Gamba Osaka - History

History

Founded in 1980 as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (which was renamed "Panasonic Corporation" on October 1st, 2008) soccer club in Nara Prefecture and a member of the Japan Soccer League. It was mostly made of remaining players and staff of the defunct Yanmar Club, the former B-team of Yanmar Diesel F.C., later to be known as Cerezo Osaka. Gamba Osaka was an original member of the J. League in 1993 and has remained one of five sides to never be relegated from the top division until 2012. Though, the closest one before they had been relegated was in 1997, when they finished below Consadole Sapporo who despite finishing 14th in the overall table lost all their playout matches and had to form the new J. League Division 2 with clubs from the former Japan Football League.

In 2005, the club claimed its first J. League championship on a dramatic final day during which any of five clubs could have claimed the championship. Gamba needed to win, and have cross town rivals Cerezo Osaka draw or lose. Gamba defeated a valiant Kawasaki Frontale 4–2, while victory was snatched from Cerezo by a last minute FC Tokyo equalizer. In an AFC Champions League match in 2006, Gamba Osaka defeated Vietnamese side Da Nang FC in a record equaling victory of 15–0. And then in the proceeding summer, an-Pacific Championship 2008|2008]] Pan-Pacific Championship final, Gamba Osaka beat MLS club Houston Dynamo 6-1 to win the tournament, in large part because of the brilliant display by Bare who scored 4 goals in the final (5 in all at the tourney). After his brilliant display and just having finished scoring 10 goals in 18 games for Gamba in the domestic league, he was sold to UAE club Al-Ahli for 1 billion yen.

In October 2008, Gamba for the first time in their history, reached the final of the 2008 AFC Champions League when they defeated fellow Japanese and league rivals Urawa Reds 4–2 on aggregate after a 1–1 draw at home in the first leg, Gamba registered one of the most historic comebacks in Champions League history when they came back from being behind 1–0 before half time to win 1–3 with all goals scored in the second half at Saitama. Gamba Osaka went on to win the 2008 AFC Champions League title after winning 5–0 on aggregate against the giant-killing Australian team Adelaide United in the Final. They became the fifth Japanese club to win the maximum Asian title, after Urawa, Júbilo Iwata, and then-company-affiliated Yomiuri (Tokyo Verdy) and Furukawa Electric (JEF United Ichihara Chiba).

In December 2008, Gamba made it to the semi finals of the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup after beating Australian club Adelaide United 1–0. They were beaten in the semi finals by Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners Manchester United. On the 21st December 2008 they played for third place against Mexican side C.F. Pachuca with Gamba winning the match 1–0.

On January 1, 2009, Ryuji Bando scored in extra time to lift Gamba Osaka to a 1–0 win over Kashiwa Reysol and take the 88th Emperor's Cup in Tokyo. The victory secured Gamba a place in the 2009 AFC Champions League, where it will defend the title it won last year. This was the team's second ever Emperor's Cup win, with the last 18 years before in its previous incarnation as Matsushita Electric Industrial Soccer Club.

In December 1, 2012, Gamba was relegated from Division 1 after losing 2-1 to Jubilo Iwata and finished 17th. Despite scoring more goals than any other team (including Champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima) and have a positive goal difference. Their poor defense which also allowed more goals than any team other than Consadole Sapporo(which also relegated) would be responsible for their ultimate failure in staying in Division 1.