Advance to the Final Round!

　The match on this day, which will resume after a three-week break since the end of the 1st stage, is the 5th round of the Nabisco Cup qualifying group D, with Tokyo facing Kobe away. Tokyo, currently in first place in group D (at the end of the 4th round), is in a situation where a draw or better in this match will secure a place in the top 2 and advance to the final round. They definitely want to win and secure their spot in the tournament. On the other hand, although Kobe is currently at the bottom of the group, if they win this match, they will still have a chance to advance to the final round, so they are expected to come out with determination at home.

　The Tokyo team is missing GK Doi and DF Kaji, who are participating in the Asia Cup, as well as DF Shigeta who is suspended, but the Olympic team, who joined just two days ago, is energetically participating. The starting lineup consists of GK Shioda, DF Tokunaga (special designated player) on the right, Jean, Fujiyama, Kanazawa on the left, MF Imakawa and Miura in a double pivot, with Ishikawa on the right MF, Kurihara (special designated player) on the left MF, Kajiyama as the attacking midfielder, and Lucas as the lone striker. The day before (16th), the Olympic team was announced, and all four Tokyo players were selected, creating a bright mood within the team. The Olympic team will temporarily leave the team after this match, so the locker room before the game was filled with the mindset of "Let's win here and secure our spot in the qualifiers. And let's send off the Olympic team with a good feeling." At 7pm, the kick-off whistle blew, and the blue and red warriors, hungrier for victory than ever before, took to the pitch at Kobe Wing Stadium.

Kurisawa scores the opening goal from the early rush!

　It was the first minute of the game. In the middle, when Kurisawa received the ball and dribbled, he passed it to Lucas, who was positioned at the top. He then received the ball again and forcefully charged through the opponent's DF. It seemed like he was stopped by two DFs, but the ball rolled towards Kurisawa, who was running at full speed. As he entered the penalty area, he swung his right foot and the ball grazed the opponent's GK's hand, landing in the left corner of the goal. Kurisawa, with his quick movements before the opponent could input data on him as "the most dangerous person in Tokyo on that day," scored his first valuable opening goal in the J-League.

　In the following 2 minutes, Konno received the opponent's clearance ball in front of the goal, slightly to the left, and skillfully avoided the opponent with exquisite control before unleashing a powerful left-footed volley. Unfortunately, it was blocked by a fine save from the GK, but it was a fantastic shot that boldly aimed for the goal.

　After that, Tokyo's "attacking soccer" heated up even more. From the goal end, the call of "Kogeki, Kogeki, Hara Tokyo!" flies at a faster time than usual. In the midfield, Kurisawa appears out of nowhere, showing his face in the passing course with abundant physical strength, receiving the ball and controlling the game by spreading it to the side. From the right side, Ishikawa and Tokunaga make sharp movements to launch crosses, while the left side, Imano aggressively jumps to the front line and repeatedly penetrates the space behind the defense line, and Kanazawa also supplies crosses with effective attacking participation. They dealt damage to the opponent like body blows.

Allowing an equalizing goal from a momentary gap, back to square one

　The rhythm was completely Tokyo's. In terms of defense, midfielder Miura aggressively shut down the opposing players who were trying to break through, and both center backs Jean and Fujiyama were also stable.

　On the other hand, Kobe played in a 3-5-2 formation, with FW Hashido playing as a lone striker and FW Fujimoto dropping in as a playmaker. The wings were spread wide on both sides, but the notable feature was that DF Hojel on the left was working in a very high position. Although Tokyo had many attacking opportunities, Kobe was able to defend well and quickly launch counterattacks by playing long balls to Hojel.

　At the 17th minute, Kanazawa went up on the left side of Tokyo and passed to the absent area, where Fujiyama made a mistake in handling the ball. Habuto picked it up and rushed down the side. From a deep position, he put in a sharp cross with a shot, and Hojel, who had gone up from the opposite side, matched it with a right foot shot. The ball shook the net of Tokyo's goal, and they were caught up in a tie.

　Tokyo started their counterattack without being discouraged by this goal. In the 18th minute, Miura dribbled through the center and took a strong left-footed shot from outside the penalty area, but it was saved by the GK. In the following 19th minute, Lucas took a forceful shot while being surrounded by the DF. In the 26th minute, Ishikawa took a free kick from the right side and Inoue headed it in the center, but it missed the goal. In the 27th minute, Inoue made a run from the left side and crossed the ball, but it didn't connect. From the chaotic situation, Kajiyama passed the ball to Kurisawa in the right side space, who then took a shot, but it went over the bar. The supporters in the stands cheered "Sexy, Tokyo!" for the flowing attack. In the 29th minute, Ishikawa caught up to a long pass from Tokunaga on the right side with incredible speed and charged towards the goal. He cut inside and took a powerful left-footed shot, but it hit the DF and was caught by the GK. In the 33rd minute, Kurisawa received the ball from Ishikawa, who had defended on the right side, and skillfully dribbled past two DFs who came to mark him. He then passed to Kajiyama on the opposite side, who was free. Kanazawa overlapped behind him and received a well-timed pass from Kajiyama, who then crossed the ball. Although it was cleared, Tokyo continued to dominate with their flowing attack. In the 41st minute, Lucas kept the ball on the left side and passed it to Kurisawa, who had come close. Kurisawa then passed to Miura, who was free in the center, and took a shot. His powerful shot was saved by the GK, but Ishikawa picked up the ball on the right side and took a strong right-footed shot from a difficult angle. However, it was caught by the GK. Tokyo pushed forward with almost one-sided dominance, but couldn't score another goal, and the game was carried over to the second half with a 1-1 score.

Lucas scores the winning goal in the final round!

　At halftime, Manager Hara gave instructions on how to enter the second half, emphasizing the importance of fast balls (crosses) from the side, making runs into those spaces, and taking care of Hojel. Kobe, who had no room for error with a tie, came out strong from the start of the second half, but Tokyo also created chances with timely runs into open spaces by Konno.

　At the 50th minute, Kanazawa, who received a pass in the midfield, skillfully dribbled past the DF with light steps and passed it to Lucas, who was waiting in the penalty area. Lucas received the pass and aggressively dribbled past the DF, facing the goal, and took a shot. Although it was initially blocked, he quickly followed up and the ball went into the goal! Thanks to Lucas' powerful attack, they were able to score an important additional point.

　Tokyo, who scored an eagerly awaited additional point in the early stages of the second half, faced a decisive pinch in the 51st minute. Hato, on the left side of Tokyo, kept the ball and crossed it quickly to the center, reminiscent of Kobe's scoring scene in the first half. There, MF Suga jumped in and took a shot, but the ball went well over the bar. Tokyo, who escaped the decisive pinch, continued to move the ball through Kurisawa and when it became the opponent's ball, Konno and Fujiyama aggressively took the ball and advanced the game in their favor.

　After that, both teams were unable to create decisive moments and moved in the 57th minute. Tokyo replaced Kajiyama with Baba as the attacking MF. On the other hand, Kobe also lowered their defensive MF and brought in an attacking MF. With Baba's ability to send the ball behind the opponent, Tokyo's chances increased. In the 60th minute, Kurizawa broke through the left side and crossed, but unfortunately the GK caught it. In the 61st minute, Ishikawa broke through the left side with a through pass from Baba and took a left-footed shot, but the ball missed to the right of the goal. In the following 62nd minute, Ishikawa intercepted a feed mistake from the opponent's DF. He then took a right-footed shot, but it went to the left of the goal. In the 68th minute, Tokyo brought in MF Wu for Miura, and in the 73rd minute, FW Abe for Lucas. Tokyo, who wanted to secure an additional goal to decide the game, used all their cards. On the other hand, Kobe also made consecutive player substitutions in the 72nd and 77th minutes, changing to a super attacking formation with 4 FWs.

　Both teams fought hard in a fierce battle, but the decisive moment never came. Tokyo, led by Jean and Fujiyama, remained focused until the end and did not allow any dangerous situations. On the contrary, towards the end of the game, Ishikawa received the ball on the right side and dribbled towards the center, where Baba was free. Baba skillfully evaded his marker with a trap and aimed for a shot against the GK in a one-on-one situation. However, the GK made a superb save and the ball did not go into the goal. In the end, the game ended 2-1 and Tokyo extended their points to 12, securing their spot as the top team in Group D for the final round of qualifiers.

【Player Comments】《Kurisawa》"I tried to play with my own style and it led to a good result. I'm surprised, but I'm happy to contribute to the victory by scoring a goal. I'm playing with a different mindset in university and FC Tokyo, but I think I'm playing well in both. My ideal is to be a player who can both dribble and pass. I want to continue to work hard to become that ideal player."《Ishikawa》"Personally, I was exhausted at the end, but I think as a team, we were able to hold on in a tough situation. It was tough to play for 90 minutes since my injury, but it was good to be able to do my best in the last game before the Olympics. I joined the team just two days before this game, but the motivation of each player was high and it was a great inspiration. Even though I will be leaving the team now, I want to continue to play with a sense of crisis that my position may be taken away when I come back after the Olympics. I want to improve my level and come back strong."

[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "We knew that a draw would not be enough for Kobe, so we planned to come out strong from the beginning and press high up the field. The players followed our instructions and we were able to start the game in a good shape. And Kurisawa made a great play early on. He can pass, dribble, and shoot. We knew he was capable of this level of performance, but he did exceptionally well today. The Olympic players returned just before the game and didn't have much time to adjust, and the heat affected our rhythm, but I am happy that we were able to get 3 points and advance to the next round. The Olympic players will leave after this game, but we will use the well-conditioned players and continue to strengthen our team. We have high expectations for the competition among the remaining players. We will also consider players who make a strong impression in tomorrow's satellite game and use them boldly in the next Reysol game."

[Kobe Hasek's press conference summary] "First of all, congratulations to FC Tokyo for advancing to the qualifiers. Today's game was FC Tokyo's game and they played good soccer for 90 minutes. FC Tokyo's players have high abilities, especially in the midfield, and they dominated the center of the field. We only managed to get behind their defense line once. It was a decisive chance to equalize at 1-2, but we couldn't score and that's painful. However, we still have a little chance to advance to the Nabisco Cup qualifiers. We want to switch our mindset and give our best until the end."