First step towards becoming the leader of Asia!

　FC Seoul of the K League will hold a preseason match away. Masushima, Inonami, Kajiyama, and Ozawa will be absent due to their activities with the U-21 and U-19 Japan national teams. Toda, Suzuki, Kanazawa, and Rychely will be missing due to injuries, and Konno, who was selected for the Japan national team, injured his left knee during practice the day before and had to cancel his trip at the last minute. Despite the difficult lineup, the team aims to not just end the match as a friendly, but to come back with something before the J1 League match against Urawa on August 12th (Saturday).

　FC Seoul, who won the FA Cup in July, can feel the momentum in the team. FW Park Joo-sung and MF Lee Woon-ryong, who participated in the World Cup Germany, and most of the members have been selected for the Korean national team in each age group, so there is no doubt about their strength. It is also FW Choi Yong-soo's retirement match, so it is expected that the motivation will be high.

　In Tokyo, the 3-back consists of Fujiyama, Shigeta, Jean, with Ishikawa and Tokunaga as the left and right side backs, respectively. In the midfield, Ashizawa and Miyazawa play as defensive midfielders, while Lucas and Baba play as attacking midfielders. Akamine is the lone striker in the 3-6-1 formation. As Ishikawa says, "Playing overseas is a rare opportunity. It is a good chance for each player to determine what they can and cannot do by giving their all on the field."

　FC Seoul and Tokyo's team have been exchanging front staff for several years, and their long-awaited pre-season match has finally been realized. Today's match will be played with a maximum of 22 registered members and 6 substitutions. The match will be held at Seoul World Cup Stadium, filled with approximately 60,000 FC Seoul fans, making it a complete away game. The match started at 7:04pm with FC Seoul's kickoff.

Despite conceding a goal from a mistake, the first half ended with Tokyo in control.

　The stadium is bowl-shaped, making it difficult for the wind to pass through and causing the humidity to reach 62%. In addition, the situation is so humid that it becomes difficult to breathe. In the 2nd minute of the match, Doi and Shigeta make a mistake in their coordination, allowing FC Seoul to take the lead. However, Tokyo responds by attacking with a good rhythm, despite facing tough defense in the midfield. In the 6th minute, Lucas → Ishikawa cuts in from the right and manages to get past two defenders, but is unable to finish the shot. In the 7th minute, Tokunaga makes a run behind the defense after receiving a through pass from Miyazawa, but his shot is blocked by a defender. In the 12th minute, Ishikawa takes a corner kick from the right and Tokunaga is once again left unmarked for a header, but he misses the target. In the 16th minute, Shigeta dribbles up the field and passes to Tokunaga in the middle, but his shot is blocked by a defender.

　FC Seoul's attack has become monotonous, only aiming for FW Park Juyoung and Che Yeonsu's runs behind the DF, and they are unable to create any attacking opportunities. In the 18th minute, Tokyo had a decisive moment. Lucas passed to Tokunaga who broke through the defense and had a one-on-one with the opposing GK, but the shot was saved. Akamine picked up the rebound and sent a low cross into the box, but Ishikawa couldn't finish it. In the 21st minute, Miyazawa took a FK and in the 23rd minute, Lucas took a shot from outside the box, but they were unable to find the back of the net.

　At 25 minutes, Akamine shoots from the right side after a one-two with Baba, but the GK deflects it and no one can follow up. At 36 minutes, starting from Tokunaga on the left side, Baba enters the area in combination with Lucas, but his shot narrowly misses to the left and does not go in. Just before the end of the first half, at 44 minutes, Ishikawa sends a right corner kick into the middle and Lucas heads it perfectly, but it hits the top of the bar. Despite having a shot count of 12 to 5 in the first half and controlling most of the game, they were unable to score and ended the first half behind.

Despite injecting fresh members and making a comeback, they were unable to score and lost the game.

　As instructed by coach Garo, "An international match is a battle where each individual must fight for their country with pride," the team vowed to make a comeback in the second half and headed to the pitch. In the second half, Abe was substituted for Akamine. Abe actively made runs towards the goal. In the 50th minute, Baba on the right side attempted a final pass to Abe, but it was cut off by the opponent's defender. In the 52nd minute, Tokunaga passed to Lucas, who then made a through pass to Abe in front of the goal, but it was ruled offside.

　FC Seoul made defensive adjustments during halftime and completely switched to a counter-attacking strategy. They were able to cut off Tokyo's attacks and create several decisive opportunities. However, with the introduction of Shioda and defensive midfielder Asari, they were able to hold on and prevent any additional goals. In the 67th minute, a chance from a right free kick saw Miyazawa send the ball to a free Mogi on the far side. His well-placed header was saved by the GK.

　Both Tokyo and FC Seoul are using their substitution slots one after another, injecting fresh members. Kawaguchi, Kurisawa, and Ikegami enter, and the attack becomes more active. In the 78th minute, Ikegami sends a cross from the right side to Tokunaga on the opposite side. He cuts inside and passes it to Kawaguchi in the center. He takes a direct shot with his left foot, but it goes straight to the goalkeeper. However, in the 84th minute, they finally concede an additional goal from a counterattack by FW Dodo. Tokyo continues to attack in search of a goal, but they end up conceding a third goal in the 89th minute, sealing their defeat with a score of 0-3. They head into the resumption of the league with the issue of finishing still remaining.

　【Player Comments】《Asari》"This was our first game of the year, so I wanted to play to my strengths. However, we ended up conceding 3 goals, especially in the second half where we were caught off guard and had to stop them. In the first half, we couldn't communicate well due to the noise around us, and we also fell behind. But in the second half, our defense was working well, but in the crucial moments, the opponent was one step ahead. This year, I played in various positions, and it's been a while since I played as a defensive midfielder. Still, I think it was great to be able to showcase my skills in this position."《Ishikawa》"Of course, we wanted to win this game. It wasn't just a friendly match, but for me personally, I wanted to use this game to improve for the upcoming league matches, and also because it was a match between the capital cities of Tokyo and Seoul. It's a shame that we couldn't get the result we wanted. There were a lot of supporters from the other team, and also many who came from Japan, so I wanted to show them Japanese football and also as a representative of Japan, it's disappointing that I couldn't show my strength. The league matches have resumed, and I think we showed our fighting spirit in today's game. If we can get results and change the momentum of the team, I believe we can play good football, so I hope you will continue to support us."《Fujiyama》"I wanted to make the most of this opportunity and get a good result, but it didn't go as planned. The opponent was strong. However, I can see areas that need improvement, so I think we can prepare well for the next game against Urawa. In the first half, I couldn't do what I wanted to do. This was my third time playing in Korea, and it was a complete away game, but I didn't think about that and just gave it my all. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the result we wanted."《Ikegami》"It was great to be able to play in a game after a long time, but it's disappointing that we conceded 3 goals. And to make it worse, we conceded 2 goals after I came on. I'm the only rookie who hasn't played in an official match yet, so I want to play as soon as possible, and I realized that I need to make the most of opportunities like today."

　[Summary of Manager Garo's Press Conference] "The result was 0-3, but it was a good game where both teams attacked each other. Unfortunately, we couldn't score and the difference was not as big as the numbers suggest. (What was the impact of Inoue's absence?) He is an important player for the team, but that doesn't mean this result was because of his absence. Soccer is not a sport that can't be played without someone, and if a player is missing, other players can cover for them. It's a disappointing result, but I think we had chances just like FC Seoul. Finally, I would like to thank FC Seoul and everyone in Korea for inviting our team from Japan and giving us this wonderful opportunity."

　[FC Seoul Rangers Manager's Press Conference Summary] "Today's game was a tough one for both teams due to the heat, even though the result was 3-0. We were tired from the FA Cup and physically exhausted, so I was trying to make do with various players. However, it was also Cheyong's retirement game, so the motivation of the other players was very high. (Which opposing player left an impression on you?) Number 18, Ishikawa. We didn't have any information on him beforehand, so we didn't know what to expect, but he created some dangerous situations for us."