J. League

Promoted Matsumoto Yamaga held Consadole Sapporo to a 1-1 draw thanks to some good work from keeper Tatsuya Morita on Sunday. The hosts took the lead seven minutes in at Sapporo Dome, when Kosuke Shirai knocked in the rebound after a Jay Bothroyd header hit ...

The score was enough for Urawa Reds to earn three points on Saturday, but the road there was hardly scenic. Urawa labored to a 1-0 win over Vegalta Sendai on Saturday, despite spending roughly 40 minutes with a man advantage. Although expected heavy rain for kickoff ...

Jubilo Iwata on Monday named head coach Hideto Suzuki as the new manager of the struggling J. League first-division club, replacing Hiroshi Nanami, who announced his resignation the previous day. Suzuki, a 44-year-old former Japan international, will take the reins at the Yahama Stadium resident, ...

Japan goalkeeper Daniel Schmidt will leave Vegalta Sendai for Sint-Truiden in the Belgian top flight, the clubs said Monday. The 27-year-old will play his final J. League first-division match for Vegalta at home against Kashima Antlers on July 13. Schmidt, who was born in the United ...

Former Spain internationals David Villa and Andres Iniesta each struck twice to lead Vissel Kobe to a 5-3 home win over Nagoya Grampus in the J. League first division on Sunday. Playing in its third league match under newly appointed head coach Thorsten Fink, Vissel ...

On Friday, former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn abruptly announced — and just as abruptly canceled — a press conference as his defense against charges of financial misconduct continued. On Saturday, the Nissan-owned Yokohama F. Marinos' defense seemed equally unwilling to show up at Tokyo's Ajinomoto ...

Former J. League legends Zico and Guido Buchwald both urged young Japanese players to avoid making sudden leaps to big European clubs, suggesting that smaller moves could be better for their long-term development. The two discussed the state of Japanese soccer on Thursday at a ...

The J. League will draw from its considerable network of foreign former players under a new global ambassador program intended to promote the competition overseas. Two of the four ambassadors, former Kashima Antlers legend Zico and former Urawa Reds player and manager Guido Buchwald, joined ...