The 3rd Round of ‘the 96th Emperor's Cup All Japan Football Championship’ will be held on Thursday 22 September. There are 10 teams each from J1 and J2, three from J3, and one amateur team among the survivors, excluding the four seeded teams from the ACL.

Honda FC (Shizuoka) is the only remaining amateur team. The team beat FC Gifu (J2) 2-1 in the 1st Round, and Matsumoto Yamaga FC (J2) also 2-1 in the 2nd Round. Honda FC have been performing well, and are currently siting in second place in the second stage of the JFL. If they win against Grulla Morioka (Iwate) from the J.League Division3, it will be a record three victories against J.League teams for the first time since the 87th Cup in 2007.

Morioka, on the other hand, pulled off a real upset – a ‘giant killing’ – against Vegalta Sendai (J1) in the 2nd Round. The team advanced to the 3rd Round for the first time. They had been unbeaten during July and August in the J.League Division3 with the forwards HAYASHI Yusuke and UMENAI Kazuma in good condition. There is another reason why the team has to win this game. Since the facility, which they used for training camps, had been hit by a typhoon on Tuesday 30 August, all the team and staff did volunteer work in Iwaizumi, Shimohei District, on Tuesday 13 September. The team will play against Honda FC to reach the round of 16 for the first time, thinking of the disaster-affected area.

Yokohama F・Marinos (J1), which have won the championship five times before, will play against four-time champions, Tokyo Verdy (J2) at Kochi Haruno Athletic Stadium. These two teams have met in the final of the Emperor's Cup twice in the past. Yokohama FM joined the Cup from the 2nd Round, aiming to become champions for the first time in two years. The team earned an extra-time triumph against Fukushima United FC (J3) and advanced to the 3rd Round. In September, they kept a clean sheet through three consecutive games in the J.LEAGUE YBC Levain CUP and in the J.League, showing off their strength in defence.

Tokyo V, on the other hand, won a close match against Vonds Ichihara (Chiba) in their first game, followed by a sweeping victory over Roasso Kumamoto (J2) 5-1 in the 2nd Round. The midfielder TAKAGI Yoshiaki scored in both matches. Although the team is currently sitting in 16th place out of the 22 teams in the J.League Division2, they will challenge Yokohama FM with renewed power through players like TAKAGI Yoshiaki and TAKAGI Daisuke.

Kawasaki Frontale, who are in the lead in the J.League Division1, will play a home game against JEF United Chiba (Chiba). Although Kawasaki have shown their sleek style of football with smooth passes, and have raised the quality of the league, they are struggling a little with two wins and three losses in the last five games of the 2nd Stage. In the latest match against Omiya Ardija, the star player OKUBO Yoshito was sent off, and the team lost in the end 3-2.

The team aim to win the game against Chiba at home, the Todoroki Athletics Stadium, in order to build up positive momentum for the league. MORIMOTO Takayuki used to play for Chiba, while both FUNAYAMA Takayuki and YAMAMOTO Masaki used to play for Kawasaki F. It will be interesting to see how these players will perform against their old teammates.

96th Emperor's Cup All Japan Football Championship

2016-8-27(Sat.)～2017-1-1(Sun.)
3rd Round　2016-9-22(Thu.)

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