Gamba Osaka
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| Full name | Gamba Osaka | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Ashi | ||
| Founded | 1980 (originally) 1991 (Gamba Osaka) |
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| Ground | Osaka Expo '70 Stadium, Suita, Osaka (Capacity: 21,000) |
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| Chairman |  Kikuo Kanamori |
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| Manager |  José Carlos Serrão |
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| League | J. League Division 1 | ||
| 2011 | 3rd | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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 Current season |
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Gamba Osaka (ガンバ大阪 Gamba Ōsaka) is a Japanese professional association football club, currently playing in the J. League Division 1. The team's name comes from the Italian word "gamba" meaning "leg" and the Japanese ganbaru (頑張る), meaning "to do your best" or "to stand firm". Located in Suita, Osaka, the team's home stadium is Osaka Expo '70 Stadium. Gamba are one of only five teams to have competed in Japan's top flight of football every year since its inception in 1993.
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[edit] History
Founded in 1980 as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (which was renamed "Panasonic Corporation" on October 1st, 2008) soccer club in Nara Prefecture and a member of the Japan Soccer League. It was mostly made of remaining players and staff of the defunct Yanmar Club, the former B-team of Yanmar Diesel F.C., later to be known as Cerezo Osaka. Gamba Osaka was an original member of the J. League in 1993 and has remained one of five sides to never be relegated from the top division since then. The closest they came to relegation was in 1997, when they finished below Consadole Sapporo who despite finishing 14th in the overall table lost all their playout matches and had to form the new J. League Division 2 with clubs from the former Japan Football League.
In 2005, the club claimed its first J. League championship on a dramatic final day during which any of five clubs could have claimed the championship. Gamba needed to win, and have cross town rivals Cerezo Osaka draw or lose. Gamba defeated a valiant Kawasaki Frontale 4–2, while victory was snatched from Cerezo by a last minute FC Tokyo equalizer. In an AFC Champions League match in 2006, Gamba Osaka defeated Vietnamese side Da Nang FC in a record equaling victory of 15–0. In the 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship final, Gamba Osaka destroyed MLS club Houston Dynamo 6-1 to win the tournament, with Bare scoring 4 of the goals.
In October 2008, Gamba for the first time in their history, reached the final of the 2008 AFC Champions League when they defeated fellow Japanese and league rivals Urawa Reds 4–2 on aggregate after a 1–1 draw at home in the first leg, Gamba registered one of the most historic comebacks in Champions League history when they came back from being behind 1–0 before half time to win 1–3 with all goals scored in the second half at Saitama. Gamba Osaka went on to win the 2008 AFC Champions League title after winning 5–0 on aggregate against the giant-killing Australian team Adelaide United in the Final. They became the fifth Japanese club to win the maximum Asian title, after Urawa, Júbilo Iwata, and then-company-affiliated Yomiuri (Tokyo Verdy) and Furukawa Electric (JEF United Ichihara Chiba).
In December 2008, Gamba made it to the semi finals of the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup after beating Australian club Adelaide United 1–0. They were beaten in the semi finals by Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners Manchester United. On the 21st December 2008 they played for third place against Mexican side C.F. Pachuca with Pachuca winning the match 1–0.
On January 1, 2009, Ryuji Bando scored in extra time to lift Gamba Osaka to a 1–0 win over Kashiwa Reysol and take the 88th Emperor's Cup in Tokyo. The victory secured Gamba a place in the 2009 AFC Champions League, where it will defend the title it won last year. This was the team's second ever Emperor's Cup win, with the last 18 years before in its previous incarnation as Matsushita Electric Industrial Soccer Club.
[edit] Stadium
The club has used the Osaka Expo '70 Stadium in the Expo Commemoration Park as its home stadium. The capacity of this tracked stadium is about 20,000. The club plans to build a new soccer-specific stadium in the same park.
[edit] Record as J. League member
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Season Div. Tms. Pos. Attendance/G J. League Cup Emperor's Cup Asia 1992 - - - - Group Stage Quarter-final - - 1993 J1 10 7 21,571 Semi-final 2nd Round - - 1994 J1 12 10 22,367 Semi-final Semi-final - - 1995 J1 14 14 13,310 - Semi-final - - 1996 J1 16 12 8,004 Group Stage Semi-final - - 1997 J1 17 4 8,443 Group Stage Semi-final - - 1998 J1 18 15 8,723 Group Stage 3rd Round - - 1999 J1 16 11 7,996 2nd Round 4th Round - - 2000 J1 16 6 9,794 2nd Round Semi-final - - 2001 J1 16 7 11,723 2nd Round Quarter-final - - 2002 J1 16 3 12,762 Semi-final 4th Round - - 2003 J1 16 10 10,222 Quarter-final 4th Round - - 2004 J1 16 3 12,517 Quarter-final Semi-final - - 2005 J1 18 1 15,966 Runners-up Semi-final - - 2006 J1 18 3 16,259 Quarter-final Runners-up CL Group Stage 2007 J1 18 3 17,439 Winners Semi-final - - 2008 J1 18 8 16,128 Semi-final Winners CL Winners 2009 J1 18 3 17,712 Quarter-final Winners CL Round of 16 2010 J1 18 2 16,654 Quarter-final Semi-final CL Round of 16
- Key
- Tms. = Number of teams
- Pos. = Position in league
- Attendance/G = Average league attendance
[edit] Players
[edit] Current squad
As of July 17, 2011 Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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[edit] Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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[edit] 2012 Season Transfers
[edit] Noted Players
[edit] World Cup players
[edit] Honours
[edit] Japanese Competitions
Matsushita (Amateur era)
- All Japan Senior Football Championship
- Winners (1) : 1983
- Japan Soccer League Division 2
- Winners (1) : 1985–86
- Emperor's Cup:
- Winners (1) : 1990
Gamba Osaka (Professional era)
- J. League Division 1
- Emperor's Cup
- J. League Cup
- Xerox Super Cup
- Winners (1) : 2007
- Runners-up (2) : 2006, 2009, 2010
[edit] Asia
- AFC Champions League
- Winners (1) : 2008
[edit] Worldwide
- FIFA Club World Cup
- Third Place : 2008
[edit] Minor International Competitions
- Queen's Cup
- Winners (1) : 1992
- A3 Champions Cup
- Runners-up (1) : 2006
- Pan-Pacific Championship
- Winners (1) : 2008
[edit] Managers
| Manager | Nat. | Tenure |
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| Kunishige Kamamoto | Japan |
1992-1994 |
| Siegfried Held |  Germany |
1994-1995 |
| Josip Kuže |  Croatia |
1996-1997 |
| Friedrich Koncilia |  Austria |
1997-1998 |
| Frédéric Antonetti |  France |
1998-1999 |
| Hiroshi Hayano | Japan |
1999-2001 |
| Kazuhiko Takemoto | Japan |
2001-2002 |
| Akira Nishino | Japan |
2002-2012 |
| José Carlos Serrão | Brazil |
2012-Present |
[edit] External links
- (Japanese) Official website
- (English) Official website
- (English) Schedule on ESPN
| Achievements | ||
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| Preceded by Urawa Red Diamonds |
Champions of Asia 2008 |
Succeeded by Pohang Steelers  |
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8,692 billion 
