Month: March 2024

MD 3: FC Maruyasu Okazaki 2-2 Okinawa SV

Intro

Okinawa SV were able to maintain their early-season unbeaten run when they drew 2-2 with FC Maruyasu Okazaki this past Saturday. The weather, and pitch for that matter, didn’t favor either side as the game was marred by turnovers from both clubs.

Recap

Maruyasu controlled the opening 15 minutes of this match with their high press on OSV that resulted in some early chances thanks in large part to OSV being unable to gain, or maintain possession. One player that stood out in all of this was central defender, Shota Fujisaki, who seemed to be clearing every ball that entered the OSV box.

OSV weathered the early Maruyasu attack, as well as the rain and pitch, and were able to generate a few attacks of their own resulting in the opening goal of the game at the 27′ minute mark. Shuga Arai scored his second goal this season following a lovely cross into the box from Nobuki Iketaka (43:15). Arai’s goal puts him level on goals scored with Iketaka this year but there is little doubt that Iketaka is one of the most important players for OSV this season. He currently sits on two (2) goals and one (1) assist which almost equals his highest ever point total in any season.

Unfortunately for OSV the lead didn’t last long as a deflected shot from Komei Kikuchi found its way past Chikara Hanada (57:28). OSV managed to grab the lead back after Daisuke Matsushita turned in a rebound following some hectic moments inside the Maruyasu 18-yard box (1:30:35). OSV nearly doubled their lead but a shot following a deflection was cleared off the the line by Maruyasu defender sitting on the goal line.

OSV once again surrendered the lead 17 minutes later when Jin Shioya put a lovely header past Hanada (1:47:25). It would be to harsh to say that Fujisaka, who was having a great game, could’ve done more to not let up on Shioya who got to the header. In the end it was a fine play and one you felt was coming after some sustained pressure from Maruyasu to close out the match.

MD 2: Okinawa SV 1-0 Briobecca Urayasu

I wasn’t able to see this game and the lone highlight comes at the 2:15:30 mark of the video when Shuri Arita slammed home a ball that fell to his feet inside the box at the 90′ mark of the match. Most concerning was the turnout of just 424 fans (transfermarkt) for OSV’s opening home game. That leaves a lot of ground for OSV to make up in their next 14 home fixtures and one in which we need to improve.

MD 1: Cricao Shinjuku 0-4 Okinawa SV

Full credit to Cricao Shinjuku YouTube channel as they actually had highlights, with commentary, for this match. I wasn’t expecting that and we may see a case where not all of the JFL matches each week will be broadcast on the JFL YouTube channel. Guess we’ll see.

Cricao seemed to have a single chance in this match before the OSV onslaught. OSV started the scoring after Shuga Arai scored from a stopped penalty shot. Then Nobuki Iketaka scored his first goal of the season just three minutes later. Iketaka doubled his tally in the 72′ minute before Rai Ijuin added the fourth OSV goal that day.

MD 4 Preview: (4) Veertien Mie vs (2) Okinawa SV

OSV will head back out on the road for their third away game this season. This one should be a much stiffer test for OSV as Mie sit just below OSV in the table on six (6) points; and have similar score-line wins to that of OSV against Cricao (4-0) and Briobecca (1-0). Mie’s lone loss this season came against Kochi United on Match Day 1 who currently sit atop the JFL table and who have yet to concede a goal. I hope this game is on the JFL broadcast as it should be a good one. It will actually be broadcast on veertien Mie YouTube channel. The link is below.

Conclusion

One may look at the early results for OSV this year and think, “well, they’ve played the two teams at the bottom of the table, that haven’t scored a single goal all season, and drew with a mid-table team.” While that is not wrong, you can only play the teams in front of you each week. The recent match versus Maruyasu was good for OSV as they faced some adversity, and while they didn’t win, they looked competitive throughout the game. Most importantly, Okinawa SV are scoring goals.

If you recall, it took Okinawa SV the opening nine (9) games of the 2023 season to equal the point total they sit at (7) currently. And even more shocking, it took Okinawa SV the first eighteen (18) games of 2023 to match the amount of goals they’ve already scored this season (7). OSV seem better suited for the JFL after a rough first campaign last year and all you hope for is for them to learn from any mistakes, and make the improvements where they can.

OSV Website: https://okinawasv.com

OSV X: https://twitter.com/okinawasv151225

JFL YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JFLOfficialChannel

Veertien Mie YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@VEERTIEN14/featured

A New Chapter #沖縄SV

Introduction

Greetings. It has been sometime since I’ve written anything concerning football on the island of Okinawa. Dismayed by poor performances by FC Ryukyu, strange decisions by the management, and just the general direction the club was headed really took its toll on me and my willingness to write about a club I love dearly. But, I’ve been rejuvenated as of late. Though it has nothing to do with FC Ryukyu, but rather another club on Okinawa that I’ve grown very found of the last three years. Okinawa SV.

Bottom Line Up Front

20,000 spectators by seasons end, possibly averaging 2,000 fans per home game to secure promotion to J3 if OSV finds themselves in a place to be promoted.

OSV are a long way away from being promoted as the 2024 campaign has just recently started, but the statement above is pretty much factual in that despite any success on the pitch from Okinawa SV this year, promotion is not guaranteed without the above threshold set forth by the J-league.

So what do they, we, require? Simply put, you. You the citizens of Okinawa and Japan, you the lovers of football, and you the potential supporters from around the globe to help usher in what could be a historic moment for the island of Okinawa: two (2) Okinawa based football clubs plying their trade within the top three tiers of Japanese football. This means we need to attend as many OSV home games as possible (there are 14 left this season), and purchasing goods from their website or at those home matches.

I realize this is no easy task for OSV, or even an ask from all of you since many of us that support (or did support) FC Ryukyu went through these same growing pains starting eleven (11) or even longer (20) years ago. But this is the reality facing OSV and similar to why I started this blog about FC Ryukyu five years ago (strangely after their third ever game in J2 like OSV this year) I want to do my part to increase the exposure of Okinawa SV.

A Very Brief History about Okinawa SV

Founded in 2015 by Naohiro Takahara, OSV played their first competitive matches starting in 2016. The club truly has experienced some great runs of success finishing at, or near the top of many of the leagues they’ve featured in. 2021 saw Okinawa SV make it to the regional playoffs where they fell just short of promotion to the JFL. 2022 saw OSV advance through those playoffs and into the JFL for the first time.

The 2023 JFL campaign was an interesting one for sure. Okinawa SV struggled for goals and results, and despite a late season resurgence, found themselves in the promotion/relegation battle with Vonds Ichihara from the Japanese Regional League.

Though FC Ryukyu have played some meaningful games the past five seasons, and one could argue their bid to stave of relegation in 2022 had plenty of meaningful games, the match versus Vonds Ichihara for Okinawa SV had a totally different feeling and atmosphere than many games I’ve watched for Ryukyu. The weather was terrible, the result was not. Okinawa SV managed to avoid relegation and remain in the JFL for at least one more season.

One side note about the 2023 season was being able to witness the first ever (I say that knowing that FC Ryukyu had faced OSV and Kaiho Bank in previous Emperors Cup/friendly matches before) derby between two Okinawa Clubs in the top 4 tiers of Japanese football. That was a great day and one in which, as a fan of Okinawa football, you came out a winner no matter what.

The end of the 2023 season also saw the official retirement of two players who regularly featured for Okinawa SV: Naohiro Takahara & Naoya Okane. To be fair, I’ve only recently started following Okinawa SV and there is much more information about the club on their official web site as well as transfermarkt.

What’s Next?

I hope to write about Okinawa SV as much as I can and hope that in no small way I may influence others to support the club. I am definitely not the head supporter of Okinawa SV. That distinction belongs to a woman, who I do not know personally, but have seen at every home game, and whom I’ve heard travels from Tokyo to attend every (I mean every) Okinawa SV match. That is the type of support and dedication from a supporter that most Football clubs could only dream about.

I am not sure if/when I’ll write about FC Ryukyu as for now my focus is on the cause of Okinawa SV. A worthy cause as well since they look so much better this season and are having some early season success. Perhaps it is the fact that I never supported FC Ryukyu during their early days in the lower tiers, or the overall approach to growing a football club that Okinawa SV seems to portray that FC Ryukyu has seemingly lost these past few years.

I am not giving up on FC Ryukyu, or at the very least, wishing to have my loyalties tested if these two clubs were to be direct competitors in the J3. Though that is a good problem to have later on down the line. Instead, I will continue to support both clubs with the hope that each achieves levels of success that would be unprecedented for Okinawa. And therefore I will provide as much pre/post match information as I can for Okinawa SV.

Luckily we can all watch Okinawa SV on the JFL YouTube channel without a paid subscription. Granted, there is no commentary, replays, or highlights but that seems Ok for the moment. At least we have the ability to watch Okinawa SV in their early days compared to that of FC Ryukyu in the years prior to DAZN where we were left refreshing the screen every couple of minutes for updates on scores.

Thank you for your time and support.