World Cup qualifiers, Lotte's triumph lead 2005 sports news
December 23, 2005After a bumpy start to their qualifying campaign, Japan finished with a flourish to advance to the 2006 World Cup finals and capped a successful year for the country's athletes on the pitch, in the ballpark and on the links. The J-League's decision to revert to a more orthodox one-stage format paid dividends as Gamba Osaka won the league in a nail-biting finale and provided a tonic for sports fans in the city that were still coming to terms with the Hanshin Tigers' comprehensive defeat to the Lotte Marines in the Japan Series.