Blow away the incomplete combustion of the previous round!

In the previous round, Tokyo was caught up in a tie despite being close to victory, and ended up with a draw. In this round, they traveled to Sapporo with the aim of avenging their frustration and achieving a victory. The venue for the showdown with Sapporo was the Sapporo Dome, which is also the venue for next year's World Cup and is known as Japan's first dome-style soccer stadium. As rumored, the beauty and grand scale of the stadium are impressive, but as expected for an indoor venue, some may have felt a sense of discomfort due to it not feeling like a typical soccer stadium. Furthermore, a problem for the players was the "explosive noise" caused by intense cheering, making it difficult to hear instructions. The intensity of the noise can be compared to a Giants game at the Tokyo Dome, where you can't even hear the person next to you. This information was obtained beforehand, and Sapporo's coach Okada used "eye contact" while Tokyo's coach Ohkuma used a "relay system" to overcome this challenge. However, the enthusiastic support from the over 30,000 spectators gathered on this day produced a "explosive noise" that far exceeded expectations, leaving the players and coaches at a loss.

Tokyo faced Sapporo with the goal of winning and dominating, in the best environment except for the hard pitch and inability to hear voices.

Tokyo woke up with an early goal conceded

Despite being a sunny day, the decisive battle began at 3:33 PM with a feeling of a night game due to being indoors.

Sapporo took advantage of the overwhelming away atmosphere that Tokyo Eleven had never experienced before, with the deafening roar and the sense of oppression inside the dome. Sapporo, which relied on counterattacks more than Tokyo, showed a strong attacking force from the start, spurred on by the loud support from their fans. In the 4th minute, Sapporo's counterattack led to a vertical pass on the left side, where Yamae reacted and left Asari behind with his speed, charging towards the goal. Sandro tried to stop him in the penalty area, but ended up fouling Yamae, giving away a penalty. Sapporo's ace, Will, easily converted the penalty, leaving Tokyo stunned with an early goal.

Sapporo Dome was further heated up by the opening goal. Despite being at a disadvantage from the beginning in enemy territory, Tokyo was awakened by this goal. From the end of the 1st stage to the previous match, Tokyo Eleven knows from experience that if they play their own soccer, they will always get results. Despite the situation, they calmly played their own soccer. Amaral and Kelly, despite facing tough marking, firmly positioned themselves in front of the goal and repeatedly spread the ball to the sides, gradually gaining control of the pace. And on this day, Tokyo, who had focused on quick attacks from the right side, saw Yukihiro, who was in top form, break through the right side as expected and seize the opportunity. In the 10th minute, Yukihiro, who had received a pass from Kelly on the right side, dribbled sharply and sent a perfect final pass between the opponent's GK and DF, causing the Sapporo DF to score an own goal while trying to clear it. Yukihiro's speed and precise cross caused a mistake from the Sapporo DF.

After fully regaining their pace, Tokyo continued to attack from the sides and created chances. In the 13th minute, Kelly broke through with a through pass and crossed from the right side, but Seigo Kobayashi's header went just over the bar. Yukihiro and Miura also actively made runs into the spaces on the sides and repeated sharp attacks. On the other hand, Sapporo also looked for chances by connecting short passes through Will, Hato, Yamase, and Almir from the center. Just like the excitement in the dome, there was also intense back-and-forth on the pitch.

Tokyo runs away, Sapporo chases

The long-awaited additional goal for Tokyo was born in the 27th minute. Miura sent in a throw-in from the left side, which Kelly chest-trapped and sent a pass to the front of the goal with an artistic overhead kick. The surprised goalkeeper rushed out but couldn't touch the ball, and Yukihiko followed up, only for a Sapporo DF to accidentally hit it with their body and send it into their own goal. In a very rare own goal double, Tokyo successfully turned the game around. Riding on their momentum, Tokyo continued to attack and in the 42nd minute, Kobayashi Sei crossed from the left side and Amaral jumped in, causing a Sapporo DF to make a costly handball in the penalty area. Amaral neatly converted the penalty kick, and Tokyo ended the first half with a 3-1 lead.

In the second half, Sapporo went on the offensive. They cut off one player from the left side of the midfield and changed to a 3-top formation by putting in the speedy and powerful Huang Chuan-ta as a forward. This is what is known as a "power play", but Tokyo had read this during halftime and responded by increasing their defensive numbers by having left back Fujiyama focus on defense.

The game got off to a quick start in the second half. In the 2nd minute, Will scored directly from a free kick given on the left side of the goal, narrowing the gap to one point. Will's left foot was well taken care of, but there was no way to stop this perfect free kick.

Amaral, who pushes Sapporo behind, scores two goals in Miura's fierce attack!

Sapporo regained their breath with this goal and continued to attack Tokyo's goal one after another. With only one point left to catch up, Sapporo's momentum was in top gear. Previously, midfielder Bijou had been focused on defense, but now he was pushing up to the front line, chasing after the ball and even taking shots himself. Will's dribbling, Hato and Yamase's precise central breakthroughs, and Almir's middle shots showed their strength, but Tokyo's defense, led by goalkeeper Doi, held their ground on the last line and did not allow any additional points. Strategically, they did not rush against the opponent's aggressive situation, but instead defended firmly and waited for their chance to break through sharply from the sides.

In the 11th minute of the second half, Yukihiro picked up a big cross with a side change feeling and Fujiyama on the opposite side picked it up. He then passed it to Amaral, who was free near the center of the penalty area after attracting the Sapporo DF. Amaral looked at the position of the GK and took a soft curved shot with his right foot, grazing the hand of the desperate Sapporo GK and shaking the goal net.

Sapporo extended their lead by two points again with Amaral's perfect shot, but Sapporo's concentration had not yet waned. The entire dome was filled with passionate support, and even in this situation, the intensity only continued to rise. It must have been difficult for the players to lose in front of such a large number of supporters.

The match became even more intense. Sapporo showed their determination and launched an all-out attack with intense movement. On the other hand, Tokyo also allowed their opponents to attack, then Kelly and Miura would make runs into open spaces after stealing the ball, creating chances with Yukihiro's sharp breakthroughs on the right side.

In the 21st minute of the second half, Amaral kept the ball in the center and expanded it to the right side. Yukihiro then lifted a perfectly curved cross, just as practiced, and Miura powerfully headed it into the goal from the front, scoring the decisive 5th goal and giving Sapporo a 3-point lead. At this moment, the Sapporo Dome fell silent and only the cheers of the Tokyo supporters could be heard.

Valuable victory that leads to the next

The match continued with Sapporo showing their determination, and it turned into a fierce battle until the end, but in the end Tokyo won 5-2. I want to show respect to the Sapporo supporters and players who never gave up despite conceding 5 goals, but Tokyo showed even more concentration as the "away" team. Despite conceding early in that atmosphere, they calmly played their own football and achieved a comeback victory with a season-high 5 goals. In the previous match, they also held on in extra time despite conceding a late goal and played their own football. The victory against Sapporo was, of course, a team effort, but among them, Miura and Yukihiko were particularly influential. Miura defended as a defensive midfielder, risking his body to prevent danger, and in attack, he not only made effective passes but also quickly found spaces in the opponent's defense and made daring runs. He made "good plays" based on his numerous experiences in both attack and defense. Yukihiko also continued his good form, improving his speed and accuracy in crossing. In addition, the overall improvement of the team, including the stability of the defensive line with Komine's growth as a full-back and the expected performance of the absolute ace Amaral and Kelly, has led to this result. However, we know that there are still things we need to improve. But next is an important home game. In order to continue this momentum, it is important to fight with a strong determination of "victory at all costs" rather than relying on logic.

[Coach Okuma's Comment]

"In that atmosphere, it seemed like it would be a difficult situation with an early goal against us, but we were able to quickly equalize and regain our balance. It was a very valuable victory, but the next game is an important home game, so we want to approach it with a renewed mindset."