Star Army Antlers

The opponent in the semifinal round of the Nabisco Cup is last year's J-League champion, Kashima Antlers. Since the start of the J-League in 1993, this powerhouse team has always been in the running for the championship and can now be considered one of the top clubs in Japan. This season, however, the team has struggled with a generational shift between young and veteran players, resulting in a low ranking of 9th place (1st: 9th place, 2nd: 8th place) in the annual standings (J1). Nevertheless, their potential is still top-notch. In this match, six players from the Olympic team (due to the second round of qualifiers for the Sydney Olympics) are absent, and star striker Marquinhos is also out due to injury. However, the defense line, consisting of Soma, Akita, and Narahashi, who all played in last year's World Cup in France, is one of the strongest in the J-League. In midfield, there is former full national team player Honda as the defensive midfielder, and Bismarck, a former Brazilian national team player and key player, and up front, there is still veteran Hasegawa, who also has experience playing for the full national team. The lineup is still one of the best in the J-League. Just like in the quarterfinals against Yokohama F.Marinos, who also have a team full of stars, it will be interesting to see how J2 top team Tokyo will fare against them. The highly anticipated first match was played in a light rain at the Kashima Soccer Stadium, which is currently under renovation for the 2002 World Cup.

Is it another "instant kill show" reproduction!?

From 9/25 to 10/11, Tokyo entered a grueling period of 16 days with 5 games (approximately one game every 3 days) in total between the league and cup matches. J2 already has 6 more league games per year than J1, and within J2, Tokyo has played more cup matches than other teams, putting them at a clear disadvantage in terms of "fatigue". There were concerns about the difference in conditioning between Tokyo and J1 teams during the league break. However, once the game started, Tokyo showed a lively performance that dispelled those worries. In the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Nabisco Cup (7/20), Tokyo faced the "higher-ranked" F. Marinos and scored 2 goals in the first 3 minutes, reminiscent of a "blitz show". On this day as well, Tokyo approached the game with a "bold strategy" using a lineup and system similar to that match. Ace Amaral, who was not in top condition, was placed on the bench, and the system was changed from a lone striker to a fresh two-striker pairing of Kagami and Enomoto. Enomoto made his first start. Playmaker Almir was moved to a defensive midfielder role, and regular starter Komine was replaced by Yamao, who had only played in 2 matches in the quarterfinals of the Nabisco Cup this season. However, this strategy worked. The speedy Kagami and Enomoto relentlessly chased after the ball from the front, and their energy led to a fierce and coordinated press from the entire team, putting intense pressure on the Antlers. The wet ground also caused the Antlers to make passing mistakes, and Tokyo took advantage by collecting the ball with Almir and distributing good passes to the front line. Kagami disrupted the opponents with his unpredictable movements, while Yukihiro on the right and Okamoto on the left created chances from their respective positions. In the 8th and 11th minutes, Yukihiro had consecutive opportunities in front of goal, but his shots narrowly missed. Until the 15th minute of the first half, Tokyo completely dominated the game and overwhelmed the "champion Antlers".

Kashima Antlers' Strength

Tokyo had multiple goal opportunities, but their finishing was inaccurate and they missed one after another, gradually waking up the Antlers. As Enomoto's movement decreased, Tokyo's front line became weaker in checking, and the Antlers started to pass the ball through Bismarck and Abe in the midfield. The Antlers' star fullbacks, Soma and Narahashi, reacted to this and began to repeatedly overlap at the right timing. With Hasegawa and Suzuki waiting in front of the goal, Tokyo became increasingly difficult to defend against as they were constantly broken down from the sides and faced numerous accurate crosses. And in the 26th minute, the balance was finally broken. Bismarck took a free kick from the left and Suzuki, who received it on the right side, skillfully evaded the Tokyo defenders and sent a sharp cross to the center, where Kumagai jumped in and scored the first goal.

With this, the Antlers, who are on a roll, continued to aggressively attack from both sides with their full-backs. However, Tokyo also responded with a solid defense led by Sandro and Yamao in the center-back position. They successfully repelled all of the Antlers' sharp attacks.

With Amaral's entry, it's back to a seesaw battle.

In the 40th minute of the first half, when Enomoto, who had lost his foothold on the front line, was replaced by ace Amaral, the game returned to Tokyo's pace. The striker, who represents J2, calmly controlled the ball and maintained a stable post-play and ball retention, restoring the rhythm of the attack. Akita, an active full representative, was assigned to mark Amaral and responded with intense charges, but it had no effect on Amaral that day. With a stable foothold on the front line, Tokyo encouraged the attacking participation of their trademark side backs. In the 41st minute, Fujiyama showed off his dribbling skills by passing five defenders from the left side of his own field to Amaral. Amaral made a deep run and crossed the ball, but unfortunately it was blocked by the goalkeeper. In the following 42nd minute, Fujiyama passed the ball to Amaral after dribbling past several defenders on the left side, and then quickly passed it to Kagami, who was free on the opposite side. Kagami's shot missed, but they were able to create a good attacking opportunity. Amaral's addition not only restored the rhythm of the attack, but also gave confidence to the team.

Crying over the difference in accuracy in front of the goal

The intense battle between the two teams continues even in the second half. The "stronger" Antlers become more careful and make fewer mistakes in the second half. In J2, there are often times when the opponent makes a mistake after taking the ball away, but this team did not have that. On the other hand, Tokyo's Almir aggressively chases after the ball and creates opportunities with a variety of passes. From here, Fujiyama's effective dribbling and Kagami's breakthroughs create chances, but the accuracy of the final pass is low and Amaral manages to take a shot, but cannot shake the goal net. On the contrary, although they have fewer chances, the Antlers persistently attack from the sides and create decisive scenes with accurate centering. Tokyo's GK Suzuki made several fine plays to prevent danger, but finally in the 39th minute of the second half, the ball was cut deep from the (left) side and crossed to Bismarck for the second goal. After this, Tokyo showed their determination until the end, with Amaral taking consecutive shots, but the goal was too far away. In the end, the game ended as it was. As the shot count of 13-10 shows, Tokyo outplayed the Antlers in terms of game content. Although they lost due to the difference in accuracy in front of goal, they have the confidence to compete evenly against the "stronger" Antlers. After this, they will play against Yamagata in the J2 league (in Yamagata City) in 4 days, and then play the second game against the Antlers (at the Japan National Stadium) 3 days later. With an extremely tight schedule and a 2-point deficit, they have no choice but to overcome it with the confidence they gained on this day.

<Coach Okuma's Comment>

It was a good performance. If we had scored during the chances in the first half, the result might have been different, but ultimately, our lack of precision in crosses, dribbling, and passing in front of goal was the reason for our defeat. As for Amaral's substitution, he had some tightness in his hamstring, so we didn't want to push him too hard. Also, Enomoto was in good form and we wanted to give him the experience of playing on a big stage, so we started him instead.

In the future, I want to focus on the Yamagata match four days from now. I will think about the second match with Kashima after the Yamagata match is over.