GAME RESULTGame Result

Sec. 4 2006/5/14 (Sun)
Audience 11,938 people 
Weather cloudy, weak temperature 18.6 degrees humidity 58% 
Referee: Masaaki IEMOTO Assistant Referees: Hiroyuki AJIKI / Shinichi HIRANO Fourth Official: Hiroshi TEZUKA

YNC Qualifying Group A Sec. 4

Ajinomoto

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FC Tokyo

0-1

Match Finished

First Half0-0

Second Half0-1

AWAY

Avispa Fukuoka

FC Tokyo Avispa Fukuoka
Scorer 84' Mitsuhiro Miyazaki
45' Yohei KAJIYAMA → Masahiko INOBA
58' Mitsuhiro TODA → Yoshiro ABE
67' Masashi MIYAZAWA → Sasa SALCEDO
Player Substitution 62' Takanori NUNOBE → Hisashi JOGO
64' Graucio → Shin'ya KAWASHIMA
78' Masafumi KOGA → Kōhei MIYAZAKI
11 Shoot 16
5 CK 8
30 FK 21
26' Jean
44' Norio SUZUKI
49' Tatsuya MASUSHIMA
78' Sasa SALCEDO
Warning 34' Graucio
76' Tatsunori Yamagata
82' Mitsunori Yabuta
85' Hisashi Jogo
89' Tatsunori Yamagata
Exit 89' Yamagata Tatsunori
FC Tokyo Starting Lineup
GK 22 Hitoshi Shiota
DF 25 Yusuke Tokunaga
DF 3 Jean
DF 5 Masushima Tatsuya
DF 15 Suzuki Norio
MF 6 Yasuyuki Konno
MF 23 Yosuke Kajiyama
MF 16 Miyazawa Masashi
MF 9 Lucas
FW 13 Toda Mitsuharu
FW 20 Nobuo Kawaguchi
FC TokyoSubstitute
GK 31 Endo Daishi
DF 8 Ryuji Fujiyama
MF 26 Reiichi Ikegami
MF 19 Masahiko Inoue
FW 24 Shingo Akamine
FW 11 Yoshiro Abe
FW 21 Sasasarusēdo
Avispa Fukuoka Starting Lineup
GK 16 Ryuichi Kamiyama
DF 21 Yamagata Tatsunori
DF 4 Kaneko Seiji
DF 5 Chiyohanda Mitsuru
DF 2 Miyamoto Tooru
MF 10 Kiyokazu KUDO
MF 6 Takanori NUNOBE
MF 8 Roberto CESAR
FW 14 Koga Masashi
FW 9 Yabuta Mitsunori
FW 36 Graucio
Avispa FukuokaSubstitute
GK 25 Iwamaru Fumiya
DF 19 Nagano Satoshi
DF 22 Nakamura Hokuto
MF 7 Miyazaki Kohei
MF 26 Hisashi JOGO
FW 17 Kawashima Shinya
FW 27 Tanaka Yuma

[Player/Coach Comments]

Nabisco Cup resumes, fight without giving up


 The Nabisco Cup resumes. On the 4th day of the qualifying league, we will face Avispa Fukuoka at home. Currently, we have lost all 3 games in Group A, making it difficult to advance to the final round. However, all hope is not lost. We must focus on winning the upcoming match and fight until the end without giving up.

 Due to Doi and Shigeta being away with the Japan national team, GK Shiota and DF Mashima will start today. Toda, who made his first bench appearance of the season in the 12th Sec. match against Omiya, will also be starting. Manager Garo expects Toda to contribute more in attack, saying "Toda is in a good physical and technical condition. He has been working hard in defense, but I want him to focus more on attacking." The team will kick off in a 4-4-2 formation with Toda and Kawaguchi up front and Lucas in the attacking midfield. Toda and Kawaguchi will use their energy to disrupt the opposition's defense and take control of the game.

 On the other hand, Fukuoka, who were promoted to J1 this season, have lost all three games in the Nabisco Cup. They have only won one game in the league, and are in a difficult situation. However, their total goal difference in the league is the same as Tokyo's at 16, so they have not collapsed significantly. In terms of attack, they excel in a style where the MFs on both sides and the fullbacks push forward. Today, DF Alex is absent due to circumstances, and DF Nakamura is on the bench, but regardless of who is playing, they are able to create chances until the finish, so it is necessary to defend without letting your guard down.

 Shioda also said, "Since we are a young team, there are times when we lack concentration in small gaps. We want to keep fighting for 90 minutes and keep shouting from behind. I swear to give it my all. The game started at 3:04 pm in Tokyo, at Ajinomoto Stadium under cloudy skies."

We are starting to grasp the flow of the game, focusing on set plays...


 From the beginning, Suzuki on the left side aggressively attacked. In the 4th minute, Suzuki's left cross went to Tokunaga on the right. Miyazawa ran in for the return to the center and got into a shooting position. However, he was closed down by the opposing defender and couldn't get a shot off. After that, Fukuoka had no choice but to stop Suzuki's breakthroughs and the speedy plays of Toda and Kawaguchi with fouls, giving them multiple chances for set plays. In the 6th minute, Jah tried to head in a left free kick, but it was offside. In the 7th minute, Mashima had a header shot from a left corner kick.

 At 10 minutes, Tokunaga → Toda → Lucas connected and Kawaguchi was fouled in the penalty area on the right, earning a free kick. Miyazawa hit the top left corner of the goal perfectly, but it was saved by the opposing GK. At 12 minutes, Lucas received a throw-in from outside the left area and turned towards the goal for a shot. The aim was good, but it went over the bar. After that, although they couldn't create any decisive opportunities in the flow of the game, they were able to take advantage of many set pieces.

 At 21 minutes, Suzuki aims directly for the FK from the right side of the goal, 24-25m away. The powerful ground shot grazes the opponent's wall and hits the post... At 26 minutes, Toda is fouled outside the left area, and Suzuki's powerful FK is saved by the opponent's GK, just missing the goal. As time passes, Tokyo is unable to pick up second balls and is repeatedly hit by Fukuoka's quick counterattacks. However, Fukuoka also misses several chances to score.

 24 minutes, Tokyo DF competes for Fukuoka's long ball and FW Grausio runs into the back, but the shot is off target. In the 28th minute, a through pass is sent to the left area and FW Grausio breaks free for a shot, but Shibata makes a brave dive and makes a nice save! In the 32nd minute, midfielder Hobeito, who has advanced into the area, receives a last pass, but the shot is not on target. In the 38th minute, Tokyo's pass is intercepted in front of the goal, allowing Fukuoka FW Yabuta to run freely. MF Roberto receives the last pass and takes a shot, but it goes over the bar. The first half ends scoreless, with both teams looking to make a move in the second half.

Fukuoka sinks on the counter, fails to advance in the qualifiers with 4 consecutive losses


 Regarding the first half, coach Garo reflected, "It wouldn't be strange to concede 2-3 goals. We are lacking concentration, especially in marking." He then substituted Inoba for Kajiyama and formed a double pivot with Imakawa. In the second row, Lucas and Miyazawa were positioned to launch attacks and they began to find their rhythm. In the 46th minute, Miyazawa advanced on the right and sent a lofted pass to the front line. Toda jumped to volley the ball in the right area, but it didn't hit well. In the 56th minute, Lucas received a throw-in on the right and broke through the front line, crossing the ball. Kawaguchi closed in on the ball that slipped between the opponent's GK and DF and attempted a volley. It was a decisive moment, but the ball went over the bar.

 In the 58th minute, Toda was replaced by Abe. In the immediate 59th minute, Inonami attacked and passed to Kawaguchi in the area. Kawaguchi drew the DF and sent a minus last pass to the center. Lucas ran into this and created a good opportunity, but his shot was blocked by the opponent's GK. As they missed their chance, they once again allowed Fukuoka's fast start to dominate. In the 66th minute, Tokyo's DF lost out on a long ball from Fukuoka, and FW Koga broke free in front of the goal. He was able to take a decisive shot, but it was stopped by Shioda's fine play.

 In the 67th minute, Sasa was substituted for Miyazawa and a power play was launched with a 3-top, but the rhythm was lost and the situation of receiving Fukuoka's counter did not change. In the 71st minute, Fukuoka FW Kawashima ran into the left area and received a pass. Jean initially took it away, but FW Kawashima persisted and regained possession for a shot. The Tokyo DF team managed to clear it with great effort, resulting in a corner kick. In the 75th minute, they were continuously attacked from corner kicks, but Shioda and Mashima fought hard and managed to overcome the danger.

 However, in the 84th minute, Jean cleared the feed to Fukuoka's front line with a header. The ball was passed to Fukuoka MF Hisato Kubo, who quickly sent a vertical pass to the front of the goal. MF Miyazaki, who came on as a substitute, reacted to the ball. Tokyo's Suzuki chased after it, but couldn't catch up, and Miyazaki calmly scored in front of the goal, finally breaking the deadlock. In the 89th minute, Fukuoka DF Yamagata received his second warning and was sent off. The situation became 11 vs. 10, but there wasn't enough time to take advantage of the numerical advantage, and the game ended. In the end, we couldn't fix the problems during the game and lost in a disappointing manner, making it 4 consecutive losses in the Nabisco Cup. Our hopes of advancing to the final round were dashed.

 【Player Comments】《Shioda》"Everyone had high motivation, and I tried to do what I had to do. I wasn't nervous, but I'm disappointed that I couldn't produce results. We were caught off guard and our start was slow. We couldn't show our strengths as Tokyo. But the problem is that we couldn't fix it there. The opponent was able to switch quickly, and we couldn't finish. I should have been able to communicate more by shouting at that time. (There were many fine plays, but?) It doesn't mean anything because we were scored on in the end. Each of us should think about today's challenges."《Toda》"I stood on the pitch for the first time this season and was able to experience the atmosphere of the game after a long time, but it didn't lead to victory. We also have the challenge of creating more chances in front of goal...but as a forward, we have to score even with few chances. Today, I was instructed to not lose the ball and create opportunities in the front line. I tried to adjust my relationship with Lucas and Kawaguchi during the game, but it didn't work out. I want to make adjustments in practice and fight for the future in the remaining two games."

 [Summary of Manager Garo's Press Conference] "As you can see, it was a bad game and we couldn't play our own game. In the first half, we lacked concentration, especially in marking, and gave Fukuoka many scoring opportunities. In the second half, we changed the lineup and were able to find our rhythm and create chances. However, there were times when both teams were dragging on and both had chances. Especially during the time when our momentum dropped, they were able to score. In the second half, we went for the win with a 4-forward formation, so we were vulnerable to counterattacks. We want to forget about today's game and move on to the next one."

 [Fukuoka Matsuda Coach's Press Conference Summary] "I am grateful to the players who have delivered results when it was demanded for the team to win. I think they have worked hard. There were times when it felt unpleasant, similar to the flow we have had so far, where we couldn't score when we needed to, but the DFs persevered and defended, and in the end, MF Miyazaki scored a great goal for us. I think we played a game worthy of 3 points. We were able to properly defend set pieces, which was a challenge for us. GK Kamiyama also made a crucial save at the end, and we were able to defend as a team. In most of our previous games, we were able to play our style of soccer, but we couldn't win due to a lack of finishing. In that sense, it's not a game where we can be completely happy. However, if we can't get results, we won't be able to continue playing this kind of soccer, and we won't have any possibilities. We have no choice but to continue persevering. So it's really fortunate that we got results today. We will use today's game as a base and work on solving our challenges and issues during the break. The cause of our lack of finishing is both due to the opponent's fine saves and our own lack of technical ability. However, as we showed today, if our mentality is strong, we can score from any position. Today, FW Koga and Graucio had many chances, but sometimes they just don't go in. Especially in terms of mentality, we weren't at that level. MF Miyazaki was also a player who was said to have a lack of finishing, but in the end, it's all about mentality. I think it's about whether we have players with that kind of mentality or not."