2015 Suruga Bank Championship

2015 Suruga Bank Championship

Match programme cover
Event	Suruga Bank Championship
Gamba Osaka River Plate 0 3
Date	11 August 2015
Venue	Osaka Expo '70 Stadium, Suita
Referee	Tan Hai (China) [1]
Attendance	12,722 [1]
Weather	Clear 29.7 °C (85.5 °F) 58% humidity [1]
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The 2015 Suruga Bank Championship was a football match between Gamba Osaka of Japan and River Plate of Argentina on 11 August 2015 at the Osaka Expo '70 Stadium, contested between the winners of the Japanese league cup, the J.League Cup and the Copa Sudamericana as the annual J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship.

The teams had qualified for the tournament by winning their two seasonal competitions. Gamba Osaka won the 2014 J.League Cup, beating Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3–2. River Plate were the 2014 Copa Sudamericana champions after winning the two-legged final 3–1 against Atlético Nacional of Colombia.

Watched by a crowd of 12,722, River Plate took an early lead in the first half when Carlos Sánchez scored after they were awarded a penalty. Their lead was extended after Gabriel Mercado also found the net in the 31st minute. The scoreline was stretched out again when Gonzalo Martínez made it 3–0. No further goals were scored with almost a half hour to end, consequently crowning River Plate as winners of the 2015 edition.

Background

Gamba Osaka's home ground of Osaka Expo '70 Stadium would host the match.

The J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship was established by the Japan Football Association and CONMEBOL, both the governing bodies of football in Japan and South America respectively. ^[2] The idea for the cup was pitched as a sporting agreement, with the aim of strengthening relations between the two associations through an annual competition. It had been held since 2008, hosted annually at the J.League Cup champion's home stadium. ^[3]

Gamba Osaka qualified for the Suruga Bank Championship as the reigning J.League Cup champions. They had won the 2014 J.League Cup beating Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3–2 in the final. ^[4] It was to be their second appearance, after the loss suffered against Arsenal de Sarandí of Argentina in the 2008 edition. ^[5]

River Plate had qualified for the match as winners of the 2014 Copa Sudamericana. They had beaten Colombian team Atlético Nacional 3–1 on aggregate to win their first Copa Sudamericana. ^[6] Therefore, they were to make their first appearance in the tournament as the fourth Argentine team to play in the competition. ^[7]

Both teams were midway through their respective domestic campaigns at the time of the matches. Gamba Osaka's last game before the match was against Albirex Niigata on a 2–2 draw played on 29 July 2015. ^[8] River Plate played on 5 August 2015 the second leg of the 2015 Copa Libertadores final against Tigres UANL. They won 3–0, winning their third Copa Libertadores. ^[9] Despite the importance of their previous match, River Plate would take part in the Suruga Bank with mostly the same squad that had lined up for the continental meeting. ^[10]

Match

Summary

Carlos Sánchez was key in River Plate's victory, with two goal contributions.

River Plate opened the scoring to the match in the eighth minute when a foul committed by Yosuke Ideguchi on Nicolás Bertolo inside the area was sanctioned. Carlos Sánchez took care of the penalty with a strong, high shot to the middle of the goal for the lead. River Plate was calmly setting the pace of the match, but experienced a scare in the 20th minute when Marcelo Barovero misjudged the bounce of the ball, which went over his head. Gamba Osaka's striker Patric took too long to take control of it, and Barovero's retreat was a successful one, sending the ball out of the pitch. At the 31-minute mark, Sánchez found Gabriel Mercado after he sent a center from a corner kick. The defender headed the ball over goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya to make it 2–0. ^[11] River Plate continued to have chances as Sebastián Driussi missed an opportunity handed out to him by Leonel Vangioni, following a cross from Sánchez. The Uruguayan midfielder also sent a volley into the crossbar just before stoppage time. ^[12]

Shortly after the start of the second half, Gamba Osaka came close with a run from Lins, whose shot went wide. River Plate's manager Marcelo Gallardo subbed in three players after just seven minutes of the second half, two of them being Gonzalo Martínez and Leonardo Pisculichi. In the 61st minute, the latter initiated a play, linking up with Mercado, who filtered a pass to Martínez on his right. As the attacking midfielder entered the penalty area after controlling the ball, he curled a left-footed shot into the far corner of the net, beyond the goalkeeper's reach. The home side kept insisting and seven minutes later, Ramiro Funes Mori had to exert himself to divert the ball from Patric's boots when he was about to score. ^[11] From the resulting corner kick, the Brazilian striker missed a header at close range. Barovero later made three crucial saves, denying chances from Shingo Akamine and Shu Kurata. River Plate were being outplayed on both flanks and leaving gaps for the home team to take advantage of, as fatigue and physical exhaustion were taking their toll. Kurata had another chance at the 85-minute mark, but his shot went wide. ^[12] As neither team managed to score any further goals, the match ended 3–0 in favour of River Plate.

Details

August 11, 2015

19:00 JST

Gamba Osaka	0–3	River Plate
	Report	Sánchez 8' (pen.) Mercado 31' Martínez 61'

Osaka Expo '70 Stadium, Suita

Attendance: 12,722 ^[1]

Referee: Tan Hai (China)

Gamba Osaka

River Plate

GK 18 Yōsuke Fujigaya DF 6 Kim Jung-ya  41' DF 8 Keisuke Iwashita  44' DF 15 Yasuyuki Konno DF 22 Oh Jae-suk  83' MF 7 Yasuhito Endō (c) MF 17 Tomokazu Myojin  46' MF 19 Kotaro Omori  55' MF 21 Yosuke Ideguchi FW 9 Lins  64' FW 29 Patric  71' Substitutes: GK 16 Ken Tajiri DF 3 Takaharu Nishino DF 4 Hiroki Fujiharu  46' MF 10 Takahiro Futagawa  55' MF 11 Shu Kurata  57'  41' MF 13 Hiroyuki Abe  64' FW 20 Shun Nagasawa FW 24 Shingo Akamine  71' FW 30 So Hirao  83' Manager: Kenta Hasegawa

GK 1 Marcelo Barovero (c) DF 25 Gabriel Mercado DF 2 Jonatan Maidana DF 6 Ramiro Funes Mori DF 21 Leonel Vangioni MF 8 Carlos Sánchez  78' MF 23 Leonardo Ponzio  52' MF 5 Matías Kranevitter MF 16 Nicolás Bertolo  52' FW 22 Sebastián Driussi  52' FW 29 Javier Saviola  64' Substitutes: GK 26 Julio Chiarini DF 3 Éder Álvarez Balanta MF 18 Camilo Mayada  78' MF 14 Augusto Solari MF 15 Leonardo Pisculichi  52' MF 27 Lucho González  64' MF 10 Gonzalo Martínez  52' FW 17 Lucas Boyé FW 19 Tabaré Viudez  52' Manager: Marcelo Gallardo

Assistant referees Mu Yuxin (China) [1] Huo Weiming (China) [1] Fourth official Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan) [1]

Post-match

River Plate's squad had travelled to San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico on 29 July for the first leg of the Copa Libertadores final, then back to Buenos Aires for the rematch, and eventually boarded their flight to Osaka for the eighth edition of the Suruga Bank Championship just 24 hours later. ^[13] Coach Marcelo Gallardo addressed the packed schedule after the game, highlighting: "We're happy to win another title [...] There was a risk because we were not in prime condition after traveling so far, and this match was a very important challenge. We responded once again." Regarding of the importance of the tournament, he stated: "only two South American teams have had the opportunity to win this cup in eight editions." ^[14]

Kenta Hasegawa was disappointed about the defeat. He argued: "We played our typical Gamba style and had some chances but we came up short [...] If we'd scored a goal in the second half when the heat slowed the opponents down, we could have added a few more goals. We didn't know if the opponents would come aggressively or defensively at us early on, but unless we can play well even under that level of pressure, we won't be the real deal." ^[15]

It was the fourth international title River Plate had lifted in 245 days, breaking the record set by Estudiantes de La Plata between 1968 and 1969, who had managed the same in just over a year. Gallardo commented on the feat: "A sense of aura is being built up, and that’s achieved by solidifying a winning team." He added further: "Getting used to winning is the best – we can't deviate from that path." ^[16]

See also

• 2015 J.League Cup
• 2015 Copa Sudamericana
• 2015 Gamba Osaka season
• 2015 Club Atlético River Plate season

References

1. "SURUGA bank Championship 2015 OSAKA" (PDF). Japan Football Association. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
2. "Copa Suruga Bank". CONMEBOL (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2025-12-19.
3. en, Seguir (2018-08-07). "Curiosidades de la Suruga Bank, la copa que otorga un título oficial y viola el reglamento de la FIFA". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2025-12-19.
4. "Japan 2014". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
5. "SURUGA Bank Championship". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
6. "River Plate claim Copa Sudamericana". RTÉ. 2014-12-11.
7. "Argentine side River Plate book spot in Suruga Bank Championship". JFA｜公益財団法人日本サッカー協会 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-12-19.
8. "Japan 2015". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
9. "River Plate win third Copa Libertadores title with victory over Tigres". The Guardian. 2015-08-06. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2026-01-12.
10. "River Plate 3-0 Tigres (Aug 5, 2015) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
11. "River venció al Osaka en la Copa Suruga". ESPN.com.ar (in Spanish). 2015-08-11. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
12. Benozzi, Maximiliano (2015-08-11). "Otra goleada de River para levantar la Copa Suruga Bank en Japón". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-12-19.
13. Clarín, Redacción (2015-08-06). "River viajó a Japón en busca de otra copa". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-12-19.
14. Plate, Club Atletico River. "Gallardo: "El sacrificio no fue en vano"". caRiverPlate.com.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-12-19.
15. "Gamba Osaka fall to River Plate in SURUGA bank Championship 2015 OSAKA". JFA｜公益財団法人日本サッカー協会 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-12-19.
16. Benozzi, Maximiliano (2015-08-12). "El fenómeno River". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-12-24.

External links

• スルガ銀行チャンピオンシップ2015, Japan Football Association (in Japanese)
• スルガ銀行チャンピオンシップ2015OSAKA, J. League (in Japanese)
• Copa Suruga Bank, CONMEBOL.com (in Spanish)