Pentagon Pursuit | Part 15 | Final Day Drama In Japan

Robaato Rasamu came so close to sealing the first title in his mission to win all five top-tier continental trophies as Albirex Niigata narrowly lost to big-spending Al-Hilal in the AFC Champions League Final. The Japanese manager needed a little time to get his head around the defeat and consider his options moving forward.

Rasamu had just secured his Continental Pro Licence, which meant he’d gone from no coaching badges to the highest possible qualification in just under six years. And one of the biggest issues he was weighing up was whether a Japanese side could ever compete with their Saudi compatriots. Proof of that was even more interest in his players in August 2029, which saw winger Naoki Hattori join Al-Wehda for a ludicrous £7.5m. So in the last three seasons, Rasamu had sold £60m worth of talent to Saudi Arabia!

Realistically, if he was to leave Niigata for another Asian side, the only options would be big Korean sides like Jeonbuk and Ulsan or Australian side Sydney FC, who won the AFC Champions League earlier in this safe. But, for now at least, Rasamu was keen to stay at Niigata, where he believed he’d built the best young team in Japan.

Final Day J1 League Showdown

The second half of J1 League started slowly as Niigata drew at Chiba then at home to 2nd-place Kobe. But a week off allowed them to refocus and come back flying as Kazumasa Moriya bagged four in an 8-2 thumping of Kawasaki-F. Moriya was at it again a few days later, scoring both goals in a 2-1 victory over Shimizu, but they still found themselves trailing Kashima by eight points.

However, Kashima also finally slipped up, winning one in five to send Niigata top after 30 games thanks to a 2-0 victory over Nagoya in which homegrown striker Kazuki Yamada scored his first senior goal. But a tight title battle looked to be in store as the top five were separated by just three points.

Game 1 – Yokohama F-M (5th, away): That challenge was apparent as Niigata went to a title rival with an exhausted team, got battered and lost 3-1. Kashima lost again, Vissel Kobe won to go top and Gamba drew so the top five remained separated by three points.

Game 2 – Sapporo (8th, home): Some well-timed under 20s call-ups saw Niigata down to the bare bones at home to Sapporo. And it showed as, despite Yamada scoring again, the inconsistent Henrique Quintaneiro missed a penalty and Sapporo punished him by equalising with a dodgy late penalty. That dropped Niigata four points off the top.

Game 3 – Urawa (6th, away): Rasumu had begun trialling a new wingerless formation that got its first outing at Urawa. And it worked a treat as, despite giving up 21 shots to 10, Niigata won 5-2 led by a Quintaneiro hat trick. Gamba drew so the top five opened up but Niigata remained four points back.

Game 4 – Kashima (2nd, home): A huge game saw Niigata entertain Kashima and they started well as Moriya teed up fellow attacking midfielder Mitsuaki Hara to score on 14 minutes. They bossed the game and got their reward as Marko Sapuha headed home after a corner, then were a little unlucky to concede a late consolation. Kobe won again to remain four points clear as Niigata climbed to 2nd.

Game 5 – Kawasaki-F (13th, away): Niigata were equally dominant at Kawasaki and won 3-1 through Hideto Fukuyama, Moriya and Hara. Kobe finally dropped points at Fukuoka to split the top three by two points with two games remaining.

Game 6 – Omiya (18th, home): Niigata came out flying against struggling Omiya, racking up 10 shots in the first half hour and scoring through Fukuyama and Hara’s penalty. They wasted a mass of chances, having 19 shots with 3.00 xG before settling for a 2-0 win. Kobe and Kashima both won 1-0.

Game 7 – Shimizu (17th, away): The wastefulness continued next time out as they had 26 shots at Shimizu and looked to be drifting to a 1-1. But that man Hara yet again stepped up to smash home an injury-time winner.

Final Day Drama

Kobe won 5-0 at Chiba but Kashima drew with Nagoya to drop out of contention make it a two-team fight on the final day. Niigata sat two points behind 2024 and 2026 champions Vissel Kobe, who’d gone 10 games unbeaten.

Going into a huge final day, Niigata entertained Kyoto while Kobe entertained 15th-place FC-Tokyo. So Rasamu wasn’t confident. But his side started strongly and made it count as Moriya danced through a few challenges to open the scoring then great play by Hara teed up Quintaneiro. And as that second goal was going in, Tokyo scored at Kobe.

Kyoto got a goal back against the run of play and Fukuyama had two goals disallowed as Niigata’s wasteful streak continued. But they eventually held on as fans turned up the sound on their transistor radios and nervously refreshed their live score apps. Kobe had equalised on 53 minutes but gave away a penalty two minutes later. But would they find a late goal? No… they lost 2-1. So Albirex Niigata were Champions of Japan!

Niigata and Rasamu claimed their first titles by the narrowest of margins, winning the J1 League by one point from Vissel Kobe. They accrued two points fewer than last season, drawing 10 games and losing four, but again had a strong attack to thank for the biggest moment in club history. The league’s star man was Hara, who got a 7.49 average rating, 15 assists, only bettered by the 18 of Gamba’s Nakamura, and a joint 4th-best tally of 16 goals. As a result, he defended his Player of the Year award.

Second Champions League Group

Niigata went straight through to the AFC Champions League group stage for the first time, and got drawn with Adelaide United, Chinese side Changchun and South Korean club Ulsan. Rasamu’s quest for continental glory began with his first trip to Australia. They started brightly as Hara wrapped up a fine team move, obviously conceded the first shot they faced, but retook the lead through Ryo Nakumura’s stupendous free kick. Some shocking defending allowed Adelaide to equalise but Niigata had the last laugh as Yamada’s deflected long-range shot flew into the bottom corner.

Next up was Ulsan at home, which looked destined to finish 0-0 until Quintaneiro’s tidy finish on 72 minutes. The Portuguese then scored a penalty before Fukuyama made it look far more convincing than it was in injury time. A trip to China followed and Niigata well and truly dominated the game, having 20 shots to three and winning 3-0 with goals by Fukuyama and centre-back Haruto Fujiki.

Moriya made goals for Quintaneiro and Hara to earn a 2-2 in Korea then, three days after lifting their maiden title, Adelaide were thrashed 4-0 to confirm top place. They celebrated by dominating Changchun 4-0 led by the irresistible Hara creating the opener and scoring a screamer and a Yamada brace.

Analysing Niigata’s Glorious Success

Attack was again Niigata’s strength as they led J1 with 86 goals, the same tally as last season. That included a league-high 4 penalties (out of 6 taken), 12 from corners (2 fewer than Kobe) and 3 indirect free kicks. They also created the most chances (197), had the 2nd-most shots (498), the most shots on target (221) and the 6th-best conversion rate (17%).

Niigata had the 4th-best defence, conceding 40 to Kobe’s 37, but slightly improved at set pieces. They conceded 8 from corners (8th-worst), 3 penalties, 0 direct free kicks and 1 indirect. Additionally, champions Niigata have the 6th-lowest wage spend (£9.05m to Urawa’s £25.42m) and made a transfer profit of £24.78m.

The impressive Hara was Niigata’s star man with 25 goals, 19 assists and a 7.50 average rating in 53 games. Fukuyama was also good with 21 goals and 14 assists, Moriya scored 18 with 13 assists and Quintaneiro scored 21, while left-back Rai Yamazaki, who came out as gay this season, chipped in with 13 assists and midfielder Yoshitake Hironiwa got 14.