The inaugural Kisogawa derby was won by Nagoya, however for defeated Gifu it was a very rewarding battle.
At last a new page in history has been written. It was not only the debut of Gifu’s first professional team, but also the first J game to be played in Gifu. To witness the first “Kisogawa Derby” with their own eyes, a long line of people waited outside the gates until eventually 10,427 spectators were rammed into Nagaragawa Stadium.
Special attention was paid to new Grampus coach Stoikovich, and whether his team could put into practice his promised “fluid and attractive” style of football.
From the start, Nagoya with a strong wind at their back overwhelmed Gifu with sharp forward movement and quick toe-to-toe transfers. Yamaguchi and Ogawa provided the axis, with a succession of quick one-touch, two-touch passes which left the opposition’s defense marking in a crooked position and therefore creating a succession of chances. Defender Yoshimoto, who gathered a pass from a left cross kick in the fifth minute, released a powerful shot but this collided with the upper post. In the sixth minute left midfielder Fukui provided to forwards Yonsen and Tamada but these also failed to result in a goal. Also in the tenth minute right-fielder Yonsen passed to a flying Ogawa in front of the goal but this was also thwarted by Gifu defense.
Nagoya’s relentless attack finally paid off in the 20th minute. From a breakout on the right side midfielder Katayama cut through into the midfield only to be taken down by defender Nasu resulting in a penalty kick. Yonsen calmly slotted the PK and finally Nagoya had some success from their pressing attack. From that point it looked like Nagoya might open the floodgates but all of a sudden, the fluid attack of Nagoya ceased. Passes were missed and the strong attack and defense lines began to crumble. On the other hand, Gifu began to find space in the middle of the field, and slowly began to mesh together their attack and defense through Kojima and Kitamura’s free running of the ball.
The game then started to change as Gifu began to play the brand of football that Nagoya had wanted to play. In the 23rd minute Shimada threatened the goal when he cut in from the right and fired a low shot. Then, again in the 31st minute, defender Kojima headed a right-corner kick which just shaved the outside of the goal post. In the 32nd minute Kojima passed to Takagi waiting on the right who produced a great cross kick although the ball couldn’t connect with a final knockout kick. Due to this aggressive Gifu attack, Nagoya were thus forced to concentrate on their defense and safety play therefore isolating their attacking weapons Fukui, Tamada and Yonsen.
After returning from the sheds 1-0 down at half-time, Gifu continued attacking though Takagi and Shimada and in the 53rd minute earned a penalty kick when Shimada was brought down in the penalty area after receiving a pass from Katagiri. It was a great chance for Gifu to claw back on level peggings but unfortunately Kojima shot the ball over the bar. From then on the game settled down with both teams creating chances, but finishing touches were lacking and the scoreboard remained motionless. In the end the game finished at 1-0, and Nagoya were able to retain their J1 pride.
However, although Nagoya won the game, their solitary goal was by PK, and they also offered Gifu a PK chance as well as other chances. If a goal had been scored against them, it wouldn’t have been unusual. Nonetheless the midfield of Fujida, Nakamura, Maginun and Yoshida all came though injury free and played together as a unit well with Ogawa, Yamaguchi, Katayama and Fukui. As time wore on though, they didn’t function as effectively and as a result the football became very messy.
After the game Stoikovich commented “The game against Gifu was a real test for us. It was a hard game, but we came out with a win, so it was a good result for us”. It was a fixed evaluation, but surely he must be anxious as to whether his team can pull together for the opening match in two weeks time.
On the other hand, although Gifu lost, after they had conceded the PK they restructured and provided some good football. Not only did they create scoring chances, but new members Shimada and Katayama played positively while rookie university graduate Kan showed he was also ready to fire. “We were able to put into practice what we learned at camp and gain some common understanding of each other” said Manager Matsunaga. For the war about to begin in the J2, it was a rewarding battle.
So this is how the Kisogawa Derby unfolded. We wonder when we will see this confrontation again next. But whether it be in the near future, or the distant future, we can only hope to see them battle together on the J1 stage sometime soon.
2008.02.25 Reported by Ando Takahito
【2008Jリーグプレシーズンマッチ 岐阜 vs 名古屋】レポート：初の木曽川ダービーは名古屋に軍配。しかし敗れた岐阜にとっても収穫ある一戦となった。 [ J's GOAL ]
2月24日（日） 2008Jリーグプレシーズンマッチ岐阜 0 - 1 名古屋 （13:35／長良川／10,427人）得点者：20' ヨンセン（名古屋）
ついに歴史の1ページが開かれた。岐阜初のプロチームが、岐阜の地でJ公式戦を行った。初の『木曽川ダービー』を見届けようと、会場には開門前から長蛇の列が出来、最終的には10,427人もの観衆が詰め掛けた。
名古屋の注目はストイコビッチ監督が掲げる、全体が流動的に動いてボールを運んでいくサッカーが実践できるかにあった。立ち上がりから、風上に陣取った名古屋は鋭い出足からパスを小刻みに繋いで、岐阜を圧倒。山口、小川のダブルボランチが軸となり、ワンタッチ、ツータッチの少ないタッチ数でパスを繋ぐこと で、相手守備陣のマークの歪を生み出して、次々とチャンスメークしていく。5分には左からのクロスに、DF吉田が抜け出し、決定的なシュートを放つが、これはバー直撃。6分には左MF深井のチャンスメークからヨンセンと玉田が続けて狙うが、これもゴールならず。10分には右サイドのヨンセンのパスを、ゴー ル前に飛び込んだ小川が狙うが、これはDFのブロックに合う。
名古屋の猛攻が実ったのは20分のことだった。右サイドを突破した右MF片山がそのまま中に切れ込むと、寄せてきたDF奈須に倒されPKを獲得。このPK をヨンセンが冷静に決めて、押し込んでいた名古屋が先制に成功する。これで流れは一気に名古屋に傾くかと思われたが、あれほど流動的だった攻撃がぴたりと止まってしまう。ダブルボランチにボールが入らなくなり、攻守のバランスが崩れ始める。反対に岐阜にとっては、中盤にスペースが出来たことで、徐々に小 島、北村のダブルボランチが自由にボールを持てるようになり、彼らが中継点となってようやく攻守が噛み合うようになってきた。名古屋がやりたかったことを岐阜がやり始めたことにより、試合展開は徐々に変化していく。23分には右サイドから切れ込んだMF嶋田のドリブルシュートで 名古屋を脅かすと、31分には右CKからDF川島がヘッドで狙うが、これも僅かゴールの外。32分には小島のドリブルから左の高木へ展開し、高木のクロス からチャンスを生み出すが、これはシュートに結びつかなかった。攻勢に出る岐阜に対し、名古屋は徐々にDFラインが下がり始め、ボールの奪いどころが低く なり、深井や玉田、ヨンセンの2トップが孤立し、劣勢を強いられた。
1-0で迎えた後半も、ダブルボランチと高木、嶋田の両サイドを起点に攻める岐阜は、53分に左サイドをえぐった片桐のマイナスの折り返しを中央で受けた嶋田が、PA内で倒されて、PKを獲得する。同点に追いつく最大のチャンスだったが、これを小島宏が痛恨の失敗。その後試合は落ち着きをみせ、その後は両チームともチャンスこそ作るが、フィニッシュの精度を欠き、スコアを動かすことは出来ず。試合は1-0のまま終了し、名古屋がJ1の面目を保った。
しかし、名古屋は勝利したものの、得点はPKによる1点のみで、反対に相手にPKを献上したり、チャンスを作られるなど、いつ点を入れられてもおかしくな い展開だった。中盤は藤田、中村、マギヌン、吉村を怪我で欠いていたとはいえ、小川、山口、片山、深井と駒は揃っていた。だが、時間が経過するごとに機能しなくなり、全体的に連動性の乏しいサッカーとなってしまった。試合後、ストイコビッチ監督は「岐阜とのプレマッチで我々にとってもテストだった。ハードな試合となったけど、結果が付いてきたので、いい形で終われたと思う」と一定の評価を与えたが、不安要素が残ったのは否めず、開幕までの2週間で不安要素をどこまで修正できるかがポイントとなってくるだろう。
一方の岐阜は負けはしたものの、失点してからの建て直しは明るい材料となるだろう。同点にするチャンスを作ることは出来たし、新加入の嶋田、片山は積極的にチャンスに絡み、途中出場の大卒ルーキーの菅も即戦力となりうる働きを見せた。「キャンプで実践を重ねてきたことで、共通理解が深まってきた」と松永監 督も語ったように、J2を戦っていく上で、収穫ある一戦となった。
こうして幕を閉じた『木曽川ダービー』。次、この対決が実現するのはいつの日になるのか。近い将来なのか、遠い将来となるのか。願わくば、J1のステージでの実現を夢見て、両チームはそれぞれの戦いに挑んでいく。
以上2008.02.25 Reported by 安藤隆人
