Ex-Sticky: Ardija News In Brief

During the period after the tsunami on Friday 11 March, this post will be updated with Ardija-related News in Brief items. Please follow the GGOA Twitter account for more information.

• The club have confirmed that all Ardija players and staff are unhurt following the tsunami and earthquakes
• The quakes caused minor damage only to the infrastructure of NACK5 Stadium
• The J-League have said that all J1, J2 and Nabisco Cup matches scheduled up to and including 20 April have been postponed. For Omiya, this means league fixtures with Hiroshima (13 March), Gamba (20 March), Fukuoka (02 Apr), Marinos (09 Apr) and Sendai (16 Apr); and Nabisco Cup games with Marinos (16 Mar), Yamagata (26 Mar), Niigata (06 Apr) and Kawasaki 20 (Apr)
• Omiya's season will restart on 23 April with a J1 home match against Kashiwa Reysol
• The Group Stage of the Nabisco Cup has been cancelled and replaced with a straight knock-out format. Omiya have received a First Round bye and in the Second Round in September will play the winner of Yamagata against Urawa
• Ardija defender Kim Yong Gwon played for South Korea in their 4-0 win over Honduras on 25 Mar; Keigo Higashi started for Japan U22 in their 1-0 defeat in Uzbekistan on 26 Mar and scored in the repeat fixture three days later, a 2-1 win. Takuya Aoki came on as a substitute in the second match
• Higashi and Aoki have also been called up for a further U22 training camp between 11 Apr and 13 Apr
• The Ardija first team squad went on a training camp at Gotemba, Shizuoka prefecture, between 29 Mar and 01 Apr
• On 03 Apr, Omiya lost a 4x45 mins training match against Tochigi SC 4-2, the goals coming from Shintaro Shimizu, Keigo Higashi and Rafael
• On 09 Apr, Omiya won a 4x45 mins training match against Albirex Niigata 3-2, the goals coming from Rafael and Shintaro Shimizu
• The Ardija club shop Orange Square is accepting donations to tsunami disaster relief funds
• Ardija have set up a charity auction in which fans can bid to win items signed by Omiya players. Details of the auction are here
• Youth team goalkeeper Shuhei Kawata has been promoted to the first-team squad. The youngster will wear shirt #35

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