The 16 teams who reached the Round 16 will contend for the 94th Emperor’s Cup quarter-finals on Sunday 7 and Wednesday 10 September.

Ahead of other fixtures, FC Tokyo and Shimizu S-pulse will square off on 7th at Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo. FC Tokyo have stayed in form with no defeats in 10 matches since Week 13 of the J.league Division 1. They have also kept showing their outstanding football in the first two matches of the Emperor’s Cup, scoring 10 and conceding no goals. Morishige Masato and Muto Yoshinori have been away for the SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team), but the team still have a strong lineup with some experienced players including Gonda Shuichi, Takahashi Hideto and Yonemoto Takuji. The opposition Shimizu have not produced good results they aimed until now and dropped to 12th in the J1 table. Since Oenoki Katsumi was assigned for their boss, the team have tried to reenergise themselves by playing more young players such as Mizutani Takuma. Yet they have failed to grab points with allowing an average of three goals per match. Meanwhile, their attacking side looks powerful, led by Novakovic, Takagi Toshiyuki and Omae Genki. A good balance between offence and defence will be the key for a victory.

Seven more matches will take place on 10th. Ehime FC, who beat J1’s Kawasaki Frontale in the third round, will visit Omiya Ardija’s home. Ehime have been away from a win for a month, sitting 17th in the J2 table. Their team condition is not as good, but a newly-added forward Ricardo Lobo has already fit in the team, scoring three goals in the recent five matches. Young players’ emergence including Omotehara Genta is also a remarkable side. Their fearless plays are much anticipated in the match against Omiya. The opposing Omiya fired head coach Okuma Kiyoshi on 31 August due to team’s poor performance. Coach Shibutani Hiroki was promoted to take over the position. The new head coach tries to shore up their defence, saying “we have conceded too many goals. I want players to build up their concentration on transition between defence and offence as well as defence itself.” To keep their hopes of staying in the J1 alive, the side try to win over Ehime and create the momentum for the upcoming J.League matches. The contest will be interesting in terms of whether which team will find a rhythm a trigger to move up.

Gamba Osaka, who scored eight goals in the recent two league matches, will face Sanfrecce Hiroshima., Hiroshima have shown solid defence with only five conceded goals in the recent five official matches and kept oppositions to nil in the last two.
J2 club Thespakusatsu Gunma, who defeated J1’s league leaders Urawa Reds in the third round, will meet J1’s Nagoya Grampus. Giravanz Kitakyushu will play J1’s Ventforet Kofu after they also beat another J1 club, the defending champion Yokohama F. Marinos to deny Yokohama’s back-to-back crown.
Sagan Tosu, who have drawn attention for their fight for the top spot in the J1, will host J2’s Montedio Yamagata, who have been upbeat since August.

Struggling Cerezo Osaka with no win in the recent 11 J1 matches will face Jubilo Iwata, who have aimed at a comeback to the J1. Including the contest between two J2 clubs, V-Varen Nagasaki and JEF United Chiba, both of who already defeated J1 clubs, there are a lot of interesting Round 16 matches to watch. Stay tuned for the battles contending for the semi-finals.

Round16 Match Schedule

The 94th Emperor’s Cup

2014/7/5（Sat）〜2014/12/13（Sat）
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