Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Tokyo: Yokohama Marinos ended the domestic season on a high by beating Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-0 in the Emperor’s Cup final played at the Tokyo’s National Stadium on Wednesday.
Both the sides primed to feature in this year’s AFC Champions League shared a trophy each after Hiroshima snatched the domestic league title in a dramatic finale on December last year.
Japan internationals Saito Manabu and Nakazawa Yuji scored midway through the first half to erase the agony of not winning the league as the then runaway leaders failed to win three of their last four matches of the season. The Emperor’s Cup trophy was Yokohama’s first in 21 years.
“This is our first Emperor’s Cup title as Marinos and since the J. League started,” Marinos manager Higuchi Yasuhiro was quoted as saying in JFA’s official website. “We’d like to celebrate this with everyone – our players, club staff and our supporters,” he added.
Both the sides will be involved in action again on February 22 in the domestic season’s curtain raiser Super Cup three days before the start of their continental campaign.
Hiroshima are in Group F which features reigning A-League champions Central Coast Mariners, the 2013 ACL finalists FC Seoul and the playoff winner of East Zone 3.1.
Likewise, Yokohama face Australian debutants Western Sydney Wanderers, Guizhou Renhe and 2012 ACL champions Ulsan Hyundai in Group H.
Photo: AFP