Tokyo x Roma, Capital Derby held on a midsummer night!

　Following last year, this year as well, a preseason match against an overseas team will be held, facing off against the strong Serie A team AS Roma. Prior to today's match, Tokyo will embark on a one-week trip to Spain and also face off against the strong La Liga team Deportivo La Coruña. With a 2-1 victory on away ground, the excitement never ends to see what kind of battle they will put up against Roma today. It will be a crucial match to show the results of their trip.

　AS Roma finished 2nd in Serie A last season. With new manager Brandelli taking over this season, they are now working on building a new team. While they are currently missing key attackers FW Totti and FW Cassano, as well as crucial midfielder MF Tonnarji due to injuries, they have a strong lineup of players from Italy and France, who have just arrived in Japan after their tour in the United States.

　Tokyo, with Kelly in the center, will face the match with a lineup that includes Maeda, Jean, Fujiyama, and Kanazawa in defense. In the midfield, Miura and Kajiyama will form a double pivot, with Toda on the right, Kelly in the center, and Baba on the left. Up front, Lucas will be positioned as the striker, while Kaji, who has just returned from the Japan national team's Asian Cup, will not be playing.

Attack without hesitation from the start and create chances one after another!

　"I want to make Rome serious. I want to go aggressively from the beginning and win," said Manager Hara. As he said, Tokyo attacked boldly from the kick-off. In the 40th second, Baba → Kelly → Lucas passed, and Lucas entered the area. Baba received the return and Miura took the last shot. In the first minute, Baba ran up the left side and crossed. It didn't work for Lucas in the center, but Maeda aimed for the goal from the far side. In the second minute, Kajiyama → Lucas connected from the right side throw-in, and Kajiyama boldly took the shot after receiving the return. In the fifth minute, Lucas, who had stolen the ball from the opponent's DF, dribbled into the area. He entered the shooting motion, but was cut off by a powerful sliding tackle from Roma's DF Mekses.

　In the 10th minute, Roma aimed for a direct goal from a left-leaning FK by DF Panucci, but Tsuchi firmly caught it in front. In the 12th minute, Tokyo had another chance. Toda sprinted into the space on the right side. He cut inside and sent a fast and strong ground cross. It couldn't be connected in the center, but Baba picked it up on the left side and connected with Kanazawa and Kajiyama in one touch. Kanazawa then made a through pass to the front line. Lucas, who had jumped out, was saved by the opposing GK one step ahead, and the ball was dropped. Mexes picked up the cleared ball and connected it, and this time Maeda crossed from the right side. It was offside in the end, but they continued to pick up loose balls and attacked the Roma goal from both sides in succession.

　At 16 minutes, Kajiyama was fouled on the right side, and from a quick restart, the ball was brought up to the front line where Lucas took a shot. It missed to the left of the goal, but Tokyo showed a high level of awareness in pressing forward and quickly connecting their attacks, with Kelly, Lucas, and Toda leading the way with their sharp movements. On the other hand, Roma defended solidly with their back line, sending passes forward without taking any risks. However, their forwards were often caught offside and they were unable to create any clear chances.

Continue to create chances from side attacks

　29 minutes into the game, Roma launched a quick attack. Mekses ran up and passed a vertical pass to the forward FW Del Vecchio. Del Vecchio shook off the marking of Fujiyama and took a left-footed shot from just outside the box, but it went over the goal. In the 35th minute, Tokyo had a decisive chance. Kanazawa, who had stolen the ball on the left side of their own half, passed it to the forward line, and then to Beto and Lucas, who advanced into the center. Kelly, who had moved up, dribbled and drew the opposing DF, then passed to Toda who was free on the right side. Toda crossed the ball quickly into the center, but the opposing DF desperately cleared it towards the Roma goal. However, the GK and DF covered it just in time and cleared it again. Kanazawa picked up the ball and took a shot, but it was blocked by the opposing DF.

　Roma, who gradually started to pass, entered the shooting position in front of the goal from the right side FK at 37 minutes, but Jean blocked it by bringing his body close. Then, MF Dacour, who received a wedge from FW Corbia, made a pinpoint pass to the front line. MF Candela then crosses from the left and shoots from inside the area, but it hits the front of Doi. At 38 minutes, Tokyo's Baba crosses from the left and Toda, who is free on the right side, takes a direct volley, but the shot hits the crossbar. In the 39th minute, Baba goes to the front line from a distance with a FK. Toda and Lucas connect with a header, but the opponent DF clears it by a hair. Toda, who injured his right ankle in this play, is replaced by Kondo. And they couldn't break through Roma's solid defense, and the game was carried over to the second half.

　Tokyo was the first to shoot in the second half as well. In the 46th minute, Kondo dropped a header from a right corner kick and Kajiyama took a shot from the middle range, but it went over the goal. In the 48th and 50th minutes, Roma also had scenes where they attacked Tokyo's goal with passes, but they were not able to take a shot. In the 53rd minute, Maeda crossed from the right after Kajiyama's side change. Lucas took a volley shot in front of the goal, but it narrowly missed the target. In the 55th minute, Kondo headed the ball from Baba's right free kick, but it went to the left of the goal. Tokyo, who just couldn't break through the goal, replaced Kelly with Abe in the 59th minute. Abe moved to left MF and Baba moved to the center.

Substitute players also function, but overwhelm Roma...

　Roma, who patiently connected passes and waited for a chance, earned a free kick in the 67th minute when Dzeko was fouled in front of the goal. D'Alessandro took the direct shot from the right side of the penalty area, but it was blocked by Tokyo's defense. As a result, this was the only shot for Roma in the second half. In the 69th minute, Panucci's long pass was received by substitute FW Chelchi on the front line, who then entered the penalty area. He sent a minus pass to Dzeko, but the trap was too big and Tsuchi made a brave save. No harm done.

　However, as the game went on, Roma's energy gradually decreased and Tokyo took control of the midfield and started to attack. In the 71st minute, Abe showed persistence on the left side and won a throw-in, putting pressure on Roma's goal. In the 72nd minute, Abe himself received the throw-in and made a smart decision to shoot when he saw an opening in front of him. However, the opponent's GK caught the ball. In the 74th minute, Kajiyama and Kondo launched a quick attack and passed to Lucas on the right side. Lucas advanced into the area, evaded the opponent's DF and crossed the ball. Kondo, who had moved up to the goal, jumped and took a header shot, but the opponent's GK made a fine save. Abe followed up with a shot, but it was not well placed. Immediately after, Miura was replaced by Mashima and Baba was replaced by Kobayashi. The formation changed to a 2-top with Lucas and Kondo, and Mashima as a defensive midfielder. In the 76th minute, Abe was fouled just outside the left area and won a free kick. Kobayashi's free kick was met by Mashima and Jean, but the ball hit Jean's foot and went outside the frame. In the 79th minute, Abe made a move on the left side and won a corner kick. The left corner kick was played short and connected to Kanazawa's cross, which was headed by Lucas! However, once again, the ball hit the crossbar and did not go in.

　Tokyo, who launched a fierce attack, could not break through the goal of Roma, who seemed to have thought that a draw would be acceptable, with 8 players focusing on defense. In the 87th minute, Lucas was fouled in the left area and a free kick was awarded. Abe ran as a decoy and passed to Kobayashi, who had moved up in the middle. Abe took a tricky shot, but the opponent's GK made a nice save and it resulted in a corner kick. The corner kick was played short again, and Kanazawa sent a low cross, but unfortunately no one could connect in front of the goal. In stoppage time, Kondo was fouled about 25m in front of the goal, and another free kick was awarded. Kondo aimed for the goal with Jean as a decoy, but his powerful shot hit the bottom left post! Tokyo played aggressively and created chances with their own style of soccer, but they couldn't break through the goal. In the dream match on a midsummer night, Tokyo had 17 shots while Roma had only 4, and although Tokyo dominated the game, it unfortunately ended in a 0-0 draw.

【Player Comments】《Doi》"My condition wasn't bad. I think I was able to start the game well. Watching from behind, I felt that the young players with ability were playing with confidence. I think their true selves came out. I'm looking forward to the 2nd stage."《Miura》"We had chances from the first half. If it was a draw, the opponent would say 'our condition was bad' so we wanted to win properly... To be honest, we just came back from Spain and we were tired in the end of the first half and second half. We want to go into the 2nd stage and make sure we score the shots that were blocked by the post and bar."《Jean》"Today, I was thinking about not letting them score. In that sense, I think it was good. The team has a deep roster and the young players are playing great games, playing good soccer. I think it was a good international match that will lead to the 2nd stage. I always think that I need to learn even in daily practice, but I learned something from the Deportivo game in Spain and today's game against Roma, and gained confidence."

【Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference】"We wanted to score. We had many chances and after our trip to Spain, our young players gained confidence and we were able to create good opportunities. If we had scored, I think Roma would have played with even more strength. We hit the post and the keeper made some saves, but we wanted to score in those moments. We are happy to have the opportunity to play against a traditional team like Roma in Tokyo. Roma still has one more month until their season starts, so they may not have been in top form, but they played confidently against well-known players. We wanted to score in these types of games and carry that momentum into the second stage... During our trip to Spain, we played against strong teams and today we played against players from the Italian and French national teams, and we have more players who are not afraid to play their own game. Specifically, we were able to move the ball simply and use the width of the field to break down the sides a few times. However, as expected from Italian defense, even if we broke through the sides, they were able to close down the dangerous areas in front of goal. We need to improve our shooting technique, but even without players from the Japan national team or the Olympic team, the other players played confidently and I think that will be an asset for the team in the future."

[Summary of AS Roma Brandelli's press conference] "It was a very difficult game. FC Tokyo moved very well, had speed, and above all, their condition was good. It would have been better if we could have organized our movements a little more. Our defense was satisfactory. Playing in this game revealed various challenges, which is good for the new season. Today, Roma really couldn't create any chances, but this was not only due to the condition, but also because many players were playing in positions that were not their usual ones, and also because the opponent's condition was good. (In the first half, it seemed like the game was dragging on?) We weren't able to focus on defense. However, I gave instructions about that at halftime, so in the second half, we didn't even have to deal with any counters. When a team has a new playing style and new tactics, it may not function well, so we will make gradual adjustments and aim to be in a good state for the new season. (Which players from FC Tokyo left an impression on you?) FC Tokyo is a very good team, with excellent tactics. Unfortunately, I don't remember their names, but there are many talented players. I also thought the coach had a very good understanding of soccer. I believe this team will continue to grow with talented players and an excellent coach."

"Panucci player" "It was a very difficult game. However, Rome is still in the preparation stage, and we fought with all our might today. Personally, I think it was a very good game." "Delvecchio player" "It was a high-tension game. And it was very hot. FC Tokyo showed us a wonderful play, and we did our best, it was a good game."