The SURUGA bank Championship 2016 IBARAKI, a match between Kashima Antlers, the winner of 2015 J.League YAMAZAKI NABISCO CUP, and Independiente Santa Fe (Colombia), the COPA SUDAMERICANA 2015 champions, will be played on Wednesday 10 August at Kashima Soccer Stadium in Ibaraki. We will review the previous championship.

Gamba Osaka played against River Plate (Argentina) at Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium in the SURUGA bank Championship 2015 OSAKA.

In the opening minutes of the match, River Plate took the early initiative, attacking aggressively. In the eighth minute, Nicolas BERTOLO earned a penalty kick by drawing a foul inside the box, and he struck the opener from the spot.

Although G Osaka were one-goal behind at home, in the 21st minute, PATRICK reacted to a pass to face the opponents’ goalkeeper one-on-one, creating a goal-scoring opportunity. He took a shot, only for it to be saved by the goalkeeper Marcelo BAROVELO. River Plate, who had just closely defended their goal, attacked back even more fiercely. In the 31 minute, Gabriel MELCADO met a cross from a corner to score a goal, building a two-goal lead. 

G Osaka, who were two goals behind, made some changes to the team to impact the game. KURATA Shu came off the bench in the 41st minute, followed by FUJIHARU Hiroki after halftime and FUTAGAWA Takahiro in the 55th minute in order to score goals. However, River Plate continued their solid defence, led by Matias KRANEVITTER in the centre. In the 61st minute, Gonzalo MARTINEZ got through on goal from a counter attack and struck their third goal.

Even under difficult circumstances, G Osaka focused on striking a goal. In the 75th minute, AKAMINE Shingo, who had come off the bench, fired a shot in front of the goal. Furthermore, in the 86th minute, KURATA reacted to FUJIHARU’s cross in front of the goal. However, both attempts could not find the back of the net. ENDO Yasuhito later noted: “there was a clear difference in the level of scoring accuracy.”  Both G Osaka and River Plate took 12 shots, but G Osaka could not score a goal.

River Plate won the game 3-0 to become the 2015 champions.

SURUGA bank Championship 2016 IBARAKI
J.LEAGUE YAMAZAKI NABISCO CUP / COPA SUDAMERICANA Championship Final

Kashima Antlers (Japan/Winner of 2015 J.LEAGUE YAMAZAKI NABISCO CUP)
vs  Independiente Santa Fe (Colombia / Winner of COPA SUDAMERICANA 2015)
Wed. 10 August 2016  kick off  19:00/open 16:00 (subject to change)
Ibaraki/Kashima Soccer Stadium

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