Monday, March 12, 2007

Ehime vs Verdy-Domination or disappointment?


These two men are guilty.........of scoring goals. In another laugher of a contest, Tokyo Verdy took the lead early on a nice juke move by Hulk which caught Ehime's very young keeper flat footed an unprepared to cut off the goal.

Hulk goal here
Goal number two was also initiated by Hulk as the burly striker got a rocket shot off in between two defenders that went off the far post and ricocheted back. Diego tried to get his ample frame off the ground and jut missed on getting his head on the ball. Luckily, the big man, Yuzo Funakoshi was trailing on the play and had the ball roll to his foot, he reared back and kicked and put one low past a now shell shocked Sato. Bikkuri Donkey is on quite a tear!
Bikkuri Donkey's glorious 2nd goal!
Finally, Kensuke Fukuda launched a bomb on a roll out from Takagi, Hulk was able to get a head on it and run past DF Tetsushi Kondo and the hapless Sato and tap in his second goal of the game.
Hulk part deux
Ehime managed to grab one in the last minute as the recently benched superstriker Toshiya Tanaka connected to put the only black mark on an otherwise successful Sunday for the guys in green. 3-1 final
Quick Thoughts
It's been very nice that Verdy has notched 2 big wins against teams that they should be shelling. Last year, slaughters like these were few and far between. However, the season really starts next week when Verdy ventures north to Sendai to take on Vegalta. Then it's a string of tough matches including Kyoto, Avispa, Cerezo, and Shonan before getting a breather against Mito and Tokushima.
I'm kind of curious what Rui will do when Hiramoto is healthy. I'm not sure anyone (including the big man himself) expected Funakoshi to go on a mini streak like he has. He's not easy to watch but he's pretty effective and I gotta admit, I enjoy the donkey when he gets happy after a successful strike.............I believe he might be Soilent Green's main man!
Rui has gone with the same lineup for two weeks in a row which almost shocks me as much as the results.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw the game and it was domination from opening to final whistle....Hulk could have scored within a minute of the kick off like last week!! Fukuda broke down the right and whipped in a beauty of a cross at the near post, Hulk came flying in and crashed his header just past the post. Lightning fast both on his feet and in his head.THE signing of the season J2 wise so far. Funakoshi scored and as last week did precisely NOTHING for the other 60 minutes he was allowed to stay on the field. OK, he`s scored in both games but if we had Hiramoto up there too, wow! what an attacking force we would have!! He`s big and lumbering and while the first goal was decent last week, I could have tapped it in on Sunday. Takagi hardly had a save to make all afternoon. He had one punched clearance in the first half that was a little ropey, but otherwise his only exercise was picking the ball out the net when it was all done and dusted.He made a great save on the goal but couldn`t hold it and the the striker made no mistake with the rebound. I can`t emphasise how good Hulk was on Sunday, as I said he scored two, nearly three when he slammed the crossbar for Funakoshi`s goal and the near miss at the start. He was inches from scoring four!! Great start and long may it continue. Bring em on!!On the negative side of things.. there was some comedy long range shooting from our boys, they had a stiff wind at their backs for the second half and they were letting fly from anywhere...I felt for the safety of the contents of the car park,im sure somebody would have got back to find a broken window or two!! The Jubilo pair were particularly guilty but I think Togawa got the medal for the worst... just outside the centre circle, hoooooooooof!! cleared the field and one bounced on the running track and into the stand behind the goal.Superb!!

Anonymous said...

Funakoshi is 29 I see - did he have a decent scoring record for Niigata?

Anonymous said...

I agree, the real league will begin next journey against a powerful team as Vegalta, I would like to see this match :D

Funakoshi surprised me! Really he is a decent striker! Come on Yuzo!!

Anonymous said...

I agree, the real league will begin next journey against a powerful team as Vegalta, I would like to see this match :D

Funakoshi surprised me! Really he is a decent striker! Come on Yuzo!!