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Not yet decided Yokohama, Kashima play to scoreless draw
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) -- The first of the two-leg championship series to decide this year's J-League winner ended Saturday with a 0-0 tie between Yokohama F. Marinos and Kashima Antlers. The championship final started off with the Marinos aggressively attacking the opponent, taking advantage of playing on its home field under sunny skies at the International Stadium Yokohama with 41,595 in attendance. But the Antlers' squad kept its defense tight throughout the match, closely marking Marinos forward Shunsuke Nakamura. Nakamura's shot in the second half narrowly missed the goal post. After the scoreless first half, Marinos stepped up its attack with six shots at the goal as the Antlers showed sign of fatigue. But the Antlers rallied around defense player Yutaka Akita and spurned the repeated assaults on its goal. The Marinos, which took the J-League first-stage title, were vying for a second title in five years. The Marinos won the first-stage title while Antlers had the second-stage title. The second leg of series will be held on Dec. 9 in Tokyo. Lineups: Yokohama F. Marinos - Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Norio Omura, Naoki Matsuda, Yasuhiro Hato, Ryosuke Kijima (Kunio Nagayama, 45th), Yoshiharu Ueno, Akihiro Endo, Atsuhiro Miura, Syunsuke Nakamura, Yoo Sang-chul, Shoji Jo (Edmilson Matias, 65th; Kazunari Okayama, 89th). Kashima Antlers - Daijiro Takakuwa, Akira Narahashi, Yutaka Akita, Fabiano Cezar Viegas, Naoki Soma (Yasuto Honda, 84th), Koji Kumagai, Koji Nakata, Mitsuo Ogasawara (Kenji Haneda, 89th), Bismarck Barreto Faria, Atsushi Yanagisawa (Masashi Motoyama, 76th), Takayuki Suzuki. Referee: Leslie Mottram.
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