Nagoya Grampus and Gamba Osaka will contest the final of the Emperor’s Cup on New Year’s Day after successfully coming through their respective last four matches on Tuesday afternoon.
Holders Gamba Osaka had Lucas to thank after the Brazilian notched both of his side’s goals in their 2-1 victory over J2 champions Vegalta Sendai. Gamba’s preparations had suffered a setback when goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya was struck down with swine flu over the weekend, forcing coach Akira Nishino to hand a debut to third-choice custodian Atsushi Kimura, but any early nerves were settled when Lucas fired home an impressive overhead kick after just three minutes. Takayuki Nakahara scored just before the hour mark to level the score for Sendai, but Lucas struck again minutes later to keep Gamba’s trophy defence on track.
Earlier in the day, Nagoya Grampus had needed penalties to overcome Shimizu S-Pulse in what had effectively been an away trip to Shizuoka Stadium. Shinji Okazaki gave S-Pulse the lead after 16 minutes, before his national team striking partner Keiji Tamada levelled the scores from the spot early in the second half after Joshua Kennedy had been felled. With both goalkeepers showing fine form throughout a tense period of extra time, the tie was ultimately decided when Daisuke Ichikawa hit the crossbar with Shimizu’s first kick of the shootout.
Friday’s showpiece will be Nagoya’s first final appearance in ten years, since beating Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-0 on the first day of the new millennium. Victory for Dragan Stojković’s men will ensure that Japan is represented by the same four teams in the 2010 AFC Champions League as it was this year, but with Gamba already qualified through their league position, a second straight crown for the Osaka club will transfer the final ACL place to Sanfrecce, who finished fourth in their first season back in J1 this year.
Emperor’s Cup semi-final results
Gamba Osaka 2-1 Vegalta Sendai
Nagoya Grampus 1-1 Shimizu S-Pulse (after extra time; Nagoya won 5-3 on penalties)
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