The semi-final fixtures of the Emperor's Cup JFA 101st Japan Football Championship are scheduled to take place on Sunday 12 December.

With only two matches left for each team to claim the title, the semi-finals will be competed by four clubs from the J1.

There was a stark contrast between how the season went for Kawasaki Frontale (J1) and Oita Trinita (J1). Kawasaki finished 13 points ahead of Yokohama F. Marinos, who finished in second place, to defend their title in a dominating fashion, while Oita on the other hand, was relegated to J2 after finishing in 18th place.

The Emperor's Cup, however, is a knockout tournament where all that becomes irrelevant. Unfortunately for Oita, their relegation was determined with two fixtures still left to be played, but the team finished off the season on a high note by earning back to back wins, giving them plenty of momentum for this match.

Coach KATANOSAKA Tomohiro, who led the Oita side from J3 to J1, is known to be a tactician, as he deployed a different formation than usual against Kawasaki during the regular season. It will be interesting to see what he has up his sleeve this time around.

With coach Katanosaka set to resign from the coaching position at the end of the season, the players should be highly motivated to give a fitting farewell to their coach who has rendered distinguished service for the club. TONE Ryosuke, who is suspended, and several other players who have participated in this year’s tournament with other clubs, will not be able to participate, but it should provide extra motivation for the players to step up their game.

In terms of motivation, Urawa Red Diamonds (J1) are high up on the list. The club has already announced the retirement of ABE Yuki and the departure of MAKINO Tomoaki, who both served as leaders of the team for many years. Urawa was not able to win their last home game in the league this season, so they will certainly be looking to win this time, as the semi-final fixture of the Emperor's Cup will be their last official match played at Saitama Stadium 2002 this season.

Their opponent, Cerezo Osaka (J1), also have a player who announced his retirement at the end of this season, and that player is OKUBO Yoshito, former member of the SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team). Okubo has never won a title in Japan during his professional career. His teammates must be fully motivated to send off their veteran ace, who started his career with Cerezo, with his first domestic title. Last year, Kawasaki gave Mr. NAKAMURA Kengo a proper send-off by winning their first Emperor's Cup title. In that sense, it will be interesting to see which legend will play their final match of their career at the Emperor’s Cup final.

Stay tuned for a set of fixtures that would certainly be passionately contested as the tournament move on to the final.

Emperor's Cup JFA 101st Japan Football Championship

【1st Round】Sat. 22, Sun. 23 May [Backup date: Mon. 24 May]
【2nd Round】Wed. 9, Wed. 16 June
【3rd Round】Wed. 7 July [Backup date: Wed. 14 July]
【Round of 16】Wed. 18 August [Backup date: Wed. 13 October]
【Quarterfinals】Wed. 27 October［Backup date: Wed. 17 November］
【Semi-Finals】Sun. 12 December
【Final】Sun. 19 December

Tournament Information