rockbuster comments

Interesting that it is a loan and not a full transfer. Unless there is a fee attached to this loan deal, I'm not sure what good it does for Gamba. If I were in Gamba's shoes, I would have held out for a full transfer, especially after having lost Adriano already. Bayern might not take up the option of signing him, and in that scenario Gamba would have lost one of their best players for the season.

Having said that, I think Usami will make it in the Bundesliga. He's technically very good, clever, always seems to have time on the ball and can pick a final pass. He's not a striker in the traditional sense of the word, more of an attacking playmaker. At Gamba he has Adriano, Hirai and Lee Keun-Ho to occupy defenders, therefore getting a lot of space in front of opposing defences. He's going to be under the microscope a lot more than Kagawa was, who exploded on to the scene and above all expectations, but if he lets his football do the talking and is patient I'm sure he will do well.

Bit of a tame race compared to the rest of this season, but Valencia is always like that. The double DRS zone didn't really work so well here. Can Spain justify 2 Grands Prix a season? I wouldn't be surprised if Valencia was up on the chopping block before long.

Kamui did nothing special, but big kudos to Jaime Alguersuari for a great result. He is under lots of pressure from Ricciardo for his seat, but has pulled out good race performances in the last two races.

Can anyone catch Vettel? Probably not. The guy is very special.

Good while it lasted, but hopefully Vegalta will be able to bounce back form this setback. Their next games are very tough: Grampus (home), Kashiwa (away), S-Pulse (home) & Kashima (away). 4 very losable games as far as Sendai are concerned so they will show their mettle.

Elsewhere, Gamba are slipping through the gears. That win against Sanfrecce (sorry, Terusensei) was their third this week. They put 4 past Kashiwa on Wednesday, and 5 past Sanfrecce yesterday. With Marinos' win in Yamagata it is starting to get very tight at the top. It can only be good for the game.

And I have a feeling that the bottom three at the minute will be the bottom three come the end of the season. Fukuoka are practically gone now, and it will take some drastic improvement from Montedio Yamagata and Kofu to climb to safety

It is unfortunate, but the only time we seem to get F1 on here is when it comes to Suzuka.

Not such a great race today though, but it was a great drive from Alonso

Junya Tanaka's first goal was sensational, this guy is on fire at the minute and Wagner's free kicks were perfect. Kashiwa look very good across the park and if Tanaka stays fit they could definitely be up there come the business end of the season.

Crazy finish at Toyota stadium, but Mazzolla's goal could be huge in the context of their season. Looking like going down to another defeat, Edmilson leaving the club, rumours of infighting, but they pulled together and found that little bit extra to salvage something from a difficult game. Their season is still on life support, but that late goal could be the defibrillator they needed.

No, it wasn't hit by the tsunami, but many of Vegalta's supporters were. I know lots of people from eastern Miyagi, as in Ishinomaki, Nattori and Ichinoseki in southern Iwate, that are staunch Vegalta Sendai supporters, and they lost plenty, if not everything in the disaster. As the article states, Marquinhos - a marquee signing was too traumatized to play. Their stadium, Yurtec Stadium, was "literally hit" by the earthquake, and badly damaged by the earthquake. It took teams of volunteer Vegalta supporters lots of effort to get the stadium ready in time for the resumption of the J-League. They have to play games in the afternoon to align themselves with requests to save power in Tohoku.

So yeah, I think you can safely say they were the team most affected by the tsunami. They weren't the only ones of course, but definitely the most affected.

What a remarkable start to the season for Vegalta, and for Ryang-Yong Gi. He is a class act as the creative fulcrum in that side. Not sure how long it will last for, but long may the Kashiwa/Vegalta battle at the top continue.

Sorry NyahK - I misinterpreted your post. The good conditions made Congressional easier than past US Open's, but it still wasn't easy. That is point I was trying to make.

And well said Smorkian! I was just typing a response similar to yours when yours popped up. I really dislike the way certain posters act like gutter tabloid journalists when say they want Ishikawa to do well, but can't wait to hammer him if he doesn't.

A good performance from Japan, just a shame about the away goal. If they play as well as they did in the first half, I can definitely see them scoring in Kuwait.

What is it with the Osaka clubs producing talented youngsters? Cerezo already have Kagawa & Inui to their name, and now it seems Kiyotake, who has been performing well in the J-League, is the next one in line. And not to discount their crosstown neighbours Gamba, who have rolled Shoki Hirai & Usami of their production line.

on an EASY U.S. Open course?

Are you serious? Congressional is easy? What planet do you live on? McIlroy played some astonishing golf to make it look easier than it is. Ask Phil Mickelson, Harrington, Ernie Els etc if they Congressional is easy.

Great bounce-back result for Kashiwa after the midweek schooling by Jubilo Iwata. Amazing to think that both Kashiwa & Avispa were promoted last year, but the paths they are on this season are polar opposites. And Vegalta Sendai are still unbeaten, another amazing statistic.

Urawa are in a horrible position. No confidence, no leadership and, it seems from the outside, only Genki Haraguchi is playing well. Too big/good to go down? They'd better get their act together pronto if they want to avoid a late season relegation scrap.

If you are into football (you know, the game played with your 'foot' and a 'ball' - hence the name) then Vikash Dhorasoo's film- Substitute - he made during the 2006 world cup is highly recommended. A fascinating story of what it feels like to be so involved, yet at the same time so removed & distant. Quality.

Seems a bit strange that two teams who qualified from the same group would be paired together in the following round. Does anyone know if it was a free draw, or was it seeded?

Ideally you'd say he should move to the US or European tours so he can grow as a player and a person. But the problem is that he will be continually in the spotlight wherever he goes so he might as well stay in Japan for a few years to rake in the sponsorships and the prize winnings. I know he is in a bit of a trough at the minute but we all know that form is temporary, so I can see him coming good again sooner rather than later.

He's something like a phenomenon...

Also, Merkel's party are currently unpopular and looking for votes, and anti-nuclear is currently popular with the German public.

This is exactly what it boils down to. There is a big difference between taking the initiative and making a knee-jerk reaction to a disaster that has relatively little chance of happening in Germany.

Tell you what Serbia, it is about time.

It's amazing how his crimes have been conveniently forgotten in Europe...

I'm not sure who this remark is aimed at, but there are A LOT of people in Europe who will never ever forget the kinds of heinous crimes against humanity this person committed. Lots of people who will never forget what he did to the people of Srebrenica, to the people of Sarajevo. Never forget the fear his troops, his sniper units, his death squads instilled into the people of Bosnia. Despite what Serbian nationalists say this man was a walking monster and his arrest, along with Radovan Karadzic a couple of years ago, hopefully will allow Serbia to clear it's collective stained conscience and move forward as a nation.

Hopefully his extradition, trial & conviction are speedily done, and he can rot in a cell on his own for the remainder of his days.

What a surprise,stealing TV shows from other countries.

Yeah, because other countries never do that, do they? Take the U.S. for example - they never steal shows from other countries. Except for The Office. And Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. And The Weakest Link. And American Idol. And Flight of the Conchords.........

@techall - If you are tired of hearing about him, do yourself a favour and don't click on stories about him. Simples!

Yeah sorry, should have made that clear. Players from outside the EU have to get a work permit to play in Britain. As for Miyaichi, I would like to see him play in England, but I'm almost certain he won't be a regular starter for Arsenal next year, and that will count against him. Therefore I'm not sure he will be eligible for an exemption, and most likely will be loaned out again.

Like I said, he looked really good in Holland playing for an average team, so I can see him going to better team. Maybe Ajax, FC Twente or PSV if he wants to stay in Holland.

USN - I mean the national team. So he has to have played 75% of matches for the full Japanese team in the last two years. That obviously hasn't happened, so they will appeal on the grounds that he is an exceptional talent.

He looked the business over at Feyenoord, and to be fair to Wenger, while he hasn't won a trophy for a while, he can certainly develop young players: Fabregas, Wilshere, Clichy, Ramsey, Anelka, Vieira are ones that spring to mind. Hopefully we can soon add Miyaichi to that list.

The problem for him will be getting a work permit. In the UK a player has to have played in 75% of his nation's matches in the last two years to qualify for a work permit, so it looks like this one will be going the appeals tribunal.

Anyone else thinks it looks slightly Dali-esque? Still, a harrowing reminder of what happened up there.

Heda_madness - I can only speak for myself, but I would hazard a guess that nobody is making fun of the greater situation that this photo obviously is drawing attention to. For me it is the juxtaposition of the devastation in the background with the guy just sitting casually as if everything was normal, having a chat on his phone that makes this photo quite bizarre.

"Yeah, hello TV company. I'd just like to complain about the job that the "Home Makeover" team has done........."

If you look in the dictionary under 'courage', the chances are you'll find a picture of that mum. Must have taken phenomenal strength of character to do what she did.

Rory will certainly be back for some more next year, and he won't be the last person to find the glare of the Augusta spotlight too bright. Schwartzel's finish to the round was magnificent, cool calm & composed under intense pressure. A deserved winner.

Big shouts to Ryo & Matsuyama - flew the flag well for Japan. Like McIlroy, I hope we'll see them both feature prominently at Augusta for many years to come.

I can see both sides of the argument, but I think the J-League should take precedence here. If Japan went to the Copa America, then teams with players there would effectively be punished for having national team players by playing important J-League games with weakened sides.

You could get around that, I suppose, by saying that the squad should be made up from two players from each J1 team, but some positions are easier to cover than others - goalkeeper, for example. Hopefully they will be invited again in the future.

I think that the main reason Japan is not going to the Copa America is that the J-League will be played during the same time.

The original idea was that the J-League would take a one month break in order to allow the players to play, and to not penalize the teams who had players playing for the national team. But since no J-League games will be played until April 23rd (I think), it is now unfeasible to have a break in July.

For a fraction of a second some people must have thought the worst, a TV channel suddenly going off air.