13 Mar 2008(Thu)

March 12, 2008: It was the Orange Derby at Omiya on Sunday, but the Yellow Peril won it for Ardija.

With his dancing feet and his flashy yellow boots, Pedro Junior proved to be the difference between the two teams, sending Albirex tumbling to a 2-0 defeat.

The 21-year-old Brazilian forward was much too quick and clever for the Albirex defence, scoring the first goal himself and setting up the second for Daigo Kobayashi with another jinking run and shot.

Trailing 2-0 at the break, Albirex battered away at the Omiya defence early in the second half, playing toward their massive following behind the goal, but when they could not break through in that initial onslaught the result looked safe for Omiya.

All in all, then, a perfect start for Ardija at the rebuilt NACK5 Stadium, and their fans must be quietly confident about the season ahead. Not only because they have their own home ground from the start of the season, rather than touring Saitama prefecture for their home games, but because they may have finally sorted out their overseas signings.

Although this is Omiya's fourth season in the top flight, they can hardly be described as an established force in J1, as their finishing positions have been 13th, 12th and 15th.

And anyone who follows the team closely knows the main reason for this is their poor record in the overseas transfer market, which has always been a handicap in J1.

Toshiya Miura used to complain about it when comparing his foreign players with the likes of even Oita's, and so did Robert Verbeek last season. Anyone remember Alison, Enilton, Salles? Enough said...

Leandro, however, was a rock at the back in 2007, and started well again this time, while both Pedro Junior and Denis Marques joined the club last August.

Denis Marques made more of an impression than Pedro Junior in the second half of last season, but was on the bench against Albirex after an impressive pre-season by Pedro Junior.

Starting the season with a bit of stability in the foreign player department should be an enormous help for new manager Yasuhiro Higuchi, who has inherited an experienced squad in general.

In their opening match, Pedro Junior lifted Omiya to a higher level with all that dazzling dribbling in his yellow boots, and Ardija fans will be hoping he has a "knack" for scoring spectacular goals -- especially at NACK5.

ends