Challenging the Nabisco Cup Semifinal Round

　After about a 10-day interval since the end of the 1st stage, the second half of the season has begun. Before the league matches, the Nabisco Cup Final Round tournament was held. From this Final Round tournament, Kashima and Shimizu joined, and 8 teams will compete in home and away matches. Tokyo, which passed the qualifying Group B in 1st place, will face Urawa Reds (2nd place in Group A) in today's quarterfinals. The first match will be an away battle.

　In addition to Jean's injury, Tokyo is missing Ishikawa and Suzuki due to the U-22 national team expedition, as well as special designated player Tokunaga. The defense consists of a four-back line with Kaji, Fujiyama, Shigeno, and Kanazawa. The midfield features Miura and Miyazawa. The attacking lineup has Abe at the top, with right MF Toda, central Kelly, and left MF Baba starting. On the other hand, Urawa is also missing Suzuki due to the U-22 national team, but newly transferred Nikiforov makes his debut. Although registered as an MF, Nikiforov will play as a DF alongside Tsuboi and Zelich. Additionally, FW Yamase, returning from injury, starts as an attacking midfielder. The match kicks off with a 3-5-2 formation featuring FWs Emerson and Tanaka as the two strikers.

First goal by Toda from the counter!

　Right after the start, Baba attacked in front of the Urawa goal in the first minute, but after that, the match progressed in the Tokyo territory. However, neither side could bring it to a finish. In the 10th minute, Kelly intercepted a loose ball in the opponent's territory and took the first shot of the day from distance. In the 16th minute, Yamase sent a grounded cross from the left side, and Emerson dove in but just missed it. The ball flowed to the right, and Tanaka took a shot from the penalty area, but Doih was able to save it. In the 20th minute, Tokyo's Abe connected with Kelly on the right, and Baba took a volley shot in front of the goal, but it was blocked by the defense.

　Tokyo effectively closed down space against Urawa, who connected intricate passes, not allowing them to create chances. However, after regaining possession, they struggled to connect passes that utilized the width of the field, failing to create decisive scenes. In the 27th minute, Urawa's Zelich was injured, and DF Muroi came on. Just after that, in the 28th minute, Kaji received a cross-field pass near the right sideline of the opponent's half, evaded Kelly with a one-two, and advanced. He broke through the approaching DF with an exquisite trap and delivered a cross from just inside the end line, allowing Toda to dive in with a header for the goal! They scored the opening goal from a counterattack as planned.

　In the 32nd minute, Urawa received a free kick on the left side, and Tanaka cut back and crossed. DF Yamada shot in the center but it went over the bar. In the 34th minute, Tokyo's Baba received a pass with his back to the goal in the center and turned to shoot. In the 38th minute, Urawa's Emerson exchanged a one-two in the left area and got into a shooting position, but Fujiyama and Shigenobu closely marked him and prevented the shot. Urawa picked up the loose ball and Yamasu shot from directly in front of the goal, but Dohi caught it. In the 40th minute, Tokyo's Toda and Abe were caught offside, and although they couldn't create a decisive moment, they looked for chances with sharp runs. In stoppage time, Abe dribbled up the right side, evaded the DF, and crossed. Baba dove in from the left of the goal, and Toda shot in the center. However, he unfortunately couldn't hit the target, missing a big chance for an additional goal as they headed into the second half.

Allowing Emerson to score the equalizer

　With the total of two matches determining advancement to the Semifinal Round, Tokyo wanted to score additional points, but it was Urawa that dominated possession in the second half. In the 48th minute, a cross from left defender Hirakawa perfectly reached Emerson at the far side, but his shot taken while free went over the bar. In the 52nd minute, from a short corner, Miura's cross was headed by Kelly but caught by the goalkeeper. In the 53rd minute, Kaji received a yellow card for stopping Emerson's breakthrough with a foul. In the 58th and 59th minutes, Fujiwara and Miura also received warnings, but they firmly contained central breakthroughs and crosses in front of the goal, posing no danger.

　In a back-and-forth of mistakes where neither side could create many chances, in the 63rd minute, Kaji delivered a cross from a setup by Miyazawa. It seemed like Toda had broken free, but unfortunately, it was ruled offside. However, this happened just after Chan (Wu) came on to replace the injured Baba. When the ball reached Urawa's Emerson, he shook off Kaji's defense and Fujiyama's tackle, allowing him to advance with a dribble. In the end, Shigeno also closed in, but from a tight angle on the left side of the area, he scored near the post. With a speedy and skillful shot, they equalized.

　With this equalizer, Urawa gained momentum. Tokyo brought in Amaral to replace Abe. However, in the 69th minute, they were caught by Urawa's quick counterattack. Emerson's through pass found Tanaka on the right side, who crossed the ball. Yamada headed it down at the far side, and Yamase was free in the center to shoot. However, Doih's fine play prevented the goal. In the 70th minute, Asari was brought in to replace Miura. Immediately after, from Urawa's corner kick, Emerson made a header shot. It just missed the goal, but in the 74th minute, Tanaka took a shot from a free kick, and the danger continued.

It seemed that Todai had pulled ahead with the second goal, but it ended in a draw.

　Urawa substituted forward Chishima for Yamase in the 78th minute. In the 78th minute, Tokyo's Toda dropped Chan's cross, and Miyazawa aimed for a mid-range shot, but it was cut off by the defense. In the 81st minute, Asari's cross was connected by Amaral, and Kelly took a shot, but it missed the goal by a large margin. In the 84th minute, Toda made a run in front of the goal after receiving a floating pass from Miyazawa, but the opposing goalkeeper came out just a bit early to catch it. However, in the 86th minute, Chan created a chance. Receiving a pass from Kelly on the left side, he sent in a cross, and Kelly, who had moved in front of the goal as a decoy for Amaral, pushed it in for a goal!! It seemed like Toda's second goal had put Urawa ahead, but...

　In the 87th minute, Kelly delivered a precise cross from the right side, and Amaral headed the ball at just the right moment. However, it went just over the bar. Tokyo wanted to hold on to the lead, but in the 88th minute, they gave away a free kick by fouling Emerson in front of the goal.

　In the 89th minute, Yamada took a free kick from the right side about 20 meters out, and DF Muroi headed it down in the left area. The ball bounced and went up, but Dohi rushed out, leaving the far side open for Chishima, who pushed it in with a header for the goal. They allowed another equalizing goal from a set piece.

　The match ended in a 2-2 draw, and the decisive game will be held two weeks later on the 27th at Ajinomoto Stadium.

【Player Comments】《Toda》"The goal was a result of my teammates, including the DF, aiming for the goal rather than me breaking through on my own. I thought we needed at least 1 point away... but if I had scored (in addition to my 2 goals), we could have taken 3 points." 《Miyazawa》"I was prepared for the opponent to attack us to some extent away from home. It was difficult as we couldn't play our style of soccer. I spent a lot of time falling back to DF, and couldn't create rhythm to get involved in the attack. It's disappointing that we couldn't secure a win."

Summary of Coach Hara's Press Conference

"We were able to score the second goal at a good time, so I wanted to hold on. Urawa has height, and I was most worried about set pieces with Jean's absence, but we ended up conceding at the very end. We were missing Ishikawa, Suzuki, and Tokunaga in the U-22, but Kaji provided the assist for the first goal and showed his quality. We used Toda on the right and Baba on the left; there were mistakes, but I think we played the football we aimed for. Ideally, we could have scored another goal just before halftime, or held on after it became 2-1, but Emerson's goal energized Urawa. I wish we could have been a bit more patient there... However, we have just reached halftime. We drew away, and now we want to return home and defeat Urawa."

[Urawa - Coach Offt's Press Conference Summary] "It was a difficult match. The opponent built a wall, making it very hard to break through. We were too aggressive and our positioning was poor, and if we made mistakes in that state, we would be caught by the opponent. Our duels were half-hearted. We needed to concentrate properly and always take good positions to fight. Although we were trailing 0-1, our performance in the second half was better, but we struggled with the organization of the game. At halftime, we talked about utilizing the sides, regardless of ball possession, and to quicken our movements to add speed and variation. A 2-2 result is something we can somewhat accept. We performed at half capacity, so we want to settle the remaining half at Ajinomoto Stadium."