Nabisco Cup Opening!

　The 2006 Yamazaki Nabisco Cup has begun. Tokyo will face Urawa, Yokohama FM, and Fukuoka in home and away matches in the Group A of the qualifying league. In the Final Round, the top team from each of the four groups A to D, along with the top three second-place teams, will advance (and G Osaka has been confirmed to participate). Japan national team players Doi and Mobu are absent. Additionally, the tournament will be held under a tough schedule with only two days between matches from the previous league round, but Coach Garo stated, "We won't do anything special just because it's a cup match. We will aim for victory by playing as usual."

　Urawa is currently at the top of the league and can be said to be in excellent form. The Japan national team DF Tsuboi, Mito, MF Hasebe, and Ono are absent, and due to injuries, GK Tsutsuki and MF Yamada are missing. Today, GK Yamagishi, DF Uchida, MF Okano, Sakai, Soma, and FW Escudero are making their first starts of the season. Six members have changed, with FW Washington and Escudero as the two forwards, and MF Ponte positioned as the attacking midfielder in a 3-5-2 formation.

　In response, Tokyo is cautious, stating that "Urawa has high quality no matter who comes out (Coach Galo)," with Inoha marking MF Ponte and Konno marking FW Escudero. Jean primarily marks FW Washington. First, they will apply strict marking to prevent the opponent from having freedom, and from there, look for opportunities to attack. The match started at 19:00 with Tokyo's kickoff at the chilly away Urawa Komaba Stadium.

With strict marking, preventing Urawa from playing freely

　In the 3rd minute, Baba chases a long cross from Tokunaga, but the ball goes out of bounds. At this point, Baba injures the back of his right thigh, and Kurizawa comes on as a substitute. It was an accident, but they continue to play without being shaken. In the 6th minute, Tokunaga sends in a cross from a deep position. As Kurizawa dives in, Lucas tries to connect, but is blocked by the defender.

　In the 8th minute, Urawa's FW Washington dribbled and passed to FW Escudero in front of the goal. Left MF Soma advanced and had a shooting opportunity, but Shiota bravely rushed out and prevented the shot. Gradually, Urawa began to gain control of the pace, but they applied intense pressure, making it difficult for the opponents to play freely. In the 12th minute, Suzuki was beaten by Urawa's right MF Okano, who delivered a right cross. Shiota initially fumbled but quickly regained his position to secure the ball from FW Washington at the far post.

　After that, Urawa repeatedly attacked from MF Okano's cross, but Tokyo also created chances starting from the sides. In the 24th minute, they regained the ball in their own half, and Kawaguchi passed to Kurizawa, who moved into space on the right flank. Tokunaga won the race and earned a corner kick. In the 37th minute, Suzuki initiated an attack from an interception in the opponent's half, leading to a left corner kick. In the 39th minute, from Kajiwara's free kick, Suzuki delivered a cross, but it lacked power and was cleared by the opposing defense. Jean picked up the loose ball and took a shot from a distance, but it went high over the goal. They aimed for a goal from set pieces, but all were deflected by Urawa's defense, and they couldn't finish.

　In the 32nd minute, Washington, the FW who received a right cross from Urawa, turned in front of the goal and prepared to shoot, but Jean cut it off. In the 42nd minute, Washington broke through behind Tokyo's defense and received a pass from right midfielder Okano, but Jean desperately returned and prevented the shot. Urawa's continuous attacks were well defended without losing focus, centered around Jean, Masushima, and Inoha, and the first half ended with a score of 0-0.

Conceding a goal after a chance, crying over the difference in finishing ability

　In the second half, it was Tokyo that first seized the momentum. In the 50th minute, from Inoha's vertical pass, Lucas moved inside. After going through Kurizawa, Lucas passed to Tokunaga on the right, but it didn't get through. Picking up the loose ball, Tokunaga cut back inside again, delivering a floating last pass in front of the goal. Although blocked by the opposing defender, Kajiyama picked up the loose ball again and took a mid-range shot, showcasing good teamwork. They were able to keep the ball in midfield, gaining momentum forward, and Tokyo completely seized the rhythm, with decisive chances coming repeatedly.

　In the 57th minute, a big switch from left to right, and from Tokunaga's return pass, Kurizawa took a well-aimed shot in the center, but it was blocked by the opposing DF in front of the goal. In the 58th minute, Kawaguchi broke through behind the DF, utilizing his speed to shake off the opponent and charge towards the goal, taking a decisive shot. However, he was thwarted by a fine play from the GK. From the right corner kick won here, Tokunaga took a header shot, but it was cleared by the opposing DF just inches from the goal. They created several scoring opportunities but were unable to convert any.

　Conversely, immediately after that, they were caught off guard during an attack. In the 62nd minute, Urawa DF Tulio made a long feed from near the center circle to the front line. FW Washington connected with an accurate hold-up play to FW Escudero, who scored a goal. In the 76th minute, Tokyo substituted ABE and Sasa for Kajiyama and Lucas. They switched to a three-top formation to counterattack. Intense back-and-forth continued as both sides stretched their lines, but Tokyo pressed towards the Urawa goal with spirited play.

　In the 80th minute, Sasa was substituted for Kurizawa, who made a through pass to Sasa on the right side of the area, winning a corner kick. From that right corner kick, the free Jean attempted a header but missed the target. In the 87th minute, there was a free kick from a distance in the opponent's half. Kurizawa sent it forward, and the opposing GK caught it. The GK was pushed into the goal, but it did not count as a goal. In the 88th minute, Abe received a feed from Mashima and broke through behind the opponent's defense, facing the GK one-on-one. However, the shot went just outside the right post.

　Then, immediately after that, Urawa launched a quick attack, and FW Washington received a pass from the right inside the area and made a last pass in front of the goal. MF Ponte, who ran in, took a shot. Shiota made a save once, but the rebound was followed up by MF Sakai, allowing a goal. In the end, despite creating many chances in the second half, they couldn't convert, and were caught out, conceding two goals. Urawa had 11 shots compared to Tokyo's 14, but the difference in finishing ability was evident, resulting in a losing start in the Nabisco Cup.

　【Player Comments】《Masushima》"Jean was marking Washington in the forward position, and I was left to defend. Since I had done this before, I was able to do it without feeling out of place, but I lost my mark for just a moment and we conceded a goal. Before that, we had a rhythm to score the first goal. Kawaguchi was creating chances, so I made sure to feed the ball as well. At that time, we had a rhythm to score, and if we could have taken the lead, the flow would have changed..." 《Abe》"(In the chance at the end) my job today, coming on as a substitute, was to finish there. I’m very disappointed that I couldn’t do that. (Regarding coming on as a substitute) it was decided that we would play with three forwards, so I just focused on going towards the goal. The midfield became stretched, and there were times when we couldn’t pick up the second balls, but there were also times when we could launch secondary attacks. We had to finish there..."

　[Summary of Coach Garo's Press Conference] "In the first half, Urawa had more opportunities to keep the ball, but in the second half, we also had chances. I think it was a good match. I believe we had about six chances in the second half, but unfortunately, we couldn't convert them, and we conceded two goals. Having many chances doesn't guarantee a win, and such results are part of football. In the first half, the reason we didn't create chances was that we couldn't connect passes in the midfield. In the second half, we were able to connect passes, and chances came. I think we dominated most of the second half, but in football, the team that scores wins. Not being able to score showed in the result. I think it was a difference in finishing ability. (Did Inoha and Konno drop back to look like a six-back?) We didn't play differently than usual. It may have looked that way because Inoha was marking MF Ponte and Konno was marking FW Escudero. However, we were always thinking about attacking and winning as usual."

　[Summary of Urawa's BUCHWALD's Press Conference] "Today was a typical cup match. We had to replace six players, including four national team members and injured players Yamada and Tsuzuki, from the starting lineup of the previous match, resulting in a different lineup than usual. However, we started well and were able to control the game significantly in the first half. We had some wonderful chances, but we couldn't convert them. In the second half, FC Tokyo increased their pressure and created several chances, but we managed to score when they were having a good period. After that, both teams created good chances but couldn't score, and we were able to secure an additional goal just before the end of the match. Looking at the 90 minutes, I think the victory was deserved, but it was a match that could have easily ended in a draw. I hope everyone felt the depth of the Reds today. Even players who have had limited playing time so far performed close to the starting eleven when given the chance. The Reds are at the top of the league, and the teams we face are highly motivated. The matches will be quite hard, but that applies to all future matches. For the opponents, they have to keep thinking, 'This is the one match of the year that we absolutely must win!' Even with so many changes in the starting players, we showed that we can fight well. (Regarding defense) The result of not conceding was good, but especially in the second half, we lacked compactness and gave away too much space. The players gave 100% effort with the mindset of winning every one-on-one situation, but I think we lacked compactness compared to the previous match."