Star Corps - Antlers

The opponent in the Nabisco Cup Semifinal Round is last year's J.League champion, Kashima Antlers. Since the J.League's inception in 1993, this strong team has consistently been in the title race and is now considered one of Japan's representative clubs. Although this season the generational shift between young and veteran players hasn't clicked, resulting in a low ranking so far (J1 overall: 9th place; 1st stage: 9th, 2nd stage: 8th), their potential remains outstanding. In this match, six Olympic team members were absent due to the Sydney Olympics second qualifying round, and the ace striker Maginho was sidelined with injury. However, the defense line composed of full national team players Soma, Akita, and Narahashi, who participated in last year's France World Cup, boasts one of the strongest defenses in J.League. In midfield, former full national team player Honda plays as defensive midfielder, alongside Bismarck, a former Brazilian international and key pillar, while veteran forward Hasegawa, also a former full national team player, completes the star-studded lineup. Similar to the quarterfinals against Yokohama F.Marinos, this team is filled with shining stars. It will be fascinating to see how Tokyo, a top J2 team, performs against them. The highly anticipated first leg kicked off at the renovated Kashima Soccer Stadium, under light rain, ahead of the 2002 World Cup.

Will there be a repeat of the 'instant kill show' again!?

From 9/25 to 10/11, Tokyo entered an extremely grueling period with 5 matches in 16 days combining league and cup games (about one match every three days). J2 already has 6 more league matches annually than J1, and Tokyo, having played more cup matches than other teams in J2, is definitely at a disadvantage in terms of fatigue. There were concerns about the conditioning gap with J1 teams during the league break. However, once the matches started, Tokyo showed lively movement that seemed to blow away such worries. It reminded fans of the scene in the first leg of the Nabisco Cup quarterfinals (7/20), where Tokyo staged a "lightning show" scoring 2 goals within 3 minutes against the superior F. Marinos. On this day as well, Tokyo approached the match with a lineup and system that could be called a "bold tactic," just like then. The ace Amaral, who was not in perfect condition, was rested, and the system changed from a single forward to a fresh two-top with Kaburagi and Enomoto. Enomoto made his first start. The key attacker Almir was moved back to a defensive holding midfielder role, and stopper Komine, a regular, was replaced by Yamao, who had only played in two Nabisco Cup quarterfinal matches this season. However, this paid off. The speedy Kaburagi and Enomoto chased the ball fiercely from the front line right from kickoff, and their momentum enabled the whole team to execute an intense, coordinated press from the front, putting strong pressure on the Antlers. Due to the slippery ground from rain, they forced Antlers into passing errors and stole the ball, then temporarily concentrated the ball with Almir before distributing good passes to the front line. Up front, Kaburagi’s unpredictable movements confused the opponents, while Yukihiko on the right side and Okamoto on the left each became bases to create chances. At 8 and 11 minutes, Yukihiko consecutively seized scoring opportunities in front of goal but narrowly missed shots. Until the 15th minute of the first half, Tokyo completely controlled the game and overwhelmed the "champion Antlers."

Antlers' Resilience

Tokyo had several goal-scoring opportunities, but their finishing accuracy was low, and as they missed chance after chance, the Antlers gradually began to wake up. When Tokyo's Enomoto's work rate dropped, their pressing from the front weakened, allowing the Antlers to start circulating the ball through Bismarck and Abe in midfield. This prompted the Antlers' standout full-backs, Soma and Narahashi, to respond and repeatedly execute well-timed overlaps. With the tall Hasegawa and Suzuki waiting in front of the goal, Tokyo began to struggle as they were broken down from the sides and faced numerous accurate crosses. Then, in the 26th minute, the deadlock was finally broken. Bismarck took a free kick from the left, and Suzuki, who received it on the right side, skillfully evaded Tokyo's defense and delivered a sharp cross to the center, which Kumagai converted to score the opening goal.

With this momentum, the Antlers continued to have both full-backs aggressively join the attack, launching thorough assaults from the sides. However, Tokyo responded with a solid defense centered around Sandro and Yamao as center-backs, successfully repelling all of the Antlers' sharp attacks.

With Amaral's introduction, the game is once again a back-and-forth battle

At the 40th minute of the first half, Amaral replaced Enomoto, who could no longer establish a foothold in the forward line, and the game returned to Tokyo's pace. The striker representing J2, undeterred by the poor condition of the pitch, stabilized the attack's rhythm with solid hold-up play and ball retention. Akita, a current full national team member, marked Amaral and responded with fierce charges, but it made no difference to Amaral that day. With a stable forward base established, Tokyo encouraged their trademark attacking fullbacks to join the offense. At the 41st minute, Fujiyama showcased a dribble breakthrough past five opponents from the left side of his own half and passed to Amaral. Amaral broke through vertically and delivered a deep cross, but it was narrowly stopped by the goalkeeper. Then at the 42nd minute, Fujiyama again evaded several players on the left side and passed to Amaral, who quickly laid it off to the unmarked Kaburagi on the opposite side. Kaburagi's shot missed, but they were able to create good attacking opportunities. Amaral's addition not only restored the attacking rhythm but also boosted the team's confidence.

Crying over the difference in precision in front of the goal

Even after entering the second half, an intense battle continued with neither team giving an inch. The "superior" Kashima Antlers made almost no mistakes after the break. In J2, it is often the case that after losing the ball, the opponent makes a mistake that helps, but this team did not have that. In response, Tokyo's Almir fiercely chased the ball with raw fighting spirit and built up the game with a variety of passes. From here, chances were created through Fujiyama's effective dribbling and Kaburagi's breakthroughs, but the final pass lacked accuracy. Amaral managed to force shots, but could not shake the goal net. Conversely, although fewer in number than Tokyo, the Antlers repeatedly launched persistent side attacks and delivered highly accurate crosses, creating decisive scenes. Tokyo's goalkeeper Suzuki made several super fine saves to prevent danger, but finally, in the 39th minute of the second half, a deep cut-in from the (left) side led to a cross to Bismarck who scored the second goal. After this, near the end of the match, Amaral fired consecutive shots, showing Tokyo's fighting spirit until the end, but the goal remained elusive. In the end, the match finished as it was. The shot count of 13-10 tells the story: Tokyo outperformed the Antlers in terms of game content. Although they lost due to differences in accuracy in front of goal, the confidence gained from playing an even match against the "superior" Kashima Antlers is significant. After this, Tokyo will play a J2 league match against Yamagata (in Yamagata City) in four days, and three days later, the second match against the Antlers at Japan National Stadium. Despite the extremely tight schedule and a two-goal deficit, they have no choice but to overcome it based on the confidence gained on this day.

Director Okuma's Comments

The content was good. If we had scored during the chances in the first half, the result might have been different, but ultimately, the lack of precision in crosses in front of the goal and the judgment between dribbling or passing was the reason for our defeat. Regarding Amaral's substitution, he had some tightness in his hamstring, so I didn't want to push him, and since Enomoto was in good form and I wanted him to gain experience on a big stage, I started Enomoto.

From now on, I want to focus on the upcoming match against Yamagata in four days. I will think about the second match against Kashima after the Yamagata match is over.