17 Nov 2008(Mon)

Finals are supposed to be nervous affairs, but any tension Gamba Osaka may have felt going into the second leg of the ACL final was wholly relieved within 15 minutes. Having beaten Adelaide United of Australia 3-0 in the first leg at Banpaku a week previously, Gamba once again overwhelmed their opponents in the away fixture, and when Lucas completed a quick-fire brace to give his side a five-goal lead on aggregate, even the most pessimistic of supporters could start popping the champagne. From those who had made the trip to Hindmarsh Stadium to those watching live on screens at Banpaku or in sports bars in Osaka, it was a curious mixture of overwhelming joy and utter disbelief that enveloped Gamba fans everywhere. Despite all the domestic troubles this season, their side had reached the very summit of Asian football.

 

While manager Akira Nishino’s continental aspirations were stoked by watching Urawa Reds’ success last year, even he was forced to admit after the game that ‘we were only looking to get out of the group when we embarked on this ACL campaign, and to be honest, we never even thought about the final’. However, the football that Gamba have played has been worthy of champions from start to finish. Scrambling to a draw with an injury time leveller against Thai minnows Chonburi may not have been an ideal opening result in a group also containing Melbourne Victory and Chunnam Dragons, but Gamba followed this by scoring 12 goals in four straight wins to ensure qualification for the knockout stages with a game to spare. Come autumn, they continued to move through the gears to record triumphant victories in the quarter- and semi-finals against 2006 runners-up Al-Karamah (Syria) and defending champions Urawa, respectively. Nishino had described Urawa’s more defensive route to glory as ‘the total opposite of what I aim to achieve’, and when his team’s momentum carried over into the final, he was able to reflect on the ‘great joy of winning this title by persisting with the Gamba style of football’.

 

An extra-time victory over J2 side Ventforet Kofu in the 4th round of the Emperor’s Cup, played out in front of just 3,694 spectators, was a somewhat low-key homecoming for Gamba, even if the unlikelihood of a top three league finish means that the Cup may well be their only chance of a repeat appearance in next year’s ACL. However, the AFC Professional League Ad Hoc Committee will meet on 25 November to determine the final framework for the 2009 competition, and it is still possible that it may decide to restore the berth reserved for the reigning champions. It is ironic both that Adelaide United had taken a central role in appealing for such a restoration, and indeed that Gamba only qualified in the first place this year thanks to Urawa’s title in 2007, but in any case, it would be a huge shame if Gamba were not given the opportunity to defend their title as kings of Asia. In 2005, the competition rules for the UEFA Champions League were adjusted and a special entry to the following season’s tournament was given to Liverpool, who, despite being European Champions, had not initially qualified through their league position. With Gamba enjoying a growing profile within Asia and the 2009 ACL final set to be a single-legged fixture at the National Stadium in Tokyo, perhaps Captain Saburo Kawabuchi and the rest of the AFC committee will be tempted to follow the European precedent.

 

Of course, the Gamba players and staff will not be overly concerning themselves with such matters at the moment, and as Nishino admits, ‘our target now seems to be moving towards the chance of a match (in the Club World Cup) with Manchester United’. Before this dream semi-final can take place, Gamba must first overcome a quarter-final which, somewhat bizarrely, looks likely to involve a rematch with Adelaide United, but the team is taking things in its stride and appears confident of achieving its next ‘major objective’ of winning at least one game in the FIFA competition. Gamba deserves its day in the sun, and it can only be good for football in this country that such a positive side will be representing Japan and Asia on the global stage.