Krishna Sadhana
Football Tribe Asia
The round of 16 of the 2019 Emperor’s Cup was played on the 18th and 25th of September. 16 teams duke it out for the eight tickets to the quarterfinal round. Some top J1 sides were joined by a J2 side, a JFL (4th tier) side, and even a university side in this round. How did the round of 16 go for these teams? Here’s a quick recap.
Class Dismissed for the Students of Hosei
Tokyo-based Hosei University has been the story of the tournament so far. Participating as one of the 17 university teams in Japan’s oldest cup competition, Hosei University had claimed the scalps of two professional sides en route to the round of last 16. J2 side Tokyo Verdy fell to their might in the second round, losing 2-0 at home, while the third round saw Hosei University claim an even bigger scalp after beating J1 side Gamba Osaka in Tokyo with a similar 2-0 scoreline.
Neutrals everywhere hoped for a continuation of the fairytale as Hosei University took on J2 side Ventforet Kofu at the Yamanashi Chuo Bank Stadium in the Round of 16. However, it was not to be as Ventforet ran out 2-1 winners over the students. The Hosei University students can take pride in their defeat though, as they had forced their professional opponents into extra time and losing only by a single goal.
Shimizu Claims Quarterfinal Ticket and Prefectural Bragging Rights
One of the tastier ties of the round of 16 was the latest installment of the Shizuoka Derby between Shimizu S-Pulse and Jubilo Iwata. The fortunes of the two teams couldn’t be more contrast – while Shimizu are trying to establish themselves in the J1 midtable this season, Jubilo are the cellar-dwellers of the J1 and relegation looks certain for Shizuoka’s sky-blue side. Both teams are looking for some relief from league action through the cup, and the crowd at the Yamaha Stadium in Iwata were served with 120 minutes of classic derby drama action.
Former Oita Trinita man Masaya Matsumoto opened the scoreline for Jubilo in the 64th minute, but any hopes of Jubilo advancing to the quarterfinal over their prefectural rivals were dashed after Yoshiaki Fujita scored an injury-time own-goal to level the scores. 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes, and it stayed that way until the end of extra time. In the ensuing penalty shootout, Shimizu kept their calm and emerged 4-3 winners, earning themselves a ticket to the quarterfinal as well as prefectural bragging rights.