Oguma Tokyo's first pre-season match of the season

　With the league match just one week away, a pre-season match was held against Zaspa Kusatsu. Under the guidance of coach Ohkuma, the team slogan "TOKYO SPIRIT ~Everything for Victory~" was raised, and the focus was not just on promotion to J1, but on becoming stronger and returning to J1. The team continued to run and play practice matches during the Miyazaki and Kagoshima camps, and today, despite being an away game, it was a great opportunity to test their progress.

　Tokyo will face the challenge of playing without players such as Gonda, Kajiyama, Pedro JUNIOR, and Ishikawa due to injuries. However, coach Okuma emphasizes the importance of utilizing their strengths on the pitch and sees it as a good simulation for the opening game, saying "There may be more injuries or players leaving for the Japan national team in the future. It's important to see how well we can perform on the pitch." The starting lineup will consist of Abe and Tokunaga as left and right defenders, with Haberuto and Hayabusa forming a partnership in midfield. Taniyama will play as left midfielder, while Hirayama and Suzuki will lead the attack as a duo.

　Kusatsu, who they are facing, finished 12th in the J2 league last season. Scoring shortage was an issue, but this season, Brazilian FW Rafinha and FW Mandai, who have been active in Sendai and Tosu, have joined and have shown results in practice matches so far. Vice-manager Fukushima, who sees today's match as an important one, said, "We want to show our own style on both offense and defense without hesitation, even against FC Tokyo, who is a candidate for the championship." We want to actively attack without being passive against the opponent's high motivation.

　Sunny and feeling the arrival of spring, Gunma's Shoda Shoyu Stadium. The game started at 2:05pm with a kickoff in Tokyo.

Despite conceding the first goal, Hirayama's header equalized and ended the first half.

　Tokyo took control of the ball from the beginning and dominated the game. They utilized Suzuki's movement and started from Hirayama, while Tokunaga and Abe also pushed forward from the side backs, trying to break through the Kashima defense. However, Kashima also had a quick start, but their coordination and accuracy in the attacking area were lacking, and they were unable to create any decisive chances. In the 30th minute, Hanyu in the center passed to Suzuki on the right, who crossed the ball. Hirayama jumped for it, but couldn't connect and the ball went out of bounds.

　At 36 minutes, Tokyo allowed Kashima MF Matsushita to attack from the left side and take a shot, but it missed and rolled in front of the goal. Kashima's MF Kumabayashi jumped in and took a shot, but Shioda made a save. However, the ball fell to Kashima's MF Goto in the left front line and was kicked in for a goal. Kashima took advantage of their few chances and scored first.

　After that, Kusatsu started to actively move forward and took control of the pace, but they did not panic and launched a counterattack. Just before the end of the first half, Hayashi entered the opponent's territory and passed to Abe, who was trying to move up on the left. Abe successfully switched with the opponent's defender and sent a cross, which was headed into the goal by Hirayama in the center!! With a powerful header, they equalized and ended the first half.

Unable to break through the opponent's defense until the end, ending in a draw.

　In the second half, we gained even more momentum and brought the ball to the front line. In the 52nd minute, Otake was surrounded by two opposing DF players in the area, but he skillfully dribbled and attempted to break through, only to be stopped by the DF and fall down, with no whistle blown. In the 59th minute, Suzuki broke through to the right front line and passed to Hiraoka in the near area, who then passed to Hayashi in front of the right area to aim for the goal. From the resulting corner kick, Morishige headed the ball but it was blocked by the post.

　As time passed, the game opened up in the midfield and both sides had opportunities. The coach made substitutions and tried different combinations to score. In the 73rd minute, midfielder Roberto made a long pass to forward Roberto CESAR, who had just come on as a substitute. He created a one-on-one situation with the opposing defender in the right area, but was unable to finish. On the right side, substitutes Nakamura and Mokuhara made dribbles and repeatedly crossed the ball into the box.

　In the 82nd minute, Hayashi → Roberto CESAR in the center took a decisive shot from the front of the area, but the Kashima GK made a save. In the 85th minute, Roberto CESAR's shot from the area shook the net, but it was offside... In the 3rd minute of stoppage time, Morishige jumped in for a header from Tanizawa's right FK. It was a decisive moment, but the goal was not scored due to the opponent GK's great save. In the end, they were unable to score an additional point and ended the preseason match with a 1-1 draw.

　【Player Comments】《Hirayama》"(About the goal) Takumi has been giving me good balls since practice, and I also talked about my aim (to score). I think it worked out well. It's important to communicate my style to my teammates, and I think I was able to show that a little bit by scoring today. As a point of reflection, the distance between players, including after competing for a header. I'm not just aiming to drop the ball, but when those kinds of balls come, I need to be closer to my teammates. Finally, it's the start of the season, and I'm looking forward to it, but I want to continue preparing well for another week and lead up to the start."

　"Shioda" "The scene of the goal was started from us putting the loose ball roughly. We had to be careful against the second and third attacks, and we want to firmly pursue the preparation and management of the opponent's counter. (What did you feel in the match against J2?) The opponent also made a solid block by pulling the FW. The aim was to break through it, but even if the full-back went up, there was no space, and it was difficult to connect directly considering the ground state. It's not easy to break the block easily, so I felt that it was necessary to play simply and pick up the second."

　(Towards the opening) Everyone's condition has improved and their mental preparation is also ready. The opening match will have high expectations from those around us, and of course, winning 3 points is desired. But the most important thing is to still be in J1 after fighting through the season. I believe it is important to not become too rigid and to prepare with our feet on the ground.

　[Coach Okuma's Press Conference Summary] "In the first half, we were not used to the ground and the game was narrow, and the opponent clearly targeted us. In the second half, we need to move forward while expanding wide, just like in the first half. We need to respect the opponent, but we must not panic. It takes two or three steps to change sides, so we were targeted for that. We need to make big plays from the small details. Also, the opponent has pulled back their block to some extent, so we can't get the ball behind them. If players like Tatsuya can make more runs behind the defense, I think we would have done well in the first half."

　There were times when the goal area became thin due to the ball sticking to the side when there was no space. We would like to make adjustments in that area for our attacks. As for defense, there were a few dangerous scenes, but that's just soccer. It's not because we don't have enough players, so we have to stick to our game plan and continue attacking. If we panic, it could lead to a different outcome. It's not just the 11 players, but also the substitutes who have to work together.

　[Kusatsu Vice Island Coach's Press Conference Summary] "It was a draw in the end, but how much of what we have prepared can we do against FC Tokyo? They are probably the first team to be promoted this season. We expected to be dominated for a long time, but we were able to score against such a team and defend well in the second half. We faced them with our best lineup despite having injured players, but we still lost the ball too many times after winning it, and we couldn't create the intended shape. That's the next challenge."

　Although we had an injured center back, DF Atsushi TANAKA and DF Pim contributed enough defensive power to the team. In that sense, I think we were able to improve the depth of our team. There are clear challenges, so I want to fix those in the next week and face the game. (How did you feel about FC Tokyo's strength?) Of course, individually as well, but the team's speed was impressive. I felt that there were many different speeds. In that environment, their technique was also accurate and they didn't let us make mistakes. That also led to conceding goals, so I think they are a strong team."