Japan Soccer
J.League: Emperor's Cup 2007
Urawa Reds duly completed a League and Cup double by edging Gamba Osaka in the Emperor's Cup Final at Tokyo's National Stadium.
Outplayed for most of the match, the Reds' defence held firm and Yuichiro Nagai grabbed the only goal of the game in the 88th minute to give manager Guido Buchwald the perfect send-off as he heads back to Germany.
Gamba have played Reds four times this season and have been unable to win any of the matches.
The game was also a "sayonara" occasion for Gamba's Tsuneyasu Miyamoto and Reds' Alessandro Santos, who are both set to transfer to the Austrian first division with Red Bull Salzberg.
Both teams will meet again in the 2007 J-League curtain-raiser - the Xerox Super Cup - and it is likely the pair will be once again the dominant forces in the J-League.
Urawa Love
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