Challenging the Nabisco Cup Quarterfinals

　After a 10-day interval since the end of the 1st stage, the second half of the season has begun. Prior to the league matches, the Nabisco Cup final tournament was held. Kashima and Shimizu joined from this tournament, and 8 teams will compete in a home and away format. Tokyo, who finished first in Group B, will face Urawa Reds (2nd place in Group A) in today's quarterfinals. The first match will be played away.

　In addition to Jean's injury, Tokyo is missing Ishikawa, Suzuki from the U-22 national team, and special designated player Tokunaga. The DF consists of four backs: Kaji, Fujiyama, Shigeno, and Kanazawa. Miura and Miyazawa are in the midfield. Abe is at the top of the attack, with Toda at right MF, Kelly at center, and Baba at left MF. On the other hand, Urawa is also missing Suzuki from the U-22 national team, but new transfer Nikiforov is making his debut. Nikiforov is registered as a MF, but he is playing as a DF alongside Tsuboi and Zelitch. In addition, FW Yamase, who has recovered from an injury, is starting as a top midfielder. FW Emerson and Tanaka form a 3-5-2 formation for the kickoff.

Toda scores first goal from counter attack!

　Baba attacks immediately after the start, and Toda attacks the Urawa goal in one minute, but then the game progresses in the Tokyo team's territory. However, neither team can finish, and in the 10th minute, Kelly cuts off a loose ball in the opponent's territory and shoots a middle shot, the first shot of the day. In the 16th minute, Urawa's Yamase sends a ground cross from the left side, and Emerson jumps in but just misses. It flows to the right, and Tanaka shoots from the penalty area, but Doi saves it. In the 20th minute, Tokyo's Abe connects with Kelly on the right, and Baba shoots a volley in front of the goal, but is blocked by the defender.

　Tokyo, who eliminates the space against Urawa, who connects fine passes, does not allow chances, but after taking the ball, they cannot create decisive scenes as their passes do not connect. In the 27th minute, Urawa's Zeljko Ljubobratovic was injured and DF Muroi came in. Immediately after that, Kaji received a pass from the side change on the right side line of the enemy territory, passed Kelly with a one-two, and attacked. He broke through the DF who came to close him down with an exquisite trap, and Toda jumped in with a header from the end line to score! They scored the opening goal from a well-executed counter attack.

　32 minutes, Urawa's Tanaka received a left side FK on the right side and crossed it back, DF Yamada shot in the center but hit the bar. In the 34th minute, Tokyo's Baba received a pass with his back to the goal in the center and took a shot while turning around. In the 38th minute, Urawa's Emerson crossed a one-two in the left area and entered a shooting position, but Fujiyama and Shigeta firmly held their ground. Urawa picked up the loose ball and connected it, and Yamauchi took a shot from the front of the goal, but Doi caught it. In the 40th minute, Tokyo's Toda and Abe were caught offside, and although they couldn't create a decisive opportunity, they looked for chances from sharp counterattacks. In stoppage time, Abe dribbled up the right side, passed the DF and crossed it. Baba jumped in from the left of the goal, and Toda took a shot in the center. However, they couldn't hit the frame and missed a big chance to add a goal, and the game went into the second half.

Allowing Emerson to score an equalizer

　Tokyo, who wanted to score an additional point, dominated the ball in the second half, but Urawa was the one who scored. In the 48th minute, left DF Hirakawa's cross reached Emerson's feet on the far side, but his shot was too deep. In the 52nd minute, Tokyo tried a short corner, but Kelly's header was caught by the GK. In the 53rd minute, Emerson was fouled by Kaji, who received a yellow card. In the 58th and 59th minutes, Fujiyama and Miura also received warnings, but they were able to control the central breakthroughs and crosses in front of the goal, and there was no danger.

　In the midst of a back-and-forth battle, neither team was able to create many chances. In the 63rd minute, Miura made a cross from the left and Kaji was able to get on the end of it. Toda appeared to have broken free, but was unfortunately called offside. However, just after Baba was substituted off due to injury and Chan (Wu) came on, Urawa's Emerson received the ball and was able to evade Kaji's defense and Fujiyama's tackle, dribbling his way into the box. Despite Mochida's attempt to block, Emerson was able to score from a difficult angle on the left, equalizing the game with his speed and skillful shot.

　Urawa gained momentum with this equalizing goal. Tokyo substituted Amaral for Abe. However, in the 69th minute, Urawa's quick attack was successful. Tanaka crossed from the right side to Yamada who headed it down to Yamase in the center, but his shot was saved by Tsuchi's fine play. In the 70th minute, Asari was substituted for Miura. Shortly after, Emerson had a header from Urawa's corner kick, narrowly missing the goal. In the 74th minute, Tanaka took a shot from a free kick, keeping the pressure on Tokyo.

It seemed like Toda's second goal would put them ahead, but it ended in a draw.

　Urawa made a substitution in the 78th minute, with Chishima coming in for Yamanose. In the 78th minute, Tokyo's Toda dropped Chan's cross and Miyazawa aimed for a middle shot, but the defender cut it off. In the 81st minute, Asari connected Amaral's cross and Kelly took a shot, but missed the goal by a large margin. In the 84th minute, Toda jumped out in front of the goal to receive Miyazawa's floating pass, but the opponent's goalkeeper jumped out slightly earlier and caught it. However, in the 86th minute, Chan created a chance. On the left side, he received Kelly's pass and crossed it, with Kelly and Amaral rushing into the goal and Toda pushing it in, GOAL!! It seemed like Toda's second goal had put Urawa in the lead, but...

　In the 87th minute, Kelly crossed neatly from the right side and Amaral headed the ball perfectly, but it just went over the bar. Tokyo, who wanted to hold on to the lead, gave away a free kick in the 88th minute after fouling Emerson in front of the goal.

　In the 89th minute, Yamada takes a free kick from the right side at around 20 meters, and Muroi hits it with a header in the left area. The ball bounces and floats, but Doi jumps out and Chishima fills the open far side, pushing it in with a header for a goal. Once again, they have conceded a tying goal from a set piece.

　The game ended in a 2-2 tie, and the final showdown will be held in two weeks on the 27th at Ajinomoto Stadium.

【Player Comments】《Toda》"The goal was not just me breaking through, but the result of my teammates, including the DF, aiming for the goal. I thought we would at least get 1 point away, but if I had scored (not just 2 goals), we could have gotten 3."《Miyazawa》"We were prepared to let the opponent attack to some extent away. It was difficult because we couldn't play our own soccer. Personally, I spent a lot of time in the DF and couldn't get into the rhythm to participate in the attack. It's a shame we couldn't win."

[Summary of Former Coach's Press Conference]

"We were able to score the second goal at a good time, so we wanted to hold on to the lead. Urawa has a lot of height and we were most worried about set pieces without Jean, but we ended up conceding at the very end. We were missing three players from the U-22 team, Ishikawa, Suzuki, and Tokunaga, but Kaji made an assist for the first goal and showed his usual style. We used Toda on the right and Baba on the left, and although there were some mistakes, I think we were able to play the kind of soccer we wanted. It would have been great if we could have scored another goal just before halftime, or if we could have held on to the 2-1 lead, but Emerson's goal gave Urawa a boost. If we could have been a little more patient there... But we've only just finished the first half. We drew away, so next time we want to beat Urawa at home."

[Urawa / Ofto coach's press conference summary] "It was a difficult game. The opponent created a wall, so it was very difficult to break through. The positioning was bad because we were too aggressive, and if we made a mistake, the opponent would catch up. The competition was half-hearted. We had to concentrate and always take good positions to fight. Although we were down 0-1, our game management was good in the second half, but there were also some difficulties in building up the game. At halftime, we talked about sticking to the sides, moving quickly regardless of ball possession, and adding speed to our game. 2-2 is an acceptable result. We were only half done, so we want to finish the rest at Ajinomoto Stadium."