NEWS

Defending champions Gamba Osaka were knocked out of this year’s AFC Champions League on Wednesday after losing 3-2 at home to Kawasaki Frontale in the Round of 16.

Kashima Antlers lost 5-4 on penalties at home to K. League team FC Seoul following a 2-2 extra-time draw. The J. League champions had to play with 10 men from halfway through the second half after Mitsuo Ogasawara was sent off.
Nagoya Grampus advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-1 win over visiting K. League side Suwon Bluewings.
Frontale, a quarterfinalist in 2007, and ACL debutant Grampus joined K. League sides Pohang Steelers and FC Seoul, Bunyodkor and Pakhtakor from Uzbekistan, Umm Salal of Qatar and Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals, which will take place on September 23/24 and 30.
The draw for the quarterfinals will be held on Monday in Kuala Lumpur.
Playing at Expo ’70 Commemoration Park Stadium in Osaka Prefecture, Gamba twice took the lead through Brazilian forward Leandro, but Frontale rallied in the second half and substitute forward Masaru Kurotsu scored the winner five minutes from time.
Gamba manager Akira Nishino was able to use all his regular players, including Yasuhito Endo, Leandro, Tomokazu Myojin and Takahiro Futagawa, who returned from injuries and helped the home side dominate midfield with their trademark passing game.
Leandro put the champions ahead in the 27th minute when he latched on to a through ball from Hideo Hashimoto and beat two Frontale defenders before striking home from inside the box.
Kengo Nakamura cancelled that out after dribbling through the Gamba midfield and firing in a mid-range shot in the 33rd minute.
But six minutes later, Leandro headed home an Akira Kaji cross to give the hosts a 2-1 lead at halftime. It was the Brazilian’s 10th goal in the ACL.
Kawasaki manager Takashi Sekizuka brought on Yuji Yabu after the break to strengthen his midfield and in the second half Frontale started to create more chances.
After Nakamura and Brazilian forward Juninho made good mid-range attempts, Frontale drew level in the 76th minute when Brazilian forward Renatinho took a pass from Nakamura and skillfully lobbed the ball into the Gamba goal from outside the box.
The visitors continued to press forward, and Kurotsu, who came on in the 65th minute, latched on to a through ball from Nakamura to blast the winner past Gamba goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya in the 85th minute.
Nishino brought on Korean international forward Cho Jae Jin in the 80th minute and forward Ryuji Bando and midfielder Hayato Sasaki in the dying moments, but the changes didn’t affect the outcome.
“This result is a real blow,” Gamba manager Akira Nishino said. “The blame should fall on me; I was too late making substitutions.
“Our players worked hard and played much better than I had expected, especially those coming back into the team, but we lost our movement and connection in the second half.”
Nishino added, “It’s too bad we couldn’t stay in the tournament and defend our title, as I feel Gamba are returning to form now that all our players are returning to action.”
Sekizuka said, “We beat the defending champions, which makes us really happy, and our players fought really hard to the very end of the game.”
“Gamba took control of the game in the first half, but we fixed our problems in the second half, and Kurotsu and Renatinho both did a good job with their finishing touches. Nakamura showed his determination and commitment to the game and led the team with his hard work in attack and defense.”
Sekizuka added: “Winning such an important game today will bring us good confidence, and we’d like to move on and keep fighting hard as a representative of the J. League clubs and Japan.”

Kashima shocked
In Kashima, Antlers went ahead in the fifth minute thanks to forward Shinzo Koroki’s close-range strike.
But visiting Seoul fought back and Lee Seung Yeoul equalized in the 22nd minute, gaining possession after two Kashima players collided near the penalty area.
Kashima midfielder Takeshi Aoki put the Antlers 2-1 up in the 50th minute, but the hosts faced a setback when playmaker Ogasawara was sent off in the 64th minute after picking up his second booking of the day.
The Koreans put pressure on their opponents and Ki Sung Yueng struck in the 78th minute to level the scores.
Kashima midfielder Koji Nakata hit the bar shortly before the end of extra time.
In the shootout, two kickers from each side saw their penalties saved as the score reached 4-4 after six rounds. Kashima’s seventh kicker, Atsuto Uchida, then lashed the ball over the bar, while Park Young Ho wrong-footed Kashima goalkeeper Hitoshi Sogahata to hand Seoul the win.
Kashima manager Oswaldo Oliveira said, “It’s disappointing to lose the game on penalties. But our players played hard throughout the 120 minutes, even after we went down to 10 men.”

Nagoya edge
In Nagoya, Grampus were put under pressure by the visitors but managed to survive thanks to some good goalkeeping from Seigo Narazaki.
Nagoya midfielder Yoshizumi Ogawa ran behind the Suwon backline to receive a pass from Brazilian forward Davi and fired home the opening goal in the 22nd minute.
In the 66th minute, Japan forward Keiji Tamada took a pass in the box, sidestepped a Suwon defender and scored Nagoya’s second with a low left-foot shot.
The Koreans pulled one goal back through forward Eduardo in the 69th minute, but Nagoya was able to hold on.
Nagoya manager Dragan Stojkovic said, “It was a tough game, as I expected. But the important thing is that we got the victory.
“Our players fought hard to achieve our objective of reaching the next round. Now we can play in the last eight in Asia, and that will give us very good confidence.”