5 of the best J.LEAGUE Cup finals

5 of the best J.LEAGUE Cup finals

By Sean Carroll

The final of the 2021 J.LEAGUE YBC Levain CUP is sure to be a hotly-contested encounter between Nagoya Grampus and Cerezo Osaka.

Ahead of the showpiece finale at Saitama Stadium 2002 on October 30th, we’ve gone back through the archives to relive some of the best League Cup deciders in J.League history!


1996 - Shimizu S-Pulse 3-3 Verdy Kawasaki (5-4 on pens)

Verdy Kawasaki were dominant in the early days of the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup and headed into the 1996 final against Shimizu S-Pulse having won all three previous editions - the first two of which came against Shimizu.

They didn’t have everything their own way against Ossie Ardiles’ men at Tokyo National Stadium this time, however, and after a goalless first half Kenta Hasegawa - who won the 2020 tournament as the manager of F.C.Tokyo - put Shimizu ahead in the 68th minute, before Fernando Nicolas Oliva doubled their lead with nine minutes to play.

Verdy weren’t a team to give up easily though, and two goals from corners in the 87th and 89th minutes - an own goal and an effort from Argel - drew them level and forced the game into extra time. Shimizu recovered well to having glory snatched from their fingertips and re-took the lead in the first minute of additional time through Santos, but yet again Verdy found the resolve to peg them back when Bismarck made it 3-3 in the 105th minute.

Penalties ensued, and Magrao’s miss with Verdy’s second attempt prove decisive, with Shimizu remaining perfect and converting all five of their spot-kicks to be crowned champions.

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2003 - Urawa Reds 4-0 Kashima Antlers

Urawa Reds and Kashima Antlers share one of the fiercest rivalries in the J.League, and their meeting in the 2002 Yamazaki Nabisco Cup final drew the largest crowd in the competition’s history at 56,064 spectators.

Kashima emerged as 1-0 victors in that clash and when both teams progressed to the decider the following year too, Reds were out for revenge.

They got off to a dream start after just 13 minutes when Koji Yamase looped a header home, and Brazilian striker Emerson made it 2-0 to Urawa three minutes after half time when he tore in behind and beyond Kashima goalkeeper Hitoshi Sogahata before stroking into the net.

Urawa 2003 JLPSD-Recovered-Recovered 2-Recovered.png

Tatsuya Tanaka put the game beyond Kashima eight minutes later when he danced beyond a couple of tackles and slammed home from 20 yards out, and Emerson added the cherry on the cake in the 86th minute when he found half a yard of space in the penalty area and lashed home Urawa’s fourth.


2010 - Júbilo Iwata 5-3 Sanfrecce Hiroshima (aet)

Few could have predicted what was to come after 35 goalless minutes between Júbilo Iwata and Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Tokyo National Stadium in the 2010 Yamazaki Nabisco Cup final, but after Keisuke Funatani opened the scoring for Júbilo in the 36th minute the floodgates opened.

Tadanari Lee levelled things up two minutes before half-time, and then three minutes after the restart Satoru Yamagishi put Sanfrecce in front with a cool finish from close range. It looked as though that would be that until Ryoichi Maeda bundled home an equaliser for Jubilo in the 89th minute to send the game into an additional 30 minutes.

Three more goals swiftly followed in the first period of extra time, as Minoru Suganuma and Ryohei Yamazaki sensationally put Jubilo 4-2 up before Tomoaki Makino clawed one back for Hiroshima with a bullet of a free-kick.

Maeda was again on hand to rescue Jubilo though, squeezing home from a tight angle in the 109th minute to make it 5-3. The contest ended in dramatic fashion too, as Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi saved a Makino penalty with the last kick of the game to ensure Jubilo emerged as 5-3 victors.


2014 - Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-3 Gamba Osaka

Sanfrecce Hiroshima won back-to-back J.League titles in 2012 and 2013, and with 35 minutes gone of the 2014 Yamazaki Nabisco Cup final against Gamba Osaka it looked like they were on course for another piece of silverware.

Hajime Moriyasu’s men had surged into the lead thanks to a pair of Hisato Sato goals in the 20th and 35th minutes, but Patric soon halved the deficit for Gamba when he headed home a Yasuhito Endo cross from the left flank in the 38th minute.

The Brazilian was on hand again nine minutes after the break to restore parity for Kenta Hasegawa’s side with an almost identical finish, this time glancing home a cross sent into the area from deep on the left by Takashi Usami.

Substitute Kentaro Omori then completed the comeback in the 71st minute, heading home the rebound after Takuto Hayashi had saved a rasping effort from Hiroyuki Abe to deliver Gamba the first trophy of what would go on to become a historic treble of J1, League Cup, and Emperor’s Cup triumphs.


2019 - Kawasaki Frontale 3-3 Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo (5-4 on pens)

Few games can have had quite so many twists and turns as the epic clash between Kawasaki Frontale and Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo in the 2019 YBC Levain Cup final.

Two-time defending J1 champions Kawasaki fell behind in just the 10th minute to a fierce Daiki Suga effort, but managed to level things up in the third minute of first half stoppage time when Hiroyuki Abe rifled home from close range. Yu Kobayashi then thought he had won the cup for Frontale when he broke in behind and slotted triumphantly home in the 88th minute, but Sapporo weren’t giving up that easily and equalised with the last touch of regulation time when Kazuki Fukai headed home from a corner.

Kawasaki captain Shogo Taniguchi received a straight red card for a foul on Chanathip Songkrasin while the last man in the sixth minute of extra time, and his misery had seemingly been compounded when Akito Fukumori slammed home from the resultant free-kick. This time it was to be Sapporo hearts broken with a late goal, however, as Kobayashi notched his second with one minute of extra time remaining.

In the penalty shoot-out Naoki Ishikawa had the chance to seal glory with Sapporo’s fifth attempt, but saw his effort tipped past the post by Shota Arai. Tatsuya Hasegawa then made no mistake with Kawasaki’s first penalty in sudden death, and the contest was decided with the next kick when Arai again flew to his right to deny Ryosuke Shindo and send Kawasaki’s players and fans into raptures.

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