In the worst condition...

On this day, Oita was hit by heavy rain. The pitch at the Oita Municipal Athletic Stadium was in poor condition due to the continuous heavy rain, making the ground conditions the worst. In addition, the players had played two extended matches in the past week and had also faced two consecutive away games, reaching the peak of physical and mental fatigue. Oita was in second place at the end of the previous round and was currently the most successful team, having also advanced to the second round of the Nabisco Cup. For Oita, winning this match would mean taking the top spot. On the other hand, if Tokyo were to lose this match, they would fall far behind in the race for first place and would desperately want to win to gain momentum. It was expected to be an intense game where both teams' determination and willpower clashed. Before the match, the local Oita fans began to cheer loudly. In response, the familiar chant of "Tokyo! Tokyo!" could be heard. The "Blue and Red Army" from Tokyo had traveled by plane for about an hour and thirty minutes, and then by bus for about an hour to reach this venue. Although they were a small group of only about five people, their presence was enough to turn the away game into a home game. Despite the heavy rain, they continued to cheer without even using umbrellas, giving the players courage, as expected.

Get the first point with a fierce attack!

In the first half, Tokyo created a rhythm with fast passes from Almir, Yukihiro, and Amaral, and grabbed the pace with the flexible dribbling of right winger Kobayashi. From the left, fullback Fujiyama made sharp dribbles to add depth to Tokyo's attack. Despite the poor condition of the ground, Tokyo dominated the ball with superior technical skills and did not show any signs of fatigue. In the 27th minute, Almir made a sharp pass to Amaral from a deep position, and Yukihiro made a perfect through pass to beat the shallow defense line of the opponent. Almir then made a run and calmly got the ball. Tokyo continued to attack and completely took control, but they were unable to score another goal due to their poor finishing. On the other hand, Oita created chances through the game management of former South Korean national team player Choi, the post play of forward Will, the dribbling of Shiozawa, and the speed of Kamiya. This quartet had a destructive force, and Choi's accurate kicks and technique were particularly impressive, threatening Tokyo's goal multiple times. However, at this point, Tokyo's concentration and physicality were superior to the opponent, and they did not allow many clear chances.

Endure Oita's fierce attack

In the second half, the flow changed to Oita. Tokyo, who had reached the peak of fatigue, saw a sudden drop in their physicality and their passing in the midfield began to shift subtly. In addition, Oita's ace, Almir, was marked poorly and they took control of the midfield. In the 3rd minute, the ball was passed to the opponent's FW Will, who had drifted to the left, and he broke through and crossed. The opponent's FW and Tokyo's DF tangled in front of the goal, and in the end, the ball hit Sandro's foot and went into an own goal. Oita, who had equalized early in the second half, gained momentum and relentlessly attacked Tokyo's goal with Tarik and Will at the center. However, Tokyo's Almir was the key player on both offense and defense, making incredible efforts to steal the ball and distribute good passes to the front line. In addition, Fujiyama, who judged that the overall physicality had dropped and the passes were not connecting, aggressively dribbled and created numerous chances. In the end, they were pushed back but did not allow any additional goals, leading to extra time. In extra time, Oita also began to show signs of fatigue and the game continued with a back and forth battle. It was a tense and intense game where determination and perseverance clashed, and both teams created numerous decisive moments but could not score, resulting in a draw. Although there is regret in turning a winning game into a draw, it can be evaluated as a good effort to get a draw away in this tough schedule, and it is not all negative.