J1 League

Game 38

Shimizu S-Pulse 1-2 Okayama Faggiano

Date: Saturday December 6th, 2:00 pm

IAI Nihondaira Stadium (Shizuoka)

S-PULSE GOALS Toshiki Takahashi (90)

YELLOW CARDS

RED CARDS

PENALTY KICK

ATTENDANCE 18346

LINE UP

GK Umeda

DF Kim Min Tae, Hasukawa, Sumiyoshi

MF Yamahara, Yajima, Inui, Bueno, Matsuzaki, Takagi

FW Stephens

SUBSTITUTIONS

Toshiki Takahashi on for Stephens (58)

Kitagawa on for Matsuzaki (66)

Miyamoto on for Yajima (66

Kitazume on for Takagi (66)

Kozuka on for Hasukawa (80)

REPORT

Drinking the chalice to the dregs…

After securing our place in next year’s J1 league we lost all our last four games, including two at home, and that against teams like us mired in the middle of the table.

Each of these four defeats followed exactly the same pattern until the very last one:

Dominating the possession (55% to 45%), more passes (a whopping 482 to 276), passing accuracy (90% to 86%). But how can you explain we let them shoot at our goal 18 times (against 15), have 9 attempts on target against our 7, and letting them beat us.

Seeing some players laughing after conceding the second goal could summarize the general attitude…

For consolation we did score the first and last goals of the season on our ground…

Time to turn the page!

We have the potential, so the approach has to differ.

With some big changes already in place we can only hope for better.

Next year’s schedule includes a competition involving 20 games (including two playoff home-away legs) from February 7th to June 7th under the name of Meiji Yasuda 100 Year Division League with some big prize money and a seat in the next ACL for the winners.

This should allow us to rebuild for the J1 League 2026/2027 edition with a minimum of pressure. At the same time, it will provide great entertainment for all!

Until then a Happy New Year to all our players, staff, fans and friends!

NEXT GAME

Meiji Yasuda 100 Year Division League

Regional Round (TBD)

Game 1

Shimizu S-Pulse vs TBD

Date: Saturday February 7th,2026, 2:00 pm (to be confirmed

Venue: TBD