NEWS

 

J. League promotion hopefuls Fagiano Okayama of Okayama Prefecture and New Wave Kitakyushu of Fukuoka Prefecture started the Emperor’s Cup campaign on a winning note as the annual all-Japan tournament got under way at the weekend.

Okayama forward Sho Kamogawa scored a hat trick to carry the Okayama-based Japan Football League side to a 6-0 win over Hitachi Kasado of Yamaguchi Prefecture, while Kitakyushu edged Honda Lock of Miyazaki Prefecture 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time.
Ohzu High School of Kumamoto Prefecture shocked Nippon Bunri University of Oita Prefecture 2-1 to become the only high school side to advance to the second round.
The second round will take place on September 20-21, while the third round – when the J. League’s Division Two clubs will join the competition – will be held on October 12.
The Division One clubs will start their campaign from the fourth round (November 2-3), but teams taking part in the Nabisco Cup final and the AFC Champions League final will play on November 5 and November 16, respectively.
The fifth round will be held on November  15, and the quarterfinals are scheduled for December 20.   The teams involved in the ACL final  will play their fifth-round matches on November 26 and the team participating in the FIFA Club World Cup will play the quarterfinal on December 25.
The semifinals will take place on December 29 and the final will be staged on January 1 at the National Stadium in Tokyo.
The winners of the annual competition, sponsored by Suruga Bank from this year, will earn a spot in the AFC Champions League and a bonus of 100 million yen.