GAMETIME: 3/11 VERDY vs. Shonan Bellmare

BELLMARE PREVIEW: Verdy embarks on their first ever J2 roadtrip when they head south to take on Shonan Bellmare. Bellmare has been struggling the past couple of years, finishing near or at the bottom of the J2 table. The lads from Shonan hope to turn things around this year with the help of three Brazilians with J League experience (MF Nivald-Montedio 2003, MF Adiel-Urawa 2000, FW Fabio-Mito 2005). Bellmare started off their campaign with a 1-1 tie at newly relegated Kashiwa Reysol. Young Fabio managed to put one in the back of the net in the 86th minute to salvage a point for the aquamen. Bellmare hopes to make a statement against one of the prohibitive league favorites.

VERDY UPDATE: Verdy is coming off a gutsy 2-0 loss to Korean superteam Ulsan Horang-I. Most of the starting 11 played substantial minutes in the ACL contest, so fatigue might be a factor in the game. One player who should be rested though is the arguable man of the match from game 1, Masato Ohashi. Ohashi picked up a goal and a couple of assists in the 4-1 beating of Tokushima Vortis.

PROBABLE STARTERS:

Shonan Bellmare (4-4-2)

GK Tomohiko Ito
DF Shinji Jojo
DF Hiroyuki Omata
DF Takahoshi Matsumoto
DF Kosuke Suda
MF Nivald
MF Yusuke Sato
MF ADIEL
MF Nozomu Kato
FW Fabio
FW Satoshi Yokoyama

VERDY (4-4-2)

GK Mizuhara
DF Yanagisawa
DF Hagimura
DF Togawa
DF Sugawara
MF Anailson
MF Ono
MF Kanazawa
MF Ohashi
FW Basilio
FW Hiramoto

BENCH: Nagai, Fujita, Takagi, Saito, Iio

THREE TO WATCH:

11. Fabio-The young Brazilian striker scored late against Kashiwa to level the game and pull out a nice point on the road for Bellmare. With the erratic play of the D and Mizuhara, stopping Fabio from scoring might be a herculean effort.
7. Yusuke Sato-Sato is the enforcer for Bellmare in the middle of the field. A tough tackler and strong defensive presence, Sato will try and slow down Ohashi, Basilio, and Anailson from doing damage. Always an ejection possibility.
1. Tomohiko Ito-picked up from Cerezo Osaka in the offseason, Ito found himself in a busy game last week, preventing 13 of the 14 shots he faced from getting in the net. Finds himself in another tough test against a former J1 squad.

FINAL OUTLOOK- I think the key to this game is going to be the keepers. Mizuhara has been less than impressive in the 2 matches he's been between the pipes this season and has to be feeling the hot stinky breath of DANDELION TAKAGI on the back of his neck. Mental lapses in the back four have not helped either. This game could be rough for the Buzzards.