NEWS

Gamba Osaka will hope to become the first club to win a third straight Emperor’s Cup in this year’s tournament, which starts on September 3.

The former Asian champions won the season-ending competition in the last two years and could become the first team in the 90-year history of the tournament to win it three years in a row.
“We know how great it is to play [in the final] on January 1 and we were able to win it last year and the year before,” Gamba manager Akira Nishino commented on Monday. “We want to experience that great feeling again.”
“But it won’t be easy, as we also have to play in the J. League and Nabisco Cup, while the amateur teams [in the Emperor’s Cup] are strongly motivated when they play against J. League teams and sometimes cause upsets. That shouldn’t really happen; as a J. League side, we should play with dignity.”
The annual tournament features all the teams from J. League Division One and Division Two, the top three JFL teams from the first half of the season, qualifiers from the 47 prefectures and the All-Japan Collegiate champions.
Gamba will play the winners of the match between Osaka University of Health and Sports Sciences (qualifiers from Osaka Prefecture) and Arterivo Wakayama (qualifiers from Wakayama Prefecture) at home in the second round on September 5.
“It is interesting playing against amateur sides,” Gamba midfielder Yasuhito Endo said. “We should forget the past two years and go into the tournament with a strong determination to become champions.”
All the J. League teams will have a bye in the first round on September 3 and will join the tournament from the second round on September 5.
The third round will take place on October 9 and 11, with the Nabisco Cup semifinalists playing on October 13. The fourth round will be held on November 17, the quarterfinals on December 25 and the semifinals on December 29. The final will be staged on January 1 at the National Stadium in Tokyo.
Gamba midfielder and skipper Tomokazu Myojin commented: “Since no team has won the tournament three years in a row, we’d like to be the first to leave our name in history.”
The winners will earn the honor as the No. 1 team in the country, as well as \100 million in prize money.