AJINOMOTO FIELD NISHIGAOKA welcomes CE Sabadell

J1 League temporarily suspended for Japan national team's participation in the East Asian Cup. During this time, Tokyo held a friendly match. The match will be held at AJINOMOTO FIELD NISHIGAOKA, which is the first time since 1999 when they played in J2 (and in Emperor's Cup in 2000) after forming a business partnership with Spanish second division team CE Sabadell. As you may know, Sotan TANABE has been on loan and has only been with the team for less than a month, but his play has been drawing attention. The Spanish team's unique individual skills and intense play on the ball will also be one of the highlights.

In response, Coach Popovic said, "We will play with our usual Tokyo style" and will give many members the opportunity to play, aiming for a serious battle for both individual players and as a team to lead to the league match.

In Tokyo, Japan national team's Tokunaga, Morishige, Takahashi, and Gonda, as well as South Korea national team's Hyun Soo JANG, are absent. As a result, GK Shiota, center backs Kaga and Maruyama, and right back Nakamura, who is making his first appearance this season, are starting. Yonemoto and Hasegawa will form a double pivot in the lineup. Additionally, Kajiyama, who was on loan to Greek club Panathinaikos until June, has made his first appearance in the squad this season. JFA and J-League designated player Matsuda will also be on the bench.

The intense rain that occurred during the day has started to clear up, but with no wind and under high humidity, the game started at 7:20 PM with a kickoff in Tokyo.

VUCICEVIC scores first, both teams attacking each other

Tokyo dominated the ball from the start. They connected passes and went on the attack. In the 7th minute, Maruyama passed back to GK Shioda on the left front line. Nakawaki competed for the ball and dropped it, allowing Nemanja VUCICEVIC to dribble forward. His precise shot found the back of the net, giving them the lead!

In the 15th minute, Yonemoto, who had drifted to the right side, made a diagonal pass to the center of the goal. Mita dropped it and Watanabe took a ground shot, but the GK made a save. In the 17th minute, they earned a free kick in the center of the opponent's half. Nakamura aimed directly with a powerful curved kick, but it was saved by the GK at the edge of the frame.

On the other hand, Sabadel, who cautiously stood up to observe the situation, gradually began to create attacking opportunities. In the 25th minute, they allowed Sabadel to attack after losing the ball to Tokyo. The tall FW Surdo continued to create chances, and in the 27th minute, left back Yagoubi followed up to the right midfield and passed through to the left area. Receiving the ball, Tanabe turned around between the Tokyo defenders and took a shot, but it went wide of the goal.

Sabadel, who tried to build from the DF line, but in the 34th minute, left back Yagoubi skillfully dribbled past Tokyo DF and rushed into the left area. In response to a minus cross, Tanabe in the center scored directly for a goal. After being caught up to a tie, Tokyo quickly attacked and created chances through Vucicevic, but were unable to score an additional point. The first half ended with a score of 1-1.

Kawano scores a go-ahead goal, but the great game ends in a draw

Tokyo made four substitutions in the second half. Hirayama moved to the top, Mita to the top center, Ishikawa to right MF, Kono to left MF, and Kajiyama and Hasegawa formed a lineup in the midfield. In the 50th minute, Sabadel FW Surudo's shot hit the left post, and in the 52nd minute, Hirayama in the right area jumped out of the offside line to receive Ishikawa's through pass and take a shot.

In the 54th minute, Kaga cut through the DF line and passed to Kajiyama in the center, who then quickly connected with Hirayama and passed to Ishikawa on the left. The cross went to the far side, but Kono followed up and passed back to the center, where Hasegawa made a vertical pass. Mita in the center of the area was marked by the opposing DF, but they showed a dynamic attack.

Both teams aggressively attacked, and in the 57th minute, from a side change by Sabadel Tanabe on the right, the left fullback made a move and MF Juan Jose timed his run to get past the Tokyo DF and take a shot. The Tokyo DF was skillfully broken down by the attack, but the ball hit the post. In the 64th minute, Sabadel broke through the left area again. A sliding cross seemed to find the back of the net, but it was ruled offside.

Gradually, Sabadel was able to grasp the rhythm, but in the 67th minute, Matsuda came in. He entered as a right back, with Nakamura on the left. Then, Otake was brought in as a defensive midfielder. In the 71st minute, Maruyama pushed up the line and passed vertically, and Kono broke through the center of the area. Kono carefully observed the goalkeeper who had come out, and skillfully scored a goal with a well-placed shot, successfully taking the lead.

However, in the 78th minute, Sabadel FW Surudo scored a goal from a chest trap after competing with Tokyo DF in front of the goal from Sabadel's left cross, equalizing the score once again. Despite this, without losing their determination, in the 40th minute, Kajiyama sent a sharp right cross from Matsuda's development. In this, Ishikawa jumped in perfectly between the goal and the opponent's DF and headed the ball, but... In the end, Mita also used his breakthrough power to create chances, but the opponent's GK made a great save and the goal was not scored. The exciting game where both teams attacked each other until the end ended in a draw.
 

[Player Comments]
"Kawano" "When I participated in Sabadel's practice, everyone felt that their "footwork" was good. On the other hand, I felt that they didn't respond much to the back of the DF, so I tried to make a move to get behind them today. In that sense, it was a goal as intended. I fought with the focus on scoring points. Today is a friendly match, but I thought, "We have to get results because it's a time like this!" I want to connect today's goal to the league match, and I think it's meaningless if we don't score in the league match."

"Kajiyama"
"It was really a long time since I played a game, so it was a personal achievement to be able to play for 45 minutes. After returning from Greece, I prepared my condition during the off-season and worked hard to finish it quickly, but I was also happy to show the fans and supporters in Tokyo how I played. (Is this your first game in Tokyo this season?) I felt the high level of everyone's skills. However, I still feel that there is room for improvement in terms of winning and controlling the game, and understanding the flow. I want to improve on that and personally work hard to control the game well."

[Coach Ranko POPOVIC's Press Conference Summary]
"Playing against a Spanish team with a different country and culture is a good experience and a valuable time. We were superior in the game, but we had to win and get results. In a game like today, it is important to win and show more of the fighting spirit that Japan is said to lack."

Spanish or European teams always take advantage of any small opening or slackness to score. We need to maintain our focus more than ever, not show any openings, and not slack off. We also found some issues with our one-on-one defense. Our opponents only allow either the ball or the player to pass in one-on-one situations. They were skilled and experienced in one-on-one situations. However, we were able to break them down with our combinations and push them back at certain times. We also created many chances.

The starting lineup + 6 players on the field played, and I think it was good to make them feel this kind of game against an overseas team. Unfortunately, we couldn't have all the players on the team play, but I hope they will make a strong appeal for the upcoming league matches.｣

[Summary of CE Sabadell Salamero Coach's Press Conference]
"For us, it was not just a practice match, but a special game in partnership with Tokyo. That's why we wanted to make it a spectacular match. As for the game, there were some missed passes and it was chaotic in the first 15 minutes, but as time went on, we improved on both offense and defense. I think we created more scoring opportunities than the other team."

Both teams were able to play a high-quality game in the first half. However, in the second half, I felt that Saverdel had a higher quality. There were also chances that hit the post twice and chances that were unclear whether they were offside or not. However, the reason why they couldn't score was because Tokyo's defense was amazing. Tokyo's combination in attack was fantastic. They were able to connect passes in the center and were also very difficult to deal with on the wings. And their individual abilities were also very high, especially Mita, who I felt was a good player.

If I were to point out areas for improvement, it would be the strength and intensity of our set plays and defense. However, under the guidance of coach Ranko POPOVIC, the team is performing very well and I have great respect for his team-building skills. Today, both teams scored many goals and had numerous shooting opportunities, making it a good game. The only concern is that one of our players got injured early on, forcing us to change our game plan. I hope the injury is not serious.

I want to thank Tokyo again for forming a partnership and I want to work hard so that we can create even better things together in the future.