Give your best to win the final home game before the break!

　The 5th day of the Nabisco Cup qualifiers will welcome Urawa Reds at home. Although they have suffered 4 consecutive losses and have no chance of advancing to the qualifiers, coach Garo has declared that he will field the best players in their current state. The players also stated, "We can't continue to lose like this" and "We won't waste our time on meaningless games in order to improve our level," maintaining high motivation and aiming for a victory in their final home game before the break.

　Suzuki is suspended due to accumulated warnings. Kanazawa, who has recovered from injury, will make his first appearance of the season as a left-back. Ozawa will also make his first start and will play in midfield with Lucas. Konno and Inonami will form a double pivot, while Toda and Kawaguchi will lead the attack in a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond-shaped midfield, challenging Urawa.

　Urawa, who is facing, has already decided to advance to the final tournament with 4 wins in the Nabisco Cup. Japan national team's DF Tsuboi, Mitsushu, and MF Ono are absent, and MF Ponte is also injured. Therefore, DF is Uchidate, Torio, and Horiuchi. In the midfield, Sakai and Hasebe are in the defensive midfield, Hirakawa on the right, Soma on the left, and Yamada as the attacking midfielder. The 3-5-2 formation is led by Nagai and Washington as the top two. The match started at 19:00 with Urawa's kickoff at the rainy Ajinomoto Stadium.

Lucas, utilizing Ozawa's movement, riding the momentum

　From the beginning, there was a fierce competition and a back-and-forth battle. Tokyo was the first to seize a big chance. In the 8th minute, Tokunaga on the right passed directly to Lucas in the center, who then sent a through pass to the front line. Ozawa followed and successfully broke through to the right area, but his shot was blocked by the goalkeeper. In the 12th minute, Urawa also had a chance when FW Washington played a post-play and right MF Hirakawa crossed. MF Yamada, who received the ball freely in the left area, took a shot but was saved by Shioda.

　At 15 minutes, Urawa DF Tatsuki Iwao tried to attack by passing through Tokyo's MF Yamada with a one-two, but Lucas quickly returned and cut it off. At 20 minutes, Tokunaga sprinted down the right side with a dribble from Inonami → Ozawa's pass. It seemed like they would get a corner kick as they collided with the chasing Urawa DF, but it was a Urawa goal kick. Although neither team could create a decisive opportunity, the tense battle continued.

　In that game, Tokyo dominated with the movement of Ozawa and Lucas. On the right, Tokunaga boldly made breakthroughs, while on the left, Kanazawa calmly connected passes and joined the attack at the right moment. Up front, Toda received the ball and drew out the runs of Ozawa and Lucas. In the 26th minute, they attacked the Urawa area with multiple players, led by Ozawa, Tokunaga, and Lucas, but were unable to finish with a shot. In the end, Lucas took a shot from outside the left area from a throw-in, but it went over the bar.

　At 28 minutes, Jean took a direct free kick from about 25m to the right of the goal, but it curved to the left. At 39 minutes, Ozawa took a powerful shot from the middle of the opponent's half, but it missed to the right. At 42 minutes, Toda cut off a Urawa ball and sprinted towards the goal. In a one-on-one situation with the GK, the opponent's GK made a save. However, Lucas picked up the rebound and passed it to Kawaguchi in the left area, but his shot was once again blocked by the GK. They were unable to convert their chances and ended the first half with a 0-0 score.

An intense battle full of passion ends in a scoreless draw

　Tokyo, showing a passionate play in the second half as well. At the start, Tokunaga breaks through the right side. He sends a fast ground pass from a deep position to the front of the goal, but it doesn't reach Kawaguchi who was waiting. In the 47th minute, Ozawa heads Tokunaga's cross, but he can't meet it properly. In the 56th minute, Urawa's right MF Hirakawa attempts to dribble into the area, and the ball falls in front of MF Yamada who is free on the right side. This danger is saved by Shioda's bold jump, and they hold on to defend without losing focus.

　In the 58th minute, Lucas advanced with a dribble and took a shot with speed! He had a good shot on target, but was blocked by the opponent's GK and escaped to a CK. Today, Tokyo had a good balance in the midfield, and Inano also boldly attacked after taking the ball. In the 70th minute, he intercepted in the opponent's territory and Inano ran alone in front of the goal! He attracted the approaching Urawa DF and sent a last pass to Kawaguchi who came up from the left. Kawaguchi took a well-aimed shot, but once again it was blocked by the opponent's GK... He then persistently picked up the loose ball and Ozawa took a middle shot, but it was right in front of the opponent's GK. They continued to attack and pick up second balls, but they were unable to finish their chances.

　In the 75th minute, Lucas took a daring shot from outside the right area, but it went high. In the 82nd minute, Konno tried to take a middle shot with speed, but was blocked by the opposing DF. In the 84th minute, Lucas → Kanazawa attacked the center, and Toda sent a last pass, but it was cut off by the opposing DF. Tokunaga picked up the loose ball and crossed it, but Lucas's header missed. In the 85th minute, Toda ran to the ball that was loose in front of the goal and took a daring shot in a difficult position. It was saved by the opposing GK and resulted in a CK. Ozawa's right CK was cleared by the Urawa DF... They continued their strong attack until the end, but were unable to score. In the end, they played a passionate game on both offense and defense, but were unable to win the heated battle without scoring a goal. They were only able to earn 1 point.

　【Player Comments】《Zeca》"Today, everyone was fighting more than in the previous home game. While aiming for possession football, I tried to simply jump into the goal area. I was able to play for a long time as a starter, but my decision making was still slow and I couldn't fully grasp the rhythm. It's disappointing that we couldn't get results. I think we have to win at home, so we want to make sure we can win. In order to do that, we need to be able to score even with few chances. I wish I could have been more involved in the chances and taken more shots..."《Lins》"I was also playing while being mindful of my injury, but being able to play for 90 minutes gave me confidence. Today, the coach told us strictly to review the basics, such as intensity in ball battles. I think I was able to do that. I tried to receive the ball in a good position while maintaining balance and attack. This season, we are aiming to keep possession of the ball and make short passes to get to the goal area, and we are making progress in that regard. My desire to play in the game has become stronger, so I want to give my all in practice and prepare well."

　[Summary of Manager Garo's Press Conference] "I think we both played a good game at a high level. In the second half, we were able to dominate the game and had chances. At halftime, I told the players that this game would be decided by a small margin, and we were able to maintain our focus and have a good game. In the midfield today, we played with a compact formation, marked aggressively against strong Urawa, and competed. In addition to the midfield, Toda showed good play by moving into space and receiving passes in the front line. (You only used one substitution slot?) We had a good flow and shape, so I didn't consider making substitutions. I checked with Ozawa about his fatigue level, and although he answered that he wasn't tired, I thought it was his limit and substituted him with Akamine. Kanazawa returned from injury and Suzuki was suspended, so I decided to use him. He connected passes without mistakes and showed good covering from a good position. Shigeno also played well. I think he has the ability to be on the Japan national team, but the chosen manager has his own thoughts, so I want to respect that. I talked to Shigeno about aiming for four years later, and he must have been able to switch his mindset."

　[Urawa Buchwald Coach's Press Conference Summary] "We had already secured our spot in the final round, but we wanted to finish at the top of our group, so we really wanted to win. On the other hand, FC Tokyo was not in good form, so they came to challenge us with the intention of winning and getting back on track. We could see that from their aggressive and passionate play. A wet field like today's favors the attacking side, but the fact that neither team was able to score was due to the strong defense from both teams. If either team had scored even one goal, the game would have become even more aggressive. Although the result was 0-0, it was an interesting match. I am satisfied with the players' performance, but I wish they had taken advantage of the counter-attack opportunities more effectively. Today, both MF Ponte and MF Ono were unable to play. I think the absence of MF Ponte, who can both score and assist, had an impact. However, Urawa's strength is that even if someone is missing, there will always be another player who can fill that role. This was proven in the previous match against Yokohama FM, where we won despite Ponte's absence for about 60 minutes. So even though today's match ended in a draw, the absence of those players cannot be used as an excuse. The reason we had few scoring chances was because our transition from defense to attack was slower than usual. Even when there was space after winning the ball, our transition was slow and the space was closed off. Even when we tried to use our speed to break through, we were unable to create many scoring opportunities."