An Away Day At One among Japan’s Latest Prime Tier Stadiums

As a reasonably informal Kashiwa Reysol fan I believe that is the primary time I’ve seen the identical groups play one another twice in the identical season. Again on the finish of February, the 2 groups performed a reasonably lacklustre 1-1 draw within the rain in Kashiwa. It was a reasonably depressing afternoon but someway nonetheless ranked fairly excessive in my prime ten matchday experiences compilation put up!! For the file, it was positioned excessive resulting from what occurred across the precise match.

The concept of going to this match was a reasonably late one as I knew I had a few days to myself while my spouse labored. Subsequently I booked a really low cost flight to Kansai  Worldwide Airport which might enable me to see and do a couple of issues in Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto earlier than and after the match. This was truly my first flight since January 2020 once I returned to Japan from the UK simply earlier than the coronavirus pandemic started to unfold. I can’t say I’ve missed it in any respect!

My firm has their very own vacation for every week or so on the finish of June annually which is good in a single side as it isn’t a nationwide one which means that costs are affordable, and it isn’t as busy because the Golden Week or Obon holidays. Nonetheless, it’s also usually proper in the course of the wet season in Japan which could be a irritating time for such tourism. Fortunately it was a pleasant, comfy day weather-wise and I used to be in a position to arrive on the stadium an hour sooner than anticipated, and 90 minutes earlier than the 7:00 pm kick off.

The closest station is Kameoka (which has been embellished appropriately) on the Sagano Line which lies about 20 kilometres west of Kyoto metropolis. The bottom is only a stone’s throw away and was the latest prime flight stadium till Sanfrecce Hiroshima moved into their new house initially of this season. This one was accomplished in early 2020 to be prepared for the ill-fated season which was closely affected by Covid_19.

With time on my arms on I used to be in a position to go for a leisurely stroll around the stadium and take all of it in.

The away followers had been based mostly on the bottom of the stadium and at the moment of the night it was all pretty quiet. There was one specific fascinating picture opp of notice en-route to the principle stand facet.

It had been a really lengthy, tiring day for me by this level and I used to be beginning to really feel drained so wished to calm down exterior fairly than go in and begin singing and chanting as a part of the pre-match build-up.

 

Fortunately, there was a really good grassy park space to relax for a bit in addition to a meals truck part providing an enormous vary of delights. The British man in me simply couldn’t flip down the prospect of getting a meat pie as such a delicacy is a uncommon factor in Japan. It was very tasty with an ample filling of meat however a bit on the small facet.

Kyoto has been within the information lots just lately about over-tourism however there have been only a few western vacationers on this area which is just 20 kilometers west of the ever-popular bamboo forest in Arashiyama. The dearth of vacationers might be the one cause my buddy and fellow Reysol fan Benny noticed one another by likelihood exterior the stadium amidst the crowds! He goes to nearly all of all Reysol video games so it wasn’t a shock to see him there however I simply assumed it might solely be inside.

With about 20 minutes until kick off I made my approach inside and my first ideas weren’t concerning the stadium itself (which could be very good) however how empty it was however that may typically be the case for midweek matches in a rustic the place folks usually simply can’t get away from work in time. Sadly, it was lower than a 3rd full which was a disgrace as I’d have liked to see it crammed near its 21,600 capability. What was naturally spectacular was that it’s a football-only stadium with out a operating observe spherical it which is pretty widespread.

 

Reysol went into this match on the again of 4 straight defeats within the league and actually wanted to get one thing from this recreation to keep away from being sucked into the hazard zone on the backside of the desk. Creating possibilities doesn’t appear to have been a lot of an issue however truly placing them away has.

One factor I observed on this new, fashionable stadium was a variety of flies which can be resulting from its  location in a valley. I wasn’t anticipating to get bitten in such a spot they usually did change into slightly irritating.

 

An excellent free-kick (beneath) by Yuto Misao put Sanga into the lead however Reysol fought again about 5 minutes later with a fantastic end by Mao Hosoya.

A merciless deflection noticed the house facet regain the lead early within the second half. When Reysol squandered a couple of good possibilities (notably one within the 74th minute) within the final twenty minutes or so I actually did suppose it was simply a kind of days.

Because the match went deep into harm time and all appeared misplaced, Brazilian midfielder Matheus Savio saved Reysol and I reckon I celebrated that objective greater than I’ve ever performed for some other objective in Japan. All these flies that had been bugging me had been forgotten about and it was revenge for Sanga’s late equaliser within the opening match of the season.

Remaining Rating: Kyoto Sanga 2-2 Kashiwa Reysol

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