Kawasaki Frontale v Kataller Toyama

Emperor's Cup: Round 3: Wed, 11th November 2009

	3 - 1
KUROTSU 29' KIMURA 70' YAJIMA 78'		KAWASAKI 44'

Venue: Todoroki Stadium
Attendance: 4,014

On a wet Wednesday night at Todoroki, a slightly experimental Frontale side progressed comfortably to the 4th round of the Emperor's Cup with a 3-1 victory over J2's Kataller Toyama.

The home team were without Kawashima (off on international duty with Japan), Mori (still in the naughty corner after Nabisco-gate) and Kengo (out injured for 2 weeks), while Sekizuka decided to give Kikuchi, Taniguchi and Juninho a rest. This saw rare starts given to Kurotsu and Kimura, both of whom seized the opportunity to impress.

It was heartening to see Terada back in action after several months on the physio's couch. Likewise with the returning Yajima, who scored the match-killing goal within minutes of being subbed in for Chong Tese.

Frontale now face Yokohama F Marinos (for the 5th time this season!) in the next round which will be played at Nissan Stadium on Sunday.

Kawasaki Frontale v FC Tokyo

Pre-season friendly: Wed, 11th February 2009

	4 - 1
KUKINO 11', 40' KUROTSU 46' KIMURA 139'		KONDO 104'

Venue: Todoroki Stadium

Another game of four quarters, although this time 35 minutes each as opposed to the half-hour chunks against Nagasaki (just in case anyone was wondering whether Yuji Kimura was the only man still playing when he scored in the 139th minute!).

Played behind closed doors, this match saw more of Frontale's second-string frontmen sharing the spoils and staking their claims to those all important spots on the subs' bench in what will be a packed 2009 schedule.

Kukino's already registered a few J.League goals in seasons past, and Kurotsu's obviously a well-established member of the team, but it would be nice to see Kimura get a chance to show what he can do at the top level this year. He's shown remarkable potential with some of his perfomances in the Satellite League and will hopefully have ample opportunity to impress Sekizuka this pre-season.

One other point of interest is that Tomonobu Yokoyama has been listed as playing in midfield for both pre-season games so far. Is Sekizuka looking to shore things up at the back by converting the young centre-back into a holding midfielder? In the few games he played last season he certainly looked very comfortable on the ball.

22 Yuji KIMURA

Position: Midfielder

Date of Birth: 05-Oct-1987

Height/Weight: 174/71

Place of Birth: Tokyo

Previous Team(s): Kawasaki Frontale U-15; Kawasaki Frontale U-18

First Appearance: 16-May-2009 - J.LEAGUE Division 1 - Kawasaki-F(vs Iwata@Todoroki)