Gamba Osaka 2019 Special Shirt

GAMBA OSAKA - SPECIAL SHIRT 2019

Gamba Osaka are one of the giants of the Japanese game, founded in 1980 as the works team of Matsushita Electric (now Panasonic) and based in Suita on the northern edge of Osaka. The name Gamba is a lovely double meaning, taken from the Italian gamba, or 'leg', and the Japanese ganbaru, 'to give your all'. Founder members of the J.League, they play at the superb Panasonic Stadium Suita, a purpose-built football ground opened in 2016, and famously completed a domestic treble in 2014.

The 2019 season, in which this bold special shirt was worn, was Gamba's 26th in the top flight and unfolded under the guidance of Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, the elegant former Japan captain who had marshalled his country's defence at two World Cups. He steered them to a respectable 7th place in the 18-team J1 League, a solid mid-table finish for a club forever measured against the very top.

The cups produced the drama. In the J.League Cup, Gamba battled through to the semi-finals, edging FC Tokyo on away goals in the quarters before agonisingly going out to Consadole Sapporo by that same away-goals rule. The Emperor's Cup swung between joy and embarrassment: a thumping 7-1 win over Kamatamare Sanuki was followed by a red-faced 2-0 defeat to Hosei University, students knocking Gamba out for the second year running.

Brazilian forward Ademilson led the way with 10 league goals, and 12 in all competitions. Off the pitch the headline was a remarkable one: promising youngster Ryotaro Meshino earned a move to Manchester City, while South Korean international Kim Young-gwon arrived from Guangzhou Evergrande and fan favourite Takashi Usami returned for a third spell at the club.

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