where have the Kashima Antlers went?

By: 21 | September 17th, 2008

Where has the best offensive attack in the J-League went?

Over the last few weeks the Kashima Antlers attack has been slowly disappearing and today, it faded away completely. After the mid-July blowout against FC Tokyo the club has been struggling to score and while I had thought it may have been solved with the Tokyo Verdy 1969 match, unfortunately the once-terrifying Antler attack is without venom now. In my opinion, the absence of Masashi Motoyama and Takuya Nozawa paired in the midfield is having a pronounced impact and today, Kashima limped to a 1-1 draw against Adelaide United in the first match of the AFC Champions League quarter-finals.

The visiting Aussies took the lead when Travis Dodd stunned the home fans at the 38th minute as he headed the ball in. Just before the break, Adelaide defender Robert Cornthwaite attempted to clear a ball from his end and it bounded into the back of the net to draw the match level. Throughout the match Kashima had its chances, most notably Mitsuo Ogasawara off a free-kick not quite ten minutes into the match that was flicked off the post by Adelaide ‘keeper Eugene Galekovic. Twenty minutes later, the Adelaide ‘keeper’s day of heroics continued as he saved a valiant effort from Atsuto Uchida at the edge of the box. This was a constant theme of the day as scoring attempt after scoring attempt was stopped by the man-of-the match Eugene Galekovic and the match ended at the 1-1 draw. The return match is scheduled for next Wednesday and with Adelaide having the important away goal, Kashima will need to be much more aggressive and find a way to score.

Kashima Antlers
Hitoshi SOGAHATA
Chikashi MASUDA (Ryuta SASAKI 75′),Daiki IWAMASA,Toru ARAIBA (Koji NAKATA 46′), Atsuto UCHIDA
Takeshi AOKI, Mitsuo OGASAWARA,DANILO,Go OIWA
Shinzo KOROKI (Yuzo TASHIRO 80′), MARQUINHOS.
Not Used: Hideaki OZAWA, Takuya NOZAWA, Marcio DE SILVA, Masahiko INOHA

Adelaide United: Eugene GALEKOVIC, Angelo COSTANZO,Lucas PANTELIS (Kristian SARKIES 77’), Paul AGOSTINO (CRISTIANO 46’), Travis DODD , Scott JAMIESON, Robert CORNTHWAITE, Sasa OGNENOVSKI, DIEGO (6.CASSIO 70’), Paul REID, Fabian BARBIERO.
Not Used: Michael VALKANIS, Daniel MULLEN, Mark BIRIGHITTI , Jason SPAGNUOLO