2 Apr 2009(Thu)

March 31, 2009: The Nabisco Cup and “New Hero” award go hand in hand, as discussed in a recent column.

But this does not mean there is no room for “Old Heroes”, too; or, perhaps, “older heroes” would be more politically correct.

Urawa Reds had two of these in their 1-0 victory over Yokohama F Marinos at Nissan Stadium on Sunday, when goalkeeper Yamagishi and central defender Tsuboi really led their team from the back.

Yamagishi – at 30, seven years too late to be considered a new hero – produced a string of fine saves to keep the hungry Marinos attack at bay, especially in the second half. There was an instinctive, acrobatic flick to deny Saito on the turn, and then a good old solid near-post block to keep out Matsuda, who had displayed an immaculate first touch to control a long ball before shooting crisply on the half-volley.

Although Yamagishi was pretty busy all afternoon, he would have been even more so without the frequent interventions of Tsuboi. The boy Tsuboi, 29, has never lacked pace, and on this day he showed his ability to read the game and fill in all the holes with some smooth, timely tackles.

Overall, Yamagishi would have received my vote for “Old Hero”, if there had been such a thing, of course.

Urawa manager Volker Finke used two of the “Red brat pack” in his starting line-up, with Naoki Yamada at the base of his attacking diamond, and Genki Haraguchi on the left. Ponte, on the right, and Takahara, at the top, completed the diamond, and it was Haraguchi who won the penalty that produced the only goal of the game, five minutes before the break.

The 17-year-old Haraguchi was just a little too quick for Enomoto, who was shown the yellow card for his foul and thankfully not the red by referee Hajime Matsuo, for whom commonsense prevailed.

Ponte, looking trimmer and fitter than last season, dispatched the penalty and it was all Reds would need to claim three points – and keep the tricolore umbrellas of the home fans wrapped up.

ends