Cerezo
Osaka
Overview
Cerezo
Osaka have long been one of the most colourful
teams in the J.League, and not solely for their
"flaming pink" uniforms. Although
Cerezo have yet to win a title, they pushed
Yokohama Marinos to the limit in the first stage
of 2000 before finishing in second place, and
were the only team to defeat the Kashima Antlers
in the second stage. All in all, the boys from
Osaka have a history of upsetting top contenders,
and will surely be a threat in 2001 as well.
Cerezo
got its start in 1965, as the club team of Yanmar
Diesel. In the same year that it was established,
the team gained admission to the Japan Soccer
League, and quickly established itself as a
formidable opponent, winning the league championship
four times, the league cup three times and the
Emperor's Cup twice during the 1970s and early
1980s. Yanmar entered a slump in the late 1980s,
and was breifly demoted to the second division,
but immediately prior to the formation of the
J.League in 1993, the club revived, gaining
admission to the old JFL. After two successful
JFL campaigns, it incorporated as Osaka Football
Club Ltd. in 1993.
In 1993, Osaka Football Club Co., Ltd. was established,
and the team adopted a new name. Osaka (and
all of Japan, for that matter) is well known
for its cherry blossoms, and the team not only
adopted Cerezo as a name, but also chose pink
as one of its team colours. The very next year,
Cerezo won the JFL championship and advanced
to the J.League.
Naturally,
it takes a real tough guy to play in a pink
uniform, and Cerezo has a reputation as a very
tough opponent, despite the fact that the team
has never won a championship. In 1999 and 2000,
the team's performance improved markedly with
the addition of several key players. Hiroaki
Morishima, the captain and a frequent national
team member, joined striker Akinori Nishizawa
and several top Korean nationals, such as Noh
Jung-Yoon, Hwang Sun-Hong and Yoon Jung-Hwan,
as well as volante Kazuaki Tasaka (now a Cerezo
coach), whose bald head and forceful style earned
him the nickname "Robocop". The team
boasted one of the most potent offenses in the
league, and came within a single goal of winning
the first stage championship in the 2000 season.
Unfortunately,
this marked the high-water mark for the team,
and preceeded a collapse of dramatic proportions.
After a weak finish in the second half of 2000,
the team released its Korean contingent, and
striker Nishizawa moved overseas, first to Espanyol
in Spain, and then to Bolton Wanderers, in England.
Injuries to key personnel made matters worse,
and the team quickly went into a talspin from
which it was unable to recover. As a result,
the team was relegated to the J2 division at
the end of the 2001 season.
But Cerezo regrouped quickly following their
relegation. The team managed to convince most
of its top players to stay on, and fight for
promotion in the very next year. Over the course
of the season, several youngsters came into
their own, particularly striker/midfielder Yoshito
Okubo who has already established himself as
one of the leaders of Japan's youth team in
their quest for a berth in the 2004 Olympics.
Okubo and former Kashima Antlers midfielder
Yuichi Nemoto brought stability to the midfield,
and along with the core of veterans, helped
Cerezo return to the J1 division in 2003. The
team is bolstering its defence this season with
the addition of veterans like Takuma Koga and
Hiroshige Yanagimoto, and some foreign players
who should help to strengthen the front line.
Though the team is not likely to be a leading
contender this season, they have a strong chance
om retaining their position in the top-flight
division, and it their younger players mature
quickly, they could finish mid-table.
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Cerezo
Osaka
Info
Stadium:
Nagai Stadium
QUICK
FACT
The
current name of the club was selected
on the results of a public contest.
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