The Jubilo Iwata Chronicle
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ryo Watanabe damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match31 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Jubilo Iwata do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Jubilo Iwata
Jan Van Den Bergh was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A masterclass from Kein Sato
Marked 8.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Motoki Ohara was unplayable
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Ayumi Niekawa dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Ricardo Graca gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match31 Oct 2026
Jubilo Iwata share the spoils with FC Tokyo
A 1‑1 draw with FC Tokyo leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Jubilo Iwata take the armband off Takuma Ominami
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
In brief
- The dugout Kaoru Sakai: “We have to be better”
- Squad A ban for Kosuke Yamazaki
- The dugout Daiki Kaneko asks for a word with the manager