Tokyo Castle FC's first preseason match!

　With the league opening in about two weeks, a preseason match was held against Cerezo Osaka. This season, under the guidance of manager Hiroshi JOFUKU, the newly reborn Tokyo team has set "Moving Football" as their team slogan and aims to play a dynamic style of soccer. After training in Guam and Miyazaki, this away match provided a great opportunity to test their progress so far.

　The Japan national team will be without Nagatomo, Konno, Kajiyama, Hirayama, and Habu due to their activities, and Cabore has just joined on 2/20, so they will not be able to field their best lineup today. However, the players who have built up their teamwork through practice matches so far will start. GK Shioda, DF Tokunaga, Fujiyama, Shigeta, Kanazawa, and in the midfield, Asari, Bruno QUADROS, and in front of them, Kurisawa, Ishikawa, and Otake will line up, with Kondo as the lone striker.

　C Osaka, on the other hand, gradually began to adopt Coach Kurpi's soccer style in last season's league matches, achieving a remarkable 7-game winning streak with a draw in between. However, they finished in 5th place and surely have a strong desire to be promoted to J1 this season. Despite missing players due to national team duties, C Osaka must be wary of the attacking power of FW Furuhashi and MF Kakitani.

　The match started at 12:05pm in Tokyo amidst strong winds.

Unable to break through the goal despite gradually creating opportunities.

　At the pre-match meeting, coach Jofuku told the players, "Let's focus on winning while showing the results of what we have done so far," and sent them onto the pitch. C Osaka continued their attack from the start of the first half. They created opportunities from passing in the midfield and building from the left and right sides, putting pressure on Tokyo's goal. However, Shioda and Mobata calmly responded and no decisive chances were created.

　Tokyo struggled to get the ball moving and it was a difficult situation, but after 10 minutes they gradually started to find their rhythm. In the 14th minute, Asari stole the ball in midfield and quickly passed it to Otake. Otake used his dribbling skills to attack the opponent's territory and sent a final pass to Ishikawa, who came up from the right, but it was cleared. In the following 15 minutes, the opponent committed a foul on the right side against Tokunaga, Kurisawa, and Ishikawa's dribbling, resulting in a free kick. Kondo took a bold shot at goal from the free kick, but it hit the wall and bounced back.

　At 24 minutes, Bruno QUADROS from the center shoots after picking up the ball from a rebound from Ishikawa → Tokunaga → center, but it hits a defender and goes over the goal. At 29 minutes, Asari makes a perfect through pass to Ishikawa. Ishikawa dribbles and passes to Kondo in the center, who then passes to Kurisawa who runs up the left area. Kurisawa then passes to Otake who runs into the goal area, but the pass is unsuccessful.

　With coordinated movements, take complete control. In the 35th minute, Otake, who received the ball on the right side, skillfully evaded the opponent who came from behind and started dribbling forward. He then ran 20m and passed a through ball to Kondo, but it just missed. In the 38th minute, Kondo dropped the ball received from Asari, and finally Kurizawa took a shot, but the opponent's GK caught it. In the end, both teams went into halftime with no goals scored.

Lack of accuracy in front of goal results in a scoreless draw.

　Tokyo had the upper hand in the second half, and it seemed like they would continue their momentum from the first half. However, they made a mistake and allowed the opponent to counter, creating a dangerous situation. In the 56th minute, a quick counter attack was launched from Bruno QUADROS in the center to Tokunaga on the right side. Tokunaga had a one-on-one opportunity with the opponent, but his cross was not accurate enough and Kondo, who was free in the center, took a direct volley shot. It was a great chance, but he couldn't make good contact and the ball went wide. On the other hand, in the 58th minute, C Osaka stole the ball in the center and quickly launched a counter attack with FW Shiratani breaking through and facing the GK in a one-on-one situation. Shiratani aimed for the GK who had come out and took a shot, but it hit the right post and they couldn't score.

　Against the opponent's fast press, Tokyo often passes the ball in the DF line, but even when they pass it to the front line, they are constantly robbed of the ball and put in dangerous situations. In order to change the flow, Kondo was replaced by Akamine in the 76th minute, and Ishikawa was replaced by Koyama in the 81st minute, with Tokunaga being placed in the midfield. In the end, both teams began to show signs of fatigue, and although they were able to get to the goal, they lacked accuracy and were unable to create shooting opportunities.

　Still, Tokyo, who never gives up, gets a right FK in the 84th minute, and Otake sends a sharp cross towards the goal with his left foot. There, Tokunaga runs in and tries to head it, but he can't touch it. Tokunaga falls after colliding with the opponent's GK, but it doesn't lead to anything serious. In stoppage time, Kawaguchi is substituted for Kurisawa. They increase their attacking efforts to aim for a goal, but they can't score and the game ends in a scoreless draw.

　【Player Comments】《Kurisawa》"The ball didn't go forward easily, and we ended up passing it around in the back a lot. We lost the ball in the midfield and got countered a few times, so personally, I wanted to make more effective passes to change the flow. The timing between passing and receiving is still not quite there, so we need to work on that thoroughly. As a team, we need to work together to get our movement going, and as individuals, we need to see if we can make the best play depending on the situation in the next two weeks."《Otake》"We couldn't score and we couldn't get involved in the attack. There are still some areas where we don't match well, so we need to make adjustments. The national team will be back, and we'll do our best to get involved in the game for the opening match. I think there will be opportunities."《Ishikawa》"It's disappointing that we couldn't get results in our first preseason match with so many fans cheering us on. The team has been in a good state so far. With the national team coming back, we can practice with a good sense of tension. I haven't secured my position yet, so I want to fit in with the team."《Shioda》"It was great to play a 90-minute match in front of a crowd. We were stable in terms of defense, compact and able to adjust our line well. However, we were a bit chaotic in the second half and need to make adjustments on how high to push up depending on the situation of the opponent's ball. We only have two weeks left, but we want to improve our combination play. Especially in the attack, we haven't been able to score enough, and that's our biggest challenge."

　[Summary of Coach Jofuku's Press Conference] "Hello. Today, we had a preseason match with our guests. We talked to the players about showing the results of our training and being conscious of getting good results. Of course, winning is important, but it was also important to keep the opponent at zero while showing our strengths. In that sense, it was good that we didn't concede any goals, but we were put in some decisive situations. Especially, we created those situations from our own mistakes, so we need to fix that. We were able to connect small passes until just before the shot, but our control was poor in the final moments, so we couldn't get to the shot. It's important to improve our accuracy in the final moments, and in terms of the number of shots, we can't be satisfied. However, there were a few instances where several players worked together to create chances in front of goal, and I think that shows the results of our training. (What is your evaluation of starting player Otake?) It's not just him, but all the young players have been working very hard in training. We gave him a chance today and I think he did very well, which also motivated the other players who saw it."

　[C Osaka Levir CULPI Press Conference Summary] "Since both teams are in the middle of camp, we have to consider the meaning of the players' tryouts for both teams, but I think we had a good game. It was our first game of the year, but we had a very good feeling. We have been focusing on building from the back since the beginning of the year, and we were able to take the first step in building from GK Aizawa's throw. I think the results of our training are showing. In Japanese soccer, they press from the first part of the build-up, so we want to improve our accuracy to be able to get past that. Cerezo has 5 FWs, but I wanted everyone to get a feel for the game as soon as possible, so I used everyone. Last year, we had a period where we couldn't field our full strength due to injuries and suspensions, and we couldn't get results, but this year we want to level up the entire team and achieve better results than last year, so we will continue to work hard in training until the start of the season."