May 16. History Is About to Be Made in Riyadh.
Gamba Osaka will play in the AFC Champions League 2 (ACL2) final on May 16 local time — May 17, 3:15 AM Japan time. The ACL2 is a continental club competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Think of it as Asia’s version of the UEFA Europa League.
Their opponents are Saudi Arabian powerhouse Al Nassr. The match takes place at King Saud University Stadium — Al Nassr’s home ground.
Al Nassr have some of the biggest names in world football. Their squad includes Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Sadio Mané (Senegal), Kingsley Coman (France), Marcelo Brozović (Croatia), and João Félix (Portugal) — all former stars at Europe’s top clubs. In the group stage, Al Nassr won all six matches, scored 22 goals, and conceded just two. They have been almost unstoppable.
Gamba have matched them step for step. They also won all six group stage matches. In the knockout rounds, they beat South Korean side Pohang Steelers, then Thai clubs Ratchaburi FC and Bangkok United — to book their place in the final.
Now Gamba are chasing their 10th club title. Their previous nine are:
- 2005 J1 League
- 2007 Nabisco Cup (Japan’s domestic League Cup — a knockout competition for J1 clubs, now called the Levain Cup)
- 2008 AFC Champions League
- 2008 Emperor’s Cup (Japan’s oldest cup competition, open to both professional and amateur teams — similar to England’s FA Cup)
- 2009 Emperor’s Cup
- 2014 Nabisco Cup
- 2014 J1 League
- 2014 Emperor’s Cup
- 2015 Emperor’s Cup
A win on May 16 would also be Gamba’s first Asian title in 17 years, since their 2008 ACL triumph.
Gamba Lost — Six Days Before the Final
With six days until the ACL2 final, Gamba played a home match in Matchday 16 of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League — Japan’s top division — against Sanfrecce Hiroshima on May 10.
They lost 0–1. A defeat, six days before the biggest game of their season.
You’d be forgiven for worrying. But Gamba fans know something the rest of the world might not.
Gamba Osaka almost always lose — or fail to win — the match right before they lift a trophy. And then they lift the trophy.
This is not a coincidence. History proves it.
2005 J1 League: First Title, After Three Straight Defeats
Gamba’s trophy-winning story begins with the 2005 J1 League title.
They started the season slowly. But from July, they went on a long winning run and climbed to the top of the table in September. It looked like they would hold on.
They didn’t.
In November, they lost three matches in a row. After the third defeat — against JEF United Chiba in Matchday 33 — Gamba dropped out of first place.
Matchday 34 was the final day of the season. Five clubs still had a chance to win the title.
Gamba beat Kawasaki Frontale. Meanwhile, league leaders Cerezo Osaka needed only a draw to be champions — but Yasuyuki Konno, a defensive midfielder from FC Tokyo (a man who would join Gamba himself seven years later), scored a last-minute equaliser. Cerezo drew. Gamba moved above them on points.
The title was theirs.
Three defeats in a row. Then a miraculous first championship.
2007 Nabisco Cup: Lose on Saturday, Celebrate the Next Weekend
The Nabisco Cup is Japan’s domestic League Cup. It is a knockout competition for J1 clubs, similar to England’s Carabao Cup. (The competition was renamed the Levain Cup in 2016.)
In the 2007 Nabisco Cup final, Gamba faced Kawasaki Frontale.
One week before the final — on October 27 — Gamba lost a league match to Shimizu S-Pulse.
Then, on November 3, they walked out at the National Olympic Stadium (the old one, built for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics — not the current venue), beat Kawasaki 1–0, and lifted the trophy.
2008 AFC Champions League: Beaten Mid-Week, Asian Champions by Month’s End
In 2008, Gamba reached the AFC Champions League final for the first time. Their opponents were Australian club Adelaide United.
Three days after losing to Shimizu S-Pulse in a league match on October 26, Gamba hosted Adelaide in the first leg of the final at home — and won 3–0.
Three days after that, they returned to J1 League duty and were beaten heavily by FC Tokyo. Center back Sota Nakazawa was out with a back injury, so defensive midfielder Tomokazu Myojin had to step into the defensive line. The team was far from full strength.
It didn’t matter. On November 12, Gamba flew to Australia for the second leg and won 2–0. The aggregate score was 5–0. Gamba Osaka were champions of Asia.
2014 Nabisco Cup: The Fans Sang — and the Players Responded
The 2014 season was Gamba’s first year back in J1 after spending a season in J2. (In Japan’s football pyramid, clubs are promoted to J1 or relegated to J2 based on their final league position. J2 is the second division, similar to England’s Championship.)
Gamba chased league leaders Urawa Reds hard that season. But on November 2, they conceded a last-minute equaliser against Vegalta Sendai. It felt like a defeat.
The Gamba fans inside the stadium did not boo. They did not panic. After the final whistle, they began to sing — chanting “Grab the cup!” — to lift the players.
Six days later, Gamba faced Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the Nabisco Cup final. They went 0–2 down. Then they scored three goals and won 3–2. A stunning comeback.
History Repeats Itself
The pattern is clear. Before almost every Gamba title, the club loses — or at least fails to win — in the match immediately before the final.
(There are some exceptions. Competitions like the Emperor’s Cup have many matches concentrated at the end of the year, so the pattern does not always apply there. But in the cases above, it holds almost every time.)
The 0–1 loss to Sanfrecce Hiroshima on May 10 is not a reason for alarm.
For fans who know Gamba’s history, it might actually feel like a good sign. Sound familiar? It should.
Playing Al Nassr — a squad full of global superstars, on their own pitch, with their own fans — will not be easy.
But Gamba Osaka did something very similar in 2008, in Australia, against Adelaide United. Now, under Head Coach Jens Wissing, they travel to Riyadh carrying 17 years of ambition.
Gamba Osaka win when it matters. That is who they are.
This article is written for overseas football fans who are new to the J.League.