2012 J.League Cup
| Yamazaki Nabisco Cup | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Country | Japan | 
| Teams | 18 | 
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Kashima Antlers (5th title) | 
| Runners-up | Shimizu S-Pulse | 
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 55 | 
| Goals scored | 170 (3.09 per match) | 
| Top goal scorer(s) | Yuya Osako (Kashima Antlers) 7 goals | 
The 2012 J.League Cup, also known as the 2012 J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup for sponsoring purposes, was the 37th edition of the most prestigious Japanese soccer league cup tournament and the 20th edition under the current J.League Cup format.
Kashima Antlers became the winners for two straight years and qualify for the 2013 Suruga Bank Championship.
Format
Teams from the J.League Division 1 will take part in the tournament. FC Tokyo, Gamba Osaka, Kashiwa Reysol and Nagoya Grampus were given a bye to the quarter-finals due to qualification in the 2012 AFC Champions League. The remaining 14 teams started from the group stage, where they were divided into two groups of seven. The group winners and the runners-up of each group qualified for the quarter-final along with the four teams which qualified for the AFC Champions League.
Group stage
Standings
| Group A
 | Group B
 | 
 | 
Results
Group A
| Sagan Tosu | 2–1 | Kawasaki Frontale | 
|---|---|---|
| Okada  53' Noda  65' | Report |  78' Yajima | 
| Júbilo Iwata | 2–1 | Cerezo Osaka | 
|---|---|---|
| Matsuura  59' Maeda  88' | Report |  38' Branquinho | 
| Vegalta Sendai | 2–0 | Sagan Tosu | 
|---|---|---|
| Matsushita  51' Kakuda  62' | Report | 
| Júbilo Iwata | 4–3 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 
|---|---|---|
| Maeda  7' Chiyotanda  57' Matsuura  77' Yamada  82' | Report |  34' Kojima  45+1' (o.g.) Rodrigo Souto  79' Takahashi | 
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 1–1 | Kawasaki Frontale | 
|---|---|---|
| Sato  85' | Report |  58' Jeci | 
| Kawasaki Frontale | 3–1 | Vegalta Sendai | 
|---|---|---|
| Tasaka  45+1' Kobayashi  45+3', 57' | Report |  90' Muto | 
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 1–4 | Cerezo Osaka | 
|---|---|---|
| Yajima  42' | Report |  11' Kiyotake  45' Fujimoto  49' Branquinho  81' Bando | 
| Kawasaki Frontale | 0–3 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 
|---|---|---|
| Report |  32' Kashiwagi  57', 82' Ugajin | 
| Cerezo Osaka | 2–1 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 
|---|---|---|
| Branquinho  27' Kim  90+5' | Report |  30' Sato | 
| Sagan Tosu | 3–2 | Júbilo Iwata | 
|---|---|---|
| Inuzuka  12', 65' Hayasaka  62' | Report |  52' Matsuoka  88' Yamada | 
| Cerezo Osaka | 3–2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 
|---|---|---|
| Kempes  47' Kakitani  58', 86' | Summary | Kusukami  30' Renatinho  68' | 
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 1–3 | Vegalta Sendai | 
|---|---|---|
| Shimizu  24' | Summary | Nakahara  56' (76) Wilson  65' | 
| Sagan Tosu | 2–1 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 
|---|---|---|
| Toyoda  52' Mizunuma  80' | Report | Márcio Richardes  77' | 
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 5–1 | Sagan Tosu | 
|---|---|---|
| Koji Morisaki  45+3', 90' Satō  55' (pen.) Ishihara  78', 82' | Summary | Mizunuma  63' | 
| Vegalta Sendai | 4–0 | Júbilo Iwata | 
|---|---|---|
| Ota  23' Wilson  56' Akamine  69' Watanabe  80' | Summary | 
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 3–0 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 
|---|---|---|
| Despotović  43' Noda  62' Yajima  80' | Summary | 
| Cerezo Osaka | 5–0 | Sagan Tosu | 
|---|---|---|
| Ogihara  24' Kim Bo-Kyung  45+4' (pen.) Kakitani  55', 71' Fujimoto  90' | Summary | 
Group B
| Kashima Antlers | 2–0 | Vissel Kobe | 
|---|---|---|
| Osako  20' Endo  45+1' | Report | 
| Omiya Ardija | 1–1 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 
|---|---|---|
| Carlinhos  15' | Report |  84' Saitō | 
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 1–2 | Consadole Sapporo | 
|---|---|---|
| Matsumoto  68' | Report |  6' Oshima  45+2' Sakaki | 
| Consadole Sapporo | 1–2 | Kashima Antlers | 
|---|---|---|
| Sakaki  16' | Report |  85' Juninho  90+4' Okamoto | 
| Omiya Ardija | 1–1 | Consadole Sapporo | 
|---|---|---|
| Kim  53' | Report |  88' Maeda | 
| Vissel Kobe | 1–2 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 
|---|---|---|
| Matsumura  64' | Report |  55' Kobayashi  83' Takagi | 
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 3–2 | Kashima Antlers | 
|---|---|---|
| Hyodo  36' Saitō  83' Oguro  86' | Report |  58' Endo  68' Juninho | 
| Consadole Sapporo | 0–4 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 
|---|---|---|
| Summary | Kawai  2' Lee Ki-Je  5' Ishige  57' Sugiyama  78' | 
| Omiya Ardija | 1–0 | Vissel Kobe | 
|---|---|---|
| Aoki  31' | Summary | Bae Chun-Suk  70' | 
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 3–1 | Omiya Ardija | 
|---|---|---|
| Hiraoka  41' Omae  72' (pen.) Shirasaki  88' | Summary | Hasegawa  36' Fukaya  70' | 
| Vissel Kobe | 2–2 | Consadole Sapporo | 
|---|---|---|
| Ōkubo  12', 21' | Summary | Sakai  35' Okamoto  38' | 
| Kashima Antlers | 2–1 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 
|---|---|---|
| Osako  75', 90' (pen.) | Summary | Ito  14' | 
| Albirex Niigata | 4–3 | Omiya Ardija | 
|---|---|---|
| Kogure  62' Hirai  73' Suzuki  90', 90+4' | Summary | Shimizu  15', 49' Watanabe  40' | 
| Vissel Kobe | 3–2 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 
|---|---|---|
| Komoto  9', 87' Morioka  40' | Summary | Ono  37' Kanai  80' | 
Knock-out stage
All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||||||
| Nagoya Grampus | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 0 | 4 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| FC Tokyo | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| FC Tokyo | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Vegalta Sendai | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| Shimizu S-Pulse | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kashima Antlers | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kashiwa Reysol | 3 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
| Gamba Osaka | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Kashiwa Reysol | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Kashima Antlers | 3 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
| Cerezo Osaka | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Kashima Antlers | 2 | 3 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
Quarter-finals
First leg
| Kashima Antlers | 2–1 | Cerezo Osaka | 
|---|---|---|
| Iwamasa  22' Koroki  25' | Kakitani  33' | 
| Gamba Osaka | 1–3 | Kashiwa Reysol | 
|---|---|---|
| Niwa  83' | Kudo  47' Leandro Domingues  76',  90+5' | 
Second leg
| Kashiwa Reysol | 2–1 | Gamba Osaka | 
|---|---|---|
| Leandro Domingues  17' Kudo  60' | Sato  30' | 
| Cerezo Osaka | 0–3 | Kashima Antlers | 
|---|---|---|
| Dutra  28' Koroki  63' Shibasaki  70' | 
| FC Tokyo | 2–0 | Vegalta Sendai | 
|---|---|---|
| Ishikawa  81' Watanabe  90+3' | 
| Nagoya Grampus | 3–4 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 
|---|---|---|
| Tulio  54' Fujimoto  76',  87' | Alex  42' Jymmy Franca  69' Senuma  88' Takagi  90+3' | 
Semifinals
First leg
| Kashima Antlers | 3–2 | Kashiwa Reysol | 
|---|---|---|
| Osako  7',  69' Renato  36' | (Report) | Barada  35' Leandro Domingues  62' | 
Second leg
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 3–0 | FC Tokyo | 
|---|---|---|
| Omae  26', 63', 90+6' (pen.) | Report | 
| Kashiwa Reysol | 2–2 | Kashima Antlers | 
|---|---|---|
| Jorge Wagner  37' Neto Baiano  90+4' | Report | Dutra  12' Osako  24' | 
Final
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | Kashima Antlers | 
|---|---|---|
| Omae  77' (pen.) | Report | Shibasaki  73' (pen.), 93' | 
Goalscorers
| Rank | Name | Team | Goals | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Yuya Osako | Kashima Antlers | 7 | 
| 2 |  Genki Omae | Shimizu S-Pulse | 5 | 
|  Yoichiro Kakitani | Cerezo Osaka | 5 | |
| 4 |  Leandro Domingues | Kashiwa Reysol | 4 |