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An incredible atmosphere permeated throughout the stadium, with banners unfurled representing most J-League clubs and tens of thousands chanting in support of Vegalta Sendai, the team from the region devastated by the March 11 tsunami.
Over two million yen had been raised in the build-up to the match, which will go towards helping victims of the recent natural disasters which rocked Japan.
The Samurai Blue were energetic and Alberto Zaccheroni fielded his best eleven, including the likes of Yuto Nagatomo, Keisuke Honda and Shinji Okazaki.
Japan opened the scoring in the 15th minute through a curled Yasuhito Endo free-kick, with the Japanese players celebrating the goal by lifting their black armbands to the sky in unison, in honour of those who lost their lives in the disaster.
Shinji Okazaki chipped the ball over Seigo Narazaki to give the national team a 2-0 lead after combining well with Honda.
Though the J-League representatives produced some good football, most had never played together and they rarely tested Eiji Kawashima.
There were a number of changes at half time and both Daisuke Matsui and Shunsuke Nakamura received huge cheers when they came on, though the loudest applause was for 44 year-old legend Kazu Miura.
His lobbed goal sent the 40,000 strong crowd at the Nagai Stadium ballistic, with a number bursting into tears as he performed his trademark dance celebration.
Addressing the audience after the game, the players confirmed that more than 65 million yen - almost US$ 800,000 - had been raised for victims.
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