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The Central Coast Mariners have been given a football lesson by Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale in a major blow to their Asian Champions League campaign.
Kawasaki tore apart the Mariners with a 5-0 victory at Bluetongue Stadium, masterminded by Brazilian duo Juninho and Vitor Jr.
The result is the Mariners’ worst in their four-year history and comes in the wake of the storm created when Kawasaki’s coach Takashi Sekizuka was accused of spying on a Mariners’ training session.
Whatever he had taken away from his observations paid off as early as the ninth minute when Yusuke Mori’s cross was met Korean international Jong Tae-Se who brushed aside a half-hearted challenge by Brad Porter to steer his header past the statuesque Danny Vukovic.
The goal stunned the Mariners into action when Socceroos striker Dylan Macallister bustled past two Kawasaki defenders but his delicate chip into the box was met by a horde of retreating white shirts and cleared to safety.
That was to be the Mariners last real chance of the half as the visitors stepped up a gear to move the ball around the park at will.
Juninho and Vitor Jr were a constant menace in attack, with Juninho, scorer of a stunning 135 goals in 200 games for the club, using all of his experience and guile to great effect.
There was a touch of inevitability about Kawasaki’s second goal on 25 minutes, and it arrived from a set-piece which Mariners’ coach Lawrie McKinna will not want to see again in a hurry.
A Vitor Jr corner was met by Hiroyuki Taniguchi who rose above the home defence to divert his header just inside the left post criminally vacated by Shane Huke.
The J-League side took complete control and it was no surprise when the third arrived seven minutes before half-time when the irrepressible Juninho’s well-struck effort took a huge deflection off Nigel Boogaard and past the helpless Vukovic.
The half-time whistle was a welcome relief for the beleaguered hosts, but the respite didn’t last long when visiting skipper, Japan international Kengo Nakamura, volleyed past Vukovic four minutes after the restart to make it 4-0.
The fifth goal followed on 70 minutes when substitute Renatinho, yet another Brazilian, linked up with his compatriot Juninho and rifled the ball past the under-siege Vukovic.
In fairness to the Mariners, they did managed to enjoy their best spell of the game in the last 15 minutes and Adam Kwasnik looked to have salvaged a late consolation with a neat header, but it was cleared from underneath the bar by the retreating Shuhei Terada.
It was a case of insult to injury for the Mariners, who must brush themselves down and prepare for the return fixture in Japan in two weeks’ time.
McKinna pulled no punches after the game calling the performance “the worst of his career”.
“After the first goal went in our heads went down and we lost the momentum gained from our last two matches,” McKinna said.
“They were one of the best sides we’ve faced and although they were very good there is no excuse for making bad decisions, giving the ball away and being unable to pass the ball more than 10 metres.
“We have a lot to work on for the return game.”
While happy with the win Kawasaki boss Sekizuka said he expected the Mariners to bounce back.
“The Mariners are a very good side and we were impressed with what we saw when doing our research,” he said.
“We had to make sure we defused their strong points which we did although I expect the game in Japan to be a much closer affair.”
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