ONE WEEK LATER, THE J-LEAGUE STARTED FOR ALL THE OTHER CLUBS, IN EVERY DIVISION. THE FIRST TO MAKE HIS DEBUT WAS IZAWA IN THE J2.
HIS ADAPTABILITY AND VERSATILITY ALLOWED HIM TO QUICKLY FIT INTO THE TEAM...
HE EVEN MANAGED TO PERFORM AN ASSIST THAT ALLOWED HIS TEAM YOKOHAMA FC TO WIN AGAINST THE RECENTLY DEMOTED KAWASAKI FRONTALE!
THE SAME DAY, KISUGI MADE HIS DEBUT BY ENTERING NEAR THE END OF THE SECOND HALF, WITH HIS TEAM CEREZO OSAKA ALREADY LEADING 2-0 AGAINST EHIME FC. WHILE HE DIDN'T SCORE, HIS PLAY WAS STILL DANGEROUS FOR THE OPPONENTS WHO WERE PLAYING DEFENSIVELY.
ONE WEEK LATER, TAKI MADE HIS DEBUT, HE WAS HEAVILY MARKED AND COULDN'T PLAY LIKE HE WANTED... BUT A CORNER KICK ALLOWED HIM TO MAKE AN ASSIST...
TO AN OVERLAPPING TALL DEFENDER, NAKAZAWA YUJI, WHO ALSO DEFENDED THEIR GOAL EFFICIENTLY, ALLOWING THEM TO WIN 1-0 AGAINST MACHIDA ZELVIA.
THE SAME WEEK, ISHIZAKI AND URABE PLAYED WELL AGAINST THE J3 CLUB GAINARE TOTTORI, ON TOP OF THEIR PERFECT DEFENSE, THEY ALSO TOOK PART IN THE OFFENSE, URABE MANAGED TO MAKE AN ASSIST WHILE ISHIZAKI EVEN MANAGED TO SCORE, FOR A FLAWLESS 3-0 VICTORY.
ONE WEEK LATER, BECAUSE A REGULAR WAS INJURED DURING THE GAME, SODA MADE HIS DEBUT! ALTHOUGH HE DIDN'T SCORE OR PERFORM AN ASSIST, HIS PLAY BOTH OFFENSIVELY AND DEFENSIVELY WAS WORTH OF THE J-LEAGUE, HIS TEAM EVENTUALLY WON DURING EXTRA TIME, MAKING HIS DEBUT A 2 POINTS VICTORY AGAINST ALBIREX NIIGATA.
TWO WEEKS LATER, THE YOKOHAMA F. MARINOS WERE COMPLETELY SETTING THE PACE AGAINST AVISPA FUKUOKA, LEADING 2-0 THANKS TO A KILLER PASS AND A FREE KICK GOAL FROM NAKAMURA SHUNSUKE, MVP OF THE J-LEAGUE LAST SEASON.
JITO MADE HIS INFORTUNATE DEBUT IN THIS MATCH, ALTHOUGH AVISPA PLAYED BETTER AND EVEN MANAGED TO SCORE BACK ONCE, NAKAMURA IN THE ZONE STILL MANAGED TO SCORE THANKS TO ANOTHER FREE KICK, AND THE MATCH WAS LOST 3-1.
THE SAME DAY, SORIMACHI MADE HIS DEBUT MIDWAY INTO A GAME AGAINST KAWASAKI FRONTALE, BUT HIS INJURIES ONLY ALLOWED HIM TO BE A POOR DECOY FOR THE "KING KAZU", MIURA KAZUYOSHI. THE OPPONENT WERE STILL AWARE OF THE VETERAN ACE STRIKER NO MATTER WHAT, AND THE MATCH WAS LOST 0-1.
TAKASUGI'S CURRENT NEGATIVE MINDSET, AS WELL AS MORISAKI AND WAKASHIMAZU'S INJURIES, PREVENTED THEM FROM MAKING THEIR DEBUT SO FAR... WITH MISUGI BEING UNABLE TO PLAY AS WELL, THE GOLDEN AGE IN THE FIRST DIVISION OF THE J-LEAGUE WEREN'T THE ONES HAVING THE SPOTLIGHT...
THE CURRENT, UNDEFEATED LEADERS OF THE FIRST DIVISION OF THE J-LEAGUE WERE THE YOKOHAMA F. MARINOS, THE JUBILO IWATA, JEF UNITED AND... THE RED DIAMONDS.
IZAWA'S YOKOHAMA FC AND KISUGI'S CEREZO OSAKA WERE UNDEFEATED SO FAR IN THE J2, WITH TAKI'S TOKYO VERDY AND KAWASAKI FRONTALE NOT FAR BEHIND.
BUT EVERYTHING WAS GOING SMOOTHLY FOR ISHIZAKI AND URABE'S U-23 JUBILO HOWEVER, LEADING THE J3, ABOVE OITA TRINITA, RECENTLY RELEGATED TO THE 3RD DIVISION, AND GAMBA OSAKA'S U-23 TEAM.
BUT AFTER 2 MONTHS OF HEATED FIGHTS IN THE J-LEAGUE, ANOTHER PLAYER WAS GOING TO MAKE HIS DEBUT IN ANOTHER SUNNY COUNTRY... AND HIS SOCCER CAREER WAS DEPENDING ON IT.
AS HIS COACH SAID, IF HE FAILED TO DELIVER, NOTHING COULD SAVE HIM FROM BEING DISMISSED BY HIS CLUB... BUT HE WASN'T AFRAID.
BECAUSE HE FULLY GRASPED THE EXTENT OF HIS ABILITIES! AND...
