Exciting Game Ahead

J1, J2 All 26 teams participate in the '99 J League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup. In the first round (4/7, 14), Tokyo played an equal or better match against J1's Vissel Kobe, and in the end, they advanced to the second round with Amaral's extra time V goal. Today's opponent in the second round is J1's JEF United Chiba. In last year's J League, they struggled with a ranking of 16th place, but they showed a strong side in tournaments by winning the runner-up in the Nabisco Cup. This year, they welcomed Engel's, who led Yokohama Flugels to victory in the Emperor's Cup, as their new coach and aimed to revitalize the team by actively promoting young players, but in the previous 1st stage, they are currently in 15th place and have not yet seen results. On this day, Chiba is struggling with a difficult lineup as three players selected for the Japan national team in the first round of the Sydney Olympics are absent, and in addition, their top scorer in J1, FW Baron, and "guardian" GK Shimokawa are injured. However, they have strong players in key positions, such as former Japan national team striker Takeda as FW, rookie Hayashi who played a great role in this year's National High School Soccer Championship, 17-year-old Abe who has become a regular in the defensive midfield, and Nakanishi who recently returned to the Japan national team in defense. Tokyo, on the other hand, is missing their "key players" Almir, new midfielder Shinjo, and stopper Komine due to injuries, but they have no worries as Yukihiro, who has been playing with sharpness recently, leads the attack, midfielder Koike who is rapidly growing, and experienced stopper Furukawa can cover those gaps. The highly anticipated match is kicked off at 19:00, when the home team Nishigaoka gathers the second highest number of 4,130 people this season, and the intense support from both teams' "goal end" reaches its peak.

First half, Tokyo's one-sided development!

The match started with Tokyo aggressively attacking from the beginning. Tokyo's right and left backs, Yukihiko and Amaral, actively joined the attack and created chances. Left back Fujiyama made a sharp vertical pass from his signature dribble, while right back Umayama provided accurate crosses from well-timed overlaps. Yukihiko created multiple chances with his sharp plays and dribble breakthroughs, while Amaral struggled against the intense charges from Japan national team defender Nakanishi, but still showed faithful post-play and created a rhythm for the attack. On the other hand, JEF's MF Henrique kept the ball in the midfield and distributed accurate passes to both sides and the front line. Up front, lone striker Takeda and MF Muto drifted left and right to receive the ball, but Tokyo's defense was solid and they struggled to create a rhythm against their faithful and tight marking. In the 38th minute, Tokyo kept the ball on the right side with Amaral, who then passed it to Umayama who had made a well-timed run, resulting in a perfect cross. The ball was cleared by Ichihara's defender, but it fell to Amaral. He took a powerful shot, which was saved by Ichihara's goalkeeper, but Yukihiko calmly followed up and scored, giving Tokyo the lead. Tokyo continued to attack and dominated the game in the first half, with 12 shots compared to Ichihara's 3.

Difference in Decision-making Ability

In the second half, Tokyo's fierce attack gained momentum. In the 7th minute, Yuki Hiko, who had broken through deeply on the right side, passed to Okamoto in the center. Okamoto took a free shot, but unfortunately it didn't go in. In the 14th minute, Kaga saw through the opponent's defense on the right side and crossed, but once again Okamoto's header was brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper. Unable to score in crucial chances, a heavy atmosphere began to settle. In the 17th minute, Tokyo was caught off guard and the score was tied. Ichihara MF Henrique skillfully dribbled through the left side and crossed. Lins, who came on in the second half, jumped in and scored a spectacular volley. Tokyo, who had been dominating, was only able to score once in their only chance. After this, the momentum shifted to Ichihara. In the 24th minute, Ichihara FW Takeda easily passed through Tokyo DF Furukawa, who had been completely contained, and scored from an impossible angle. In the end, Takeda's only job of the day was this, but it reminded me of the word "striker". After that, FW Wada, who came on as a substitute, was sent off in just 2 minutes, and the game was dominated by Ichihara. However, Tokyo fought with fierce determination and didn't let the one-man disadvantage affect them until the end. The game ended 2-1, with Tokyo shedding tears over their lack of finishing despite having more than twice as many shots as Ichihara. In the second game on 6/19 (away), they want to win by a margin of two goals or more and advance to the third round in one go. (Engels coach's comment) We lost in terms of game content and were not satisfied with our technical performance, but I am satisfied that we played with a spirited game. It's tough without 5 regular players, but the players fought well. (Ookuma coach's comment) We were able to play the soccer we wanted to, but not being able to score in crucial chances was painful. Both goals were due to not being able to mark properly, so we want to study that in the next week. I think the players fought well until the end without giving up.