2008 J.League Cup

The 2008 edition of the J. League Cup, officially the 2008 J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup, sponsored by Nabisco began on March 20. The top team in each of the four qualifying group automatically qualified for the quarter-finals along with the best two remaining runners-up. Both Gamba Osaka and Kashima Antlers received a bye to the quarter-final stage due to their participation in the group stage of the Asian Champions League.

2008 J.League Cup

J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup
Tournament details
Country	Japan
Dates	March 20 and November 1
Final positions
Champions	Oita Trinita (1st title)
Runners-up	Shimizu S-Pulse
Semifinalists	Gamba Osaka Nagoya Grampus
Tournament statistics
Matches played	61
← 2007 2009 →

Oita Trinita defeated Shimizu S-Pulse 2–0 in the final on November 1 at the Tokyo National Stadium. They qualified for the 2009 Pan-Pacific Championship and the 2009 Suruga Bank Championship.

Group stage

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Nagoya Grampus	6	5	0	1	14	5	+9	15
Vissel Kobe	6	3	1	2	5	5	0	10
Kyoto Sanga FC	6	1	3	2	7	8	−1	6
Urawa Red Diamonds	6	0	2	4	8	16	−8	2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
March 20, 2008	Nagoya Grampus	0–1	Kyoto Sanga
	Urawa Reds	0–1	Vissel Kobe
March 23, 2008	Vissel Kobe	0–1	Nagoya Grampus
	Kyoto Sanga	3–3	Urawa Red Diamonds
April 16, 2008	Urawa Red Diamonds	1–1	Kyoto Sanga
	Nagoya Grampus	2–0	Vissel Kobe
May 25, 2008	Kyoto Sanga	0–1	Vissel Kobe
	Nagoya Grampus	4–2	Urawa Red Diamonds
May 31, 2008	Kyoto Sanga	1–2	Nagoya Grampus
	Vissel Kobe	2–1	Urawa Red Diamonds
June 8, 2008	Urawa Red Diamonds	1–5	Nagoya Grampus
	Vissel Kobe	1–1	Kyoto Sanga

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Shimizu S-Pulse	6	3	2	1	13	6	+7	11
FC Tokyo	6	3	2	1	12	7	+5	11
Júbilo Iwata	6	3	1	2	10	7	+3	10
Tokyo Verdy	6	0	1	5	2	17	−15	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
March 20, 2008	Tokyo Verdy	0–2	Jubilo Iwata
	Shimizu S-Pulse	3–1	FC Tokyo
March 23, 2008	Jubilo Iwata	0–2	FC Tokyo
	Tokyo Verdy	0–0	Shimizu S-Pulse
April 16, 2008	Shimizu S-Pulse	5–0	Tokyo Verdy
	FC Tokyo	1–1	Jubilo Iwata
May 25, 2008	Shimizu S-Pulse	4–2	Jubilo Iwata
	FC Tokyo	3–0	Tokyo Verdy
May 31, 2008	FC Tokyo	1–1	Shimizu S-Pulse
	Jubilo Iwata	3–0	Tokyo Verdy
June 8, 2008	Tokyo Verdy	2–4	FC Tokyo
	Jubilo Iwata	2–0	Shimizu S-Pulse

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
JEF United Chiba	6	3	3	0	9	5	+4	12
Kashiwa Reysol	6	2	3	1	9	7	+2	9
Kawasaki Frontale	6	2	0	4	9	10	−1	6
Consadole Sapporo	6	1	2	3	4	9	−5	5

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
March 20, 2008	Kawasaki Frontale	0–2	JEF United
	Kashiwa Reysol	1–1	Consadole Sapporo
March 23, 2008	Consadole Sapporo	2–1	Kawasaki Frontale
	JEF United	1–1	Kashiwa Reysol
April 16, 2008	JEF United	0–0	Consadole Sapporo
	Kawasaki Frontale	3–0	Kashiwa Reysol
May 25, 2008	Consadole Sapporo	1–2	JEF United
	Kashiwa Reysol	3–1	Kawasaki Frontale
May 31, 2008	Kawasaki Frontale	2–0	Consadole Sapporo
	Kashiwa Reysol	1–1	JEF United
June 8, 2008	Consadole Sapporo	0–3	Kashiwa Reysol
	JEF United	3–2	Kawasaki Frontale

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Yokohama F. Marinos	6	3	3	0	8	2	+6	12
Oita Trinita	6	3	2	1	9	5	+4	11
Albirex Niigata	6	0	4	2	4	8	−4	4
Omiya Ardija	6	0	3	3	4	10	−6	3

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
March 20, 2008	Yokohama F. Marinos	1–0	Oita Trinita
	Albirex Niigata	2–2	Omiya Ardija
March 23, 2008	Omiya Ardija	0–0	Yokohama F. Marinos
	Oita Trinita	3–0	Albirex Niigata
April 16, 2008	Yokohama F. Marinos	4–0	Omiya Ardija
	Albirex Niigata	1–1	Oita Trinita
May 25, 2008	Omiya Ardija	1–2	Oita Trinita
	Yokohama F. Marinos	0–0	Albirex Niigata
May 31, 2008	Omiya Ardija	1–1	Albirex Niigata
	Oita Trinita	2–2	Yokohama F. Marinos
June 8, 2008	Albirex Niigata	0–1	Yokohama F. Marinos
	Oita Trinita	1–0	Omiya Ardija

Knockout stage

	Quarter-finals							Semi-finals							Final
		JEF United Chiba	0	0	0
		Nagoya Grampus	1	1	2
									Nagoya Grampus	1	0	1
									Oita Trinita	1	1	2
		FC Tokyo	1	1	2
		Oita Trinita	2	1	3
																Oita Trinita	2
																Shimizu S-Pulse	0
		Kashima Antlers	0	1	1
		Shimizu S-Pulse	0	2	2
									Shimizu S-Pulse	1	3	4
									Gamba Osaka	1	2	3
		Gamba Osaka	1	1	2
		Yokohama F. Marinos	0	2	2

Quarter-finals

First leg

July 2, 2008

FC Tokyo	1–2	Oita Trinita
Ishikawa 44'	Report	Maeda 28' Edmilson 83'

Ajinomoto Stadium

Attendance: 11,378

Referee: Kenji Ogiya

---

July 2, 2008

JEF United Chiba	0–1	Nagoya Grampus
	Report	Johnsen 14'

Fukuda Denshi Arena

Attendance: 8,472

Referee: Nobutsugu Murakami

---

July 2, 2008

Gamba Osaka	1–0	Yokohama F. Marinos
Hirai 78'	Report

Ishikawa Stadium

Attendance: 10,702

Referee: Hiroyoshi Takayama

---

July 2, 2008

Kashima Antlers	0–0	Shimizu S-Pulse
	Report

Kashima Soccer Stadium

Attendance: 6,757

Referee: Hajime Matsuo

Second leg

August 6, 2008

Oita Trinita	1–1	FC Tokyo
Edmilson 40'	Report	Cabore 3'

Kyushu Oil Dome

Attendance: 13,483

Referee: Hiroshi Tanabe

---

August 6, 2008

Nagoya Grampus	1–0	JEF United Chiba
Masukawa 60'	Report

Mizuho Athletic Stadium

Attendance: 6,344

Referee: Minoru Tojo

---

August 6, 2008

Yokohama F. Marinos	2–1	Gamba Osaka
Komiyama 32' Lopes 84'	Report	Futagawa 34'

Mitsuzawa Stadium

Attendance: 8,365

Referee: Akio Okutani

Gamba Osaka advances to the semi-finals on Away goals rule.

---

August 6, 2008

Shimizu S-Pulse	2–1	Kashima Antlers
Iwashita 16' Hyodo 48'	Report	Marquinhos 57'

Nihondaira Sports Stadium

Attendance: 8,949

Referee: Kazuhiko Matsumura

Semifinals

First leg

September 3, 2008

Nagoya Grampus	1–1	Oita Trinita
Johnsen 64'	Report	Ueslei 69'

Mizuho Athletic Stadium

Attendance: 7,792

Referee: Hirofumi Yamanishi

---

September 3, 2008

Shimizu S-Pulse	1–1	Gamba Osaka
Edamura 54'	Report	Futagawa 10'

Nihondaira Sports Stadium

Attendance: 8,013

Referee: Kenji Ogiya

Second leg

September 7, 2008

Oita Trinita	1–0	Nagoya Grampus
Ueslei 49'	Report

Kyushu Oil Dome

Attendance: 20,371

Referee: Masayoshi Okada

---

September 7, 2008

Gamba Osaka	2–3	Shimizu S-Pulse
Roni 11' Lucas 79'	Report	Yamamoto 3' Edamura 46' 55'

Osaka Expo '70 Stadium

Attendance: 9,103

Referee: Yuichi Nishimura

Final

The 2008 final

Main article: 2008 J.League Cup Final

November 1, 2008

Oita Trinita	2–0	Shimizu S-Pulse
Takamatsu 68' Ueslei 89'	Report

National Stadium, Tokyo

Attendance: 44,723

Referee: Toshimitsu Yoshida

Oita Trinita: GK 16 Seigo Shimokawa  85' RB 4 Yuki Fukaya CB 6 Masato Morishige LB 22 Taikai Uemoto  33' DM 3 Roberto DM 5 Edmilson RM 20 Daisuke Takahashi LM 33 Yoshiaki Fujita  84'  89' AM 8 Mu Kanazaki  89' CF 10 Ueslei CF 13 Daiki Takamatsu (c)  82' Substitutes: GK 29 Keisuke Shimizu DF 25 Hiroyuki Kobayashi  89' MF 2 Ryo Kobayashi MF 7 Teppei Nishiyama  89' MF 14 Akihiro Ienaga FW 18 Hiroshi Kiyotake FW 9 Yasuhito Morishima  82' Manager: Chamusca

Shimizu S-Pulse: GK 29 Kaito Yamamoto RB 5 Keisuke Iwashita CB 4 Kazumichi Takagi (c)  74' CB 26 Naoki Aoyama LB 2 Arata Kodama  71' RM 28 Masaki Yamamoto  71' CM 7 Teruyoshi Ito AM 8 Takuma Edamura  82' LM 13 Akihiro Hyodo CF 19 Kazuki Hara  89' CF 23 Shinji Okazaki Substitutes: GK 21 Yohei Nishibe DF 3 Takahiro Yamanishi DF 25 Daisuke Ichikawa  71' MF 16 Takuya Honda MF 6 Marcos Paulo  71' FW 11 Mitsuhiro Toda FW 9 Takuro Yajima  82' Manager: Kenta Hasegawa

Awards

• MVP: Daiki Takamatsu (Oita Trinita)
• Top Scorer: Keita Sugimoto (Nagoya Grampus)
• New Hero Prize: Mu Kanazaki (Oita Trinita)

External links

• J.League Official Site (in English)