2009-12-05 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 4-1 Kyoto Sanga

Turncoat: KASHIWAGI Yosuke is headed to Urawa (photo from June) - stefanole

The end of the 2009 J. League season was a bittersweet affair for Sanfrecce Hiroshima, as they pasted Kyoto Sanga 4-1. Unfortunately, reports have it that KASHIWAGI Yosuke, the talismanic midfielder who came through the Sanfrecce Youth team, will effectively turn traitor and join Urawa Red Diamonds in the coming days.

2009-11-28 Fagiano Okayama 0-1 Ventforet Kofu

Ventforet's MATSUHASHI Masaru guides the ball into the Okayama net - stefanole

Although I have been planning on going to see Fagiano play for a while now, their poor performances and odd scheduling habits (Sunday evening football, anyone?) have meant that we’ve always been busy doing other things. Once I found out that there would be a rugby Top League game the next day though, we made sure to keep the dates free for a weekend watching two of Football’s various codes in action.

2009-11-28 Jubilo Iwata 0-1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Hisato versus Jubilo in July - stefanole

Sanfrecce climbed to fourth place after winning at the Yamaha stadium. If they can hang on, and if results in the Emperor’s Cup go their way, Sanfrecce could be in line to inherit the fourth Asian Champions League berth after the semi-finals have been played on 29th December.

2009-11-21 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0-0 Nagoya Grampus

Kennedy and Nakabayashi watch as the ball flashes across the Sanfrecce goalmouth - stefanole

Sanfrecce’s chances of grabbing the final automatic ACL spot in J1 were dashed, as they could only draw against Nagoya Grampus at the Big Arch on Saturday. A fourth-placed finish is now the best Hiroshima can hope for, but even this might be enough to qualify for Asia if the Emperor’s Cup final is contested by teams already qualified for the ACL.