The 2008 edition of the J. League Cup, officially the 2008 J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup, sponsored by

Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco's ...

began on March 20. The top team in each of the four qualifying group automatically qualified for the quarter finals along with the best two remaining runners-up. Both Gamba Osaka and

Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...

received a bye to the quarter-final stage due to their participation in the group stage of the

Asian Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

Oita Trinita is a Japanese football club currently playing in J2 League, having been relegated after the 2021 season after a three-year stint in J1 League. The club's home town is Ōita, Ōita, Ōita city, but the club draws support from Beppu, Ōita, Beppu, ...

defeated

Shimizu S-Pulse is a professional Japanese football club. Located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, S-Pulse currently competes in the J2 League (J2). The club was formed in 1991 as a founding member of the J.League (''"Original Ten"''), which began ...

2–0 in the final on November 1 at the Tokyo National Stadium. They qualified for the 2009 Pan-Pacific Championship and the

2009 Suruga Bank Championship The 2009 Suruga Bank Championship ( ja, スルガ銀行チャンピオンシップ2009; es, Copa Suruga Bank 2009) was a match between the winners of the previous season's J. League Cup and the Copa Sudamericana. It was contested by the 2008 J. ...

Group stage

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

First leg

---- ---- ----

Second leg

---- ---- Gamba Osaka advances to the semi finals on

Away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...

. ----

Semifinals

First leg

----

Second leg

----

Final

Awards

* MVP:

Daiki Takamatsu is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Takamatsu was born in Ube on September 8, 1981. After graduating from high school, he joined J2 League side Oita Trinita in 2000. He played 6 games and scored ...

(

) * Top Scorer:

Keita Sugimoto is a former Japanese football player. His profile was raised when he scored an overhead kick from a tight angle (on the volley) while playing against Al-Ittihad in the AFC Champions League semi-final second round. His third daughter, Riina Sugi ...

( Nagoya Grampus) * New Hero Prize:

Mu Kanazaki is a Japanese professional footballer who plays for J2 League club Oita Trinita. He scored the two goals that gave his team the title of the 2016 J1 League over Urawa Red Diamonds. Club career On 25 March 2020, Kanazaki returned to Nagoya Gram ...

(

)

External links

J.League Official Site
{{J.League Cup champions

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

J League Cup, 2008 J League Cup, 2008