J. League

Goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, a member of Japan's national squad at four World Cup finals, will retire at the end of the season, his J. League club SC Sagamihara said Sunday. "I've decided to retire at the end of this season. All I have is a ...

Consadole Sapporo took a step toward a berth in next year's AFC Champions League on Sunday when Koji Miyoshi's 74th-minute goal lifted the club to a 1-0 win over Vegalta Sendai. With neither team able to make anything of their opportunities, Miyoshi capitalized on a ...

Kawasaki Frontale moved closer to a second straight J. League title with a 3-0 win Saturday against visiting Kashiwa Reysol. Akihiro Ienaga opened the scoring in the 21st minute after Hidemasa Morita found him inside the box with a well-executed cross. The midfielder sent a ...

Shonan Bellmare's bid to stay in the top flight remains on shaky ground following a 0-0 draw against the visiting Shimizu S-Pulse on Friday night. Less than a week after claiming their first league cup title, Bellmare came into the match just two points above ...

Twenty-year-old defender Itsuki Oda scored the first goal of his professional career as Kashima Antlers beat visiting Cerezo Osaka 1-0 in the J. League on Wednesday night. In an end-to-end clash between two teams angling for a berth in next year's Asian Champions League, it ...

Kengo Kawamata struck ahead of halftime as Jubilo Iwata broke a seven-game winless streak to beat Shonan Bellmare 1-0 on Tuesday. The clash at Yamaha Stadium, originally slated for Sept. 29, was the second league match between the pair this season to be rescheduled because ...

Former England international Jay Bothroyd struck twice in the first half to lead visiting Consadole Sapporo to a 2-1 win over 10-man Nagoya Grampus in the J. League first division on Sunday. With just five games remaining, the loss at Paloma Mizuho Stadium could prove ...

A clear autumn sky above Saitama Stadium offers endless possibilities, and that was again true on Saturday afternoon as Shonan Bellmare upset Yokohama F. Marinos to capture the club's first-ever J. League YBC Levain Cup. The two sides share little besides residency in Kanagawa Prefecture: ...

The stage is set for the AFC Champions League final following the Kashima Antlers' wild 6-5 aggregate win over the Suwon Bluewings in the two-legged semifinals, which concluded on Wednesday night at Suwon World Cup Stadium. Kashima spent 102 of the series' 180 minutes in ...

Brazilian forward Serginho scored the decisive goal in the 82nd minute as Kashima Antlers reached their first-ever Asian Champions League final with a 6-5 aggregate win over Suwon Bluewings following a 3-3 draw in the second leg of the semifinal on Wednesday. In a man-of-the ...

Jubilo Iwata escaped the relegation zone with a scoreless draw at last-place V-Varen Nagasaki in the J. League first division's lone game on Sunday. V-Varen remained bottom of the table with 29 points, five points from safety with four games left. Although both teams attacked ...

There is a well-worn tradition in the J. League of championship contenders making their title run much more difficult than it needs to be. Kawasaki Frontale seemed content to follow in that tradition on Saturday, falling two goals behind before staging an explosive comeback in ...