Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Gamba Osaka

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Full name
  
Gamba Osaka

Chairman
  
Takashi Yamauchi

Website
  
Club home page

League
  
Founded
  
1980

Ground Capacity
  
39,694

2016
  
Manager
  
Owner
  
Panasonic

Gamba Osaka httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumb7

Arena/Stadium
  
Suita City Football Stadium

Training ground
  
Gamba Osaka Training Ground

Location
  
Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Profiles

Gamba Osaka (ガンバ大阪, Gamba Ōsaka) is a Japanese professional association football club, currently playing in the J1 League. The team's name Gamba 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 Suita City Football Stadium.

Contents

Gamba Osaka Umbro Gamba Osaka 2015 Kits Released Footy Headlines

Gamba Osaka is currently the second-most accomplished J. League club, having won 8 top-tier domestic titles as well as the 2008 AFC Champions League.

Gamba Osaka GAMBA OSAKA GAMBA OSAKA

History

Gamba Osaka Gamba crowned J League champions The Japan Times

Founded in 1980 as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (which was renamed "Panasonic Corporation" on 1 October 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.

Gamba Osaka Gamba Osaka 2016 Kits Released Footy Headlines

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 beat MLS club Houston Dynamo 6–1 to win the tournament, in large part because of Bare who scored 4 goals in the final (5 in all at the tournament). After his brilliant display and having just scored 10 goals in 18 games for Gamba in the domestic league, he was sold to UAE club Al-Ahli for 1 billion yen.

Gamba Osaka Gamba Osaka 2016 Kits Released Footy Headlines

In October 2008, Gamba for the first time in their history, reached the final of the AFC Champions League after defeating fellow Japanese league rivals Urawa Red Diamonds 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, then-company-affiliated Yomiuri (now Tokyo Verdy), and Furukawa Electric (now 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 semifinals by 2007–08 Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners Manchester United. On 21 December 2008 they played for third place against Mexican side C.F. Pachuca with Gamba winning the match 1–0.

In December 2012, Gamba were relegated from Division 1 after losing 2–1 to Jubilo Iwata. Gamba finished 17th in the league despite scoring more goals than any other team, including Champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Ultimately, although Gamba had a positive goal difference at the end of the season, Gamba could not overcome their poor defense, which allowed the second most goals in Division 1 after Consadole Sapporo. This also made Gamba Osaka the fastest team to suffer relegation from the top division after winning the AFC Champion's League and playing in the FIFA Club World Cup, the relegation being only four years later. However, the team bounced back in the 2013 season, becoming the J2 Champion and directly promoting to Division 1 again after only one season.

In 2014, Gamba won the Division 1 title, a year after winning the second division, becoming the second club in the professional era to achieve this feat (after Kashiwa Reysol in 2011). That same year, Gamba also became the second club to win the domestic treble (after Kashima Antlers in 2000), by winning the J. League Cup and the Emperor's Cup as well.

Year 2015 saw Gamba Osaka return to the AFC Champions League for the first time since 2012, where they advanced to the semi-finals before being eliminated by The Tournament Winner and 2015 FIFA Club World Cup Fourth Place Guangzhou Evergrande 1–2 on aggregate. Domestically, Gamba Osaka advanced to the final of both the J. League Cup and the J1 League Championship, losing to Kashima Antlers 0–3 and Club World Cup Third Place Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3–4 respectively. Gamba Osaka successfully defended their status as Emperor's Cup winners, defeating Urawa Red Diamonds 2–1.

Stadium

Gamba Osaka used the Osaka Expo '70 Stadium in the Expo Commemoration Park as its home stadium from 1980 through 2015, which seats around 21,000.

The club began construction in December 2013 of a new soccer-specific stadium called Suita City Football Stadium in the same park, with a seating capacity of 39,694. The new stadium had its inaugural official match during the Panasonic Cup on February 14, 2016, an exhibition match during which Gamba Osaka hosted fellow J1 club Nagoya Grampus.

Rivalries

Gamba's fiercest rival are fellow locals Cerezo Osaka with whom they contest the Osaka derby.

Key
  • Tms. = Number of teams
  • Pos. = Position in league
  • Attendance = Average league attendance per game
  • Source: J. League Data Site
  • Current squad

    The Gamba Osaka squad for the 2017 J1 League season.

    As of 16 January 2017.

    Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

    Out on loan

    Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

    Under-23 Squad

    Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

    Notable players

    Greatest ever team

    In 2011, as part of the club's official celebration of their 20th anniversary, supporters cast votes to determine the greatest ever team.

  • Goalkeeper
  • Yōsuke Fujigaya (2005–2013, 2015– )
  • Defender
  • Akira Kaji (2006–2014) Sidiclei (2004–2007) Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (1995–2006) Satoshi Yamaguchi (2001–2011)
  • Midfielder
  • Yasuhito Endō (1998– ) Tomokazu Myojin (2006–2015 ) Hideo Hashimoto (1998–2011) Takahiro Futagawa (1999– )
  • Forward
  • Patrick M'Boma (1997–1998) Araújo (2005)

    Award winners

    The following players have won the awards while at Gamba Osaka:

    Domestic

  • J. League Player of the Year
  • Araújo (2005)
  • Yasuhito Endō (2014)
  • J. League Top Scorer
  • Patrick M'Boma (1997)
  • Araújo (2005)
  • Magno Alves (2006)
  • J. League Best Eleven
  • Patrick M'Boma (1997)
  • Junichi Inamoto (2000)
  • Yasuhito Endō (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015)
  • Masashi Oguro (2004)
  • Araújo (2005)
  • Fernandinho (2005)
  • Satoshi Yamaguchi (2006, 2007, 2008)
  • Ryōta Tsuzuki (2006)
  • Magno Alves (2006)
  • Baré (2007)
  • Patric(2014)
  • Takashi Usami(2014, 2015)
  • J. League Rookie of the Year
  • Takashi Usami (2010)
  • J. League Cup MVP
  • Michihiro Yasuda (2007)
  • Patric(2014)
  • J. League Cup New Hero Award
  • Michihiro Yasuda (2007)
  • Takashi Usami (2014)
  • International

  • Asian Footballer of the Year
  • Yasuhito Endō (2009)
  • AFC Champions League Most Valuable Player
  • Yasuhito Endō (2008)
  • AFC Champions League Top Scorer
  • Magno Alves (2006)
  • Leandro (2009)
  • World Cup players

    The following players have been selected by their country in the World Cup, while playing for Gamba Osaka:

  • Patrick M'Boma (1998)
  • Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (2002, 2006)
  • Akira Kaji (2006)
  • Yasuhito Endō (2006, 2010, 2014)
  • Yasuyuki Konno (2014)
  • Olympic players

    The following players have represented their country at the Summer Olympic Games whilst playing for Gamba Osaka:

  • Shigeru Morioka (1996)
  • Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (2000)
  • Junichi Inamoto (2000)
  • Ryōta Tsuzuki (2000)
  • Michihiro Yasuda (2008)
  • Yosuke Ideguchi (2016)
  • Hiroki Fujiharu (2016)
  • References

    Gamba Osaka Wikipedia