25 May 2006(Thu)

Tokyo, May 23, 2006 -- With no J1 or Nabisco Cup games last Saturday, May 20, it was a good opportunity to watch some J2.

So why not have a day out on the Kanagawa coast, by the "beautiful sea" of Bellmare?

Shonan were at home to Mito Hollyhock, and the visitors eventually won 3-1.

I watched two sports news programmes over the weekend, one on Saturday night and one on Sunday, and neither of them showed the goals from this match; which was a great pity -- unless you were a Bellmare fan, of course.

The first goal of the game, scored by Mito midfielder Ogura, would be a candidate for "Goal of the Season", if the J.League had such an award.

Ogura must have struck the ball from fully 35 metres with his right foot, and, with a stiff Bellmare breeze behind him, it flew into the top corner, past a startled Kobayashi in the home goal. Kobayashi should not feel ashamed of being beaten from such a distance, as Kawaguchi, Narazaki and Doi could all have been in goal at the same time and they still wouldn't have stopped this thunderbolt. Yes, it was that good.

Mito's second was another great finish, this time by Kim, from a little closer in, and the third was a penalty from Anderson after he had been pulled down in the box by a frustrated Bellmare defence.

Trailing 3-0, Bellmare finally got on the scoresheet when Kato, their former Reysol favourite, scored direct from a left-wing corner, using the swirling wind to curl the ball in at the back post. I am sure he meant it, too; not that it really mattered at the time as the home side was well beaten.

After the game, Bellmare manager Ueda was a forlorn figure. He was desperately hoping for a win to stay up with the pace, but defeat left them in fifth place.

He said six or seven of the 13 J2 teams were capable of winning promotion this season, but feared Reysol might start to run away at the top.

While Bellmare were playing in front of 3,504 fans, their famous Old Boy, Hidetoshi Nakata, was training in front of about 13,000 fans at J-Village with the national team.

Nakata, of course, is not just a footballer any more, and has not been for several years. He is a multi-million dollar industry, and his legacy lives on at Hiratsuka with a "nakata.net" advertising board and a huge banner reading "Pride Gate 7", clearly referring to their former playmaker (and if it's dedicated to current captain Sato, I apologise!).

It's funny how careers work out, as I first saw Nakata playing for Japan Under-19s in the Asian Youth Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1994. He was on the wing, and Suguru Ito was Japan's captain and playmaker.

Ito's J.League career is now finished, and he is a coach at a university, while Nakata is a superstar in the world game.

As the train pulled out of Hiratsuka, in brilliant sunshine following a short thunderstorm, a rainbow appeared in the clear blue sky. So it's true what they say...that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow -- because Hidetoshi Nakata found it!

ends