J-League Team of the Week Round 11: Eastern Japan represents with eight players

May 14, 2012 10:30:00 AM

The Kanto area showed its strength over the weekend as FC Tokyo, Kashiwa Reysol, and Yokohama F. Marinos each sent a pair of players to this round's Team of the Week

J-League

Team Of The Week:

Round 11

Weekly Roundup

GOALKEEPER

Shuichi Gonda
FC Tokyo

In a match that came down to one goal, Gonda had a huge impact on FC Tokyo's win with repeated super-saves. His presence on the squad is vital enough that manager Ranko Popovic is keeping his goalkeeper out of the Japan Under-23's squad for an invitational tournament in Toulon so that he can participate in upcoming ACL fixtures.

DEFENDERS

Hiroki Sakai Kashiwa Reysol	Masato Morishige FC Tokyo	Yuzo Kurihara Yokohama F. Marinos
Morishige teamed up with Gonda to help protect Tokyo's first-minute lead, while Sakai and Kurihara worked hard on the wings for their respective teams. Sakai in particular had a bright showing as he seems all but set for a move to Germany's Hannover, while Kurihara's defensive team-mates on Marinos narrowly missed selection.

MIDFIELDERS

Seitaro Tomisawa
Yokohama F. Marinos

Naoyuki Fujita
Sagan Tosu

Takuya Matsuura
Jubilo Iwata

Marcio Richardes
Urawa Reds

Hiroshi Kiyotake
Cerezo Osaka

In the holding midfielder position, Tomisawa earned his first selection not just with his defensive efforts but by sneaking in a goal off a corner kick. Tosu's Fujita impressed with his momentum as well as his long throw-ins, one of which led to the crucial equalising goal.

Jubilo's Matsuura recorded one striker and one assist on the right wing, while Kiyotake was a big influence for Cerezo in their draw. Finally in the 'hole', Marcio Richardes makes yet another Team of the Week appearance with his consistent stellar displays.

FORWARDS

Masato Kudo Kashiwa Reysol	Shingo Akamine Vegalta Sendai
With one goal and one assist, Kudo was a revelation for Reysol and showed that the reigning champions, still struggling in the league, may not be out of the running as many have thought. His performance surely attracted the attention of U23 coach Takashi Sekizuka. In Sendai, Akamine performed superbly in his first match back from injury, scoring with a second-half header as if the defenders weren't even there as he gave Vegalta a draw at Gamba.

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