J2 side Ventforet Kofu caused a huge upset at Kashima Soccer Stadium.

Kofu, who reached the Emperor's Cup semi-finals for the first time, entered the match ranked 18th place in J2 and in the midst of a six-game losing streak in the league. As expected by most people, it was Kashima Antlers who took the initiative, as SUZUKI Yuma struck a shot that nearly gave the home side the lead in the 22nd minute.

However, it was Kofu who scored the opening goal. In the 37th minute, MIYAZAKI Jumma responded to a long feed delivered by URAKAMI Niki to penetrate the space behind the Kashima defence line and took on the goalkeeper KWOUN Sun-Tae one-on-one. The Kofu striker Calmly converted the opportunity to put his side in the lead, as he later reflected, “That was a play we had been anticipating all season. I am glad we were able to score from it.” The home side rallied to come from behind, firing a total of 18 shots compared to Kofu’s six, but led by KAWATA Kohei, the J2 side managed to keep a clean sheet to earn their ticket to the Emperor’s Cup final.

After the match, Kofu’s coach YOSHIDA Tatsuma commented, “Nobody was expecting us to win, so we wanted to surprise everyone. I am very happy with this result.” They have now won four straight matches against J1 sides from the third round, becoming the first J2 club to reach the final since Montedio Yamagata (who finished as runners-up after losing to Gamba Osaka) in the 94th edition of the competition.

Kashima’s coach IWAMASA Daiki, on the other hand, commented after suffering an unexpected defeat at the hands of a J2 side, “This will go down as one of the biggest failures in the history of the club.” With the club out of contention for the J1 title, Kashima are now locked to finish the season without a title.

Coaches and Players' Comments

YOSHIDA Tatsuma, Coach (Ventforet Kofu)
Many supporters wearing red and blue came to support us today. It's been a while since we've been able to deliver anything, but they've come here to support us, to hope for us, to believe that we can win today, and we're very happy to win in front of them. We scored from a long ball delivered by our centre back to our forward, which is a play we haven’t been able to score in our league matches, so there must have been a mysterious force that helped us here in Kashima Stadium.

MIYAZAKI Jumma (Ventforet Kofu)
The goal came from a play Urakami and I had been anticipating all season, so I am glad we were able to score from it. Before taking a shot, the Oita match crossed my mind, which allowed me to keep my composure to make the decision to dribble past the goalkeeper. I don’t know if we will face Kyoto or Hiroshima at the final, but we want to win regardless. We also want to finish off the season by winning all of our league matches.

IWAMASA Daiki, Coach (Kashima Antlers)
We took nearly 20 shots without scoring a single goal. Since I have taken over, the team has scored multiple goals in only a couple matches, and our inability to score goals was evident in today’s match too. In terms of how we conceded the goal, Kofu scored from a play they had been working on and we were simply the weaker team today.

SUZUKI Yuma (Kashima Antlers)
We just need to accept this result and move on. We could have won the match if I had converted the chances I was given, so I am very disappointed with myself, but I will keep trying. We just have to keep pushing ourselves until we reach the end of the tunnel. At the same time, I really feel sorry for our fans. They have been patiently supporting us up to this point, and I feel ashamed that we lost to a J2 side today.

Emperor's Cup JFA 102nd Japan Football Championship

【1st Round】Sat. 21, Sun. 22 May [Backup date: Mon. 23 May]
【2nd Round】Wed. 1, Wed. 8 June
【3rd Round】Wed. 22 June [Backup date: Wed. 29 June]
【Round of 16】Wed. 13, Wed. 20 July]
【Quarterfinals】Wed. 7 September［Backup date: Wed. 28 September］
【Semi-Finals】Wed. 5 October
【Final】Sun. 16 October

Tournament Information