2011 J.League Cup

The 2011 J. League Cup, also known as the 2011 J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup for sponsoring purposes, is the 36th edition of the most prestigious Japanese soccer league cup tournament and the 19th edition under the current J. League Cup format. It was scheduled to begin on 16 March 2011 with the first matches of the group stage;[1] however, the competition was postponed due to the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[2] Later the beginning of the tournament is set to 5 June, with reducing the number of matches.[3]

2011 J. League Cup
Yamazaki Nabisco Cup
CountryJapan
Teams18
ChampionsKashima Antlers (4th title)
Runners-upUrawa Red Diamonds
Semi-finalists
Matches played27
← 2010
2012 →

The winner qualified for the 2012 Suruga Bank Championship.

Format

All 18 teams from the 2011 J. League Division 1 will take part in the tournament. Nagoya Grampus, Gamba Osaka, Cerezo Osaka and Kashima Antlers are given a bye to the quarter-final due to the qualification for the AFC Champions League group stage. The remaining 4 teams for quarter-finals are selected from other 14 teams by knockout tournaments of home and away (with away goals rule, except for goals in extra times). Quarter-finals and semifinals will be played as one match at either team's home stadium. The final will also be played as one match, but at neutral venue (National Stadium).[3]

First, the exact date of the Final has yet to be determined and is subject to possible participation in the 2011 AFC Champions League Final of at least one of the involved clubs. Later the date is set to 29 October.[4]

Original Format

The original competition format, which is same as the previous tournament and was abandoned due to 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, is:[3]

  • The preliminary round for the 14 teams would be played as 2 groups of single round-robin tournaments by 7 teams, where each team would play 3 home and 3 away games. The top 2 teams in each group would advance to quarter-finals.
  • Quarter-finals and semi-finals would be played home and away.

The draw result of the preliminary round is:

Group A
Albirex Niigata, Omiya Ardija, Yokohama F. Marinos, Kawasaki Frontale, Montedio Yamagata, Kashiwa Reysol, Ventforet Kofu
Group B
Avispa Fukuoka, Júbilo Iwata, Urawa Red Diamonds, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Shimizu S-Pulse, Vegalta Sendai, Vissel Kobe

Schedule

First round

The first leg is scheduled on 5 June and the second leg on 27 July.

Albirex Niigata and Omiya Ardija received bye for the second round as a result of tournament draws.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Urawa Red Diamonds 4–1 Montedio Yamagata 2–0 2 – 1
Kashiwa Reysol 1–3 Vegalta Sendai 0–1 1 – 2
Júbilo Iwata 5–0 Avispa Fukuoka 2–0 3 – 0
Ventforet Kofu 1–2 Shimizu S-Pulse 1–0 0 – 2
Yokohama F. Marinos 3–2 Vissel Kobe 1–1 2 – 1
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3–5 Kawasaki Frontale 2–2 1 – 3

Second round

The first leg is scheduled on 14 September and the second leg on 28 September.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Urawa Red Diamonds 4–1 Omiya Ardija 2–0 2 – 1
Vegalta Sendai 0–3 Júbilo Iwata 0–0 0 – 3
Shimizu S-Pulse 3–4 Albirex Niigata 2–1 1 – 3
Yokohama F. Marinos 6–3 Kawasaki Frontale 4–0 2 – 3

Quarterfinals
Kashima Antlers3–2 (a.e.t.)Yokohama F. Marinos
Koroki 49'
Osako 73'
Tashiro 111'		 Nakata 1' (o.g.)
Watanabe 11'
Attendance: 4,804
Referee: Masaaki Iemoto
Nagoya Grampus5–3 (a.e.t.)Albirex Niigata
Kanazaki 15'
Nagai 90+1', 105+2'
Hashimoto 114'
Tulio 120+1'		 Bruno Lopes 63'
Kawamata 90+3'
Kikuchi 98'
Attendance: 4,108
Referee: Ryuji Sato
Gamba Osaka3–1Júbilo Iwata
Sasaki 43'
Rafinha 67'
76' (o.g.)		 Nasu 7'
Attendance: 4,112
Referee: Nobutsugu Murakami
Cerezo Osaka1–2Urawa Red Diamonds
Fabio Lopes 73' 9' (o.g.)
Despotović 83'
Attendance: 6,736
Referee: Toshimitsu Yoshida

Semifinals
Nagoya Grampus1–2 (a.e.t.)Kashima Antlers
Tulio 80' Osako 10'
Shibasaki 107'
Attendance: 8,562
Referee: Kenji Ogiya
Urawa Red Diamonds2–1Gamba Osaka
Umesaki 21'
Escudero 38'		 Otsuka 90+3'
Attendance: 23,879
Referee: Hajime Matsuo

Final
Main article: 2011 J.League Cup Final
Urawa Red Diamonds0–1 (a.e.t.)Kashima Antlers
Report
(in Japanese)		 Osako 105'
Attendance: 46,599
Referee: Minoru Tojo

Top goalscorers
Goalscorers Goals Team
Serbia Ranko Despotović
4
 Urawa Red Diamonds
Japan Yuya Osako
3
 Kashima Antlers
Japan Masashi Oguro
3
 Yokohama F. Marinos

References
  1. "2011 J. League schedule". J. League official website. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  2. "Japan's J.League halted after earthquake and tsunami". BBC Sport. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  3. "Revised format of 2011 J. League Cup". Japan Football Association (in Japanese). 1 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  4. "The date of 2011 J. League Cup Final has been fixed". Japan Football Association (in Japanese). 26 May 2011. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
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