FC Tokyo and Emperor's Cup

This is the first time for FC Tokyo to participate in the Emperor's Cup, but counting from their predecessor Tokyo Gas FC, this is their 6th consecutive appearance in 6 years. Their first participation was in 1994. It was also the first tournament for coach Okuma (who was promoted to interim coach just before the tournament, after being a coach that year), and they made a stunning debut by defeating Kashima Antlers in their first match and advancing to the best 8. In 1995, they were eliminated in the 1st round, and in 1996, they were eliminated in the 3rd round by J-League teams. However, in 1997, they caused a sensation with the "Tokyo Gas whirlwind". They struggled against a high school team, Ehime FC Youth, in the 2nd round, but managed to win with a golden goal in extra time, and then they woke up in the 3rd round. They crushed Nagoya Grampus Eight in the 3rd round, and then defeated the star-studded Yokohama Marinos in the 4th round, who had many players on the Japanese national team at the time. In the quarterfinals, they defeated Bellmare Hiratsuka, who had the famous Nakata (now with Perugia in Italy), in extra time, and advanced to the best 4 by defeating 3 J-League clubs in a row. In the semifinals, they faced Kashima Antlers at the National Stadium (Kasumigaoka Athletic Stadium) for the first time, and although they lost, they made a name for themselves throughout the country as "Tokyo Gas".

The record in the previous Emperor's Cup was 11 wins and 5 losses, and the image of "Tokyo strong in cup competitions" has only increased with their advancement to the Best 4 in this year's Nabisco Cup. It remains to be seen how far they will progress this year, drawing attention from all.

Is fatigue a cause for concern?

One week after the "miraculous comeback to J1 promotion", the players had no time to rest from the fatigue of the J2 league and moved on to the last big tournament of the year, the 79th Emperor's Cup All Japan Soccer Championship. The team for this day was significantly different from one week ago, with ace Amaral returning to Brazil and Kaga, who scored the crucial winning goal in the recent Niigata match, going to Australia for training. Furthermore, Asari and Kaburaki were out of the game due to injuries, and Yukihiko, who had not been able to take a break for more than three consecutive days since starting in January, was forced to play after adjusting with a different menu for the past week. The effects of "overwork" were also visible, and there were concerns. On the other hand, the opponent for this day, Kusatsu Higashi High School (representing Shiga Prefecture), may not have a nationwide reputation, but they have steadily improved in recent years, with their second appearance in the Emperor's Cup in two years and their fourth consecutive appearance in the winter high school championship. Last year, they placed third in the National Youth Championship, which also included J-Club youth teams, and won the Kinki tournament for the second consecutive year in the 2 prefectures and 4 counties competition. They are a force to be reckoned with, even though they are high school students. Considering the difficulty of playing against high school students and the current situation in Tokyo, they were by no means an easy opponent.

High-level high school students!

The match started at 1pm in a chilly environment with a temperature of 13℃. The whistle for kickoff blew. The uniform of Kusatsu Higashi High School was the same design as J2's Montedio Yamagata, and the "unique support" by the students of the school, which was held locally, was repeated, giving the illusion of fighting in Yamagata. Early on, Kusatsu Higashi School, with nothing to lose as challengers, showed their boldness. Recently, high school students have made great strides in their skills, and in terms of tactics, they are not inferior to adult teams except for physical contact. And even more so when it comes to national level teams. They built up their play with a rhythmic passing game with few touches, centered around the number 10 player, who looked like a game maker. In the midfield, Kusatsu Higashi was actually passing the ball more smoothly, connecting with 3 or 4 passes, but that was it. Of course, there was no way Tokyo's defense line would be broken. No matter how good they were on a national level, if high school students could break through, the name of "Kenshu Tokyo" would be ruined. Komine and Sandro were not kind to high school students. Sandro, with his golden hair (dyed by his wife after promotion), was terrifying, and showed off his tough play, as if to say "scary big brother", and left back Fujiyama also showed his professional level with his sharp reading.

Dissatisfied with the battle that leaves anxiety for the future...

On the other hand, Tokyo's attack struggled as top players Okuhara and Enomoto failed to function, resulting in frequent loss of possession and a difficult situation. Almir distributed the ball from the midfield to the wings, but the post play did not work well and they were unable to break through. Without a strong focal point in the front line, Tokyo's "wings" were unable to create effective plays, resulting in a monotonous attack of long balls from the back. The only real chance came when Almir made a solo run. In the 12th minute, Almir received a headed ball in front of the goal and skillfully scored with a sharp feint and a powerful left-footed shot, taking the lead without any resistance. After that, Tokyo gradually started to control the ball in the midfield, and left-back Fujiyama also began to create chances with his dribbling skills. In the 26th minute, Almir sent a cross from the right side and Yukihiro ran in to head the ball into the near post, scoring the second goal. This was also not a result of a complete breakdown, but rather a gift from the high school student's poor marking in front of the goal.

After that, a typical J-club style attack with fast short and long passes was finally seen and chances were created, but the forward players were not functioning and no additional points were taken. In the second half, young attackers like Seigo Kobayashi were brought to the front line, but there was no significant improvement and the game continued to be a back and forth battle. It seemed like Kusatsu Higashi High School was well trained as they showed no signs of fatigue in the second half and even became sharper. In contrast, Tokyo's attack lacked determination and repeated with weak attacks. The defense was relatively stable and it was not expected to concede a goal, but there was no feeling of being able to score additional points. In the end, the game ended as it was. Despite the insufficient lineup, it was a disappointing game against high school students. Two years ago, when they advanced to the best four, they struggled against high school students in the second round, but that's that. If it's against high school students, they want to win with a large number of goals. From the results of other venues held on this day, the opponent for next week on December 5th (Sunday, 13:00-, Nishigaoka) has also been decided to be high school students (Wakayama Prefecture representative, Hatsushiba Hashimoto High School / 3rd appearance). From the 3rd round against Bellmare Hiratsuka, a fierce battle between J-clubs is waiting. Before that, they want to firmly rebuild the team.

[Coach Okuma's Comment]

I have had few opportunities to play against high school students, so it was difficult. We were unable to create a base in the front line until the end, so we couldn't dominate the game and struggled. It's a shame that some players who don't usually play couldn't mentally push themselves and I wanted them to show more. Our goal for this year's Emperor's Cup is not "how many wins we can get", but rather how much we can do in this physically and mentally exhausted state, and how far we can go while competing with each other. We want to play as many games as possible and give young players a good experience.