Vissel 3 - 2 Urawa

Several times a year, our beloved team reminds us of the joy of being Vissel Kobe supporters. Occasions such as avoiding relegation, gaining promotion, beating Gamba (home & away!) and massive victories at home against the likes of Kashima all come to mind. Last night was one of those occasions when we beat Urawa Reds 3-2 in a magical evening at Home's Stadium.

Without getting to "football", I'll just say that we played them off the park. The 3-2 scoreline did not reflect our overall dominance of the match in defense, and especially the midfield. We played a basic 4-4-2 with Yoshida and Okubo starting up front. In the second half, Okubo dropped back a bit to make way for Mogi who had come on for the injured Nam-Il. Yoshida will be remembered for his 2 goals but Okubo gets my man of the match for the way he held the ball up in the middle throughout the second half. The way a player of his size uses his his strength to shrug off players is immense. I mentioned a while back that his best position is in the hole at the front of the midfield and last night he proved me right. If we have someone else who can play as a straight out striker, that's where he should play.

Special mentions also to Komoto who got the much-needed 3rd goal and Botti who was involved in everything.

Next up we have the second most important match of the season - Gamba away.