We want to overcome the difficult team composition together.

　After a two-week break from the 16th round, the 17th round will face Urawa Reds. In this round, which marks the halfway point of the season, we aim to win as one team despite being an away game. During this break, we played a preseason match against FC Seoul in Korea, and Konno was called up to the Japan national team. Masushima, Inonami, and Kajiyama also went on a trip to China as members of the U-21 national team, and it seems that each of them had a busy but fulfilling time. However, Konno injured his left knee and Miura injured his right foot, leaving the team. Yesterday, Mochida continued to adjust with a separate menu due to lower back pain. In addition, Tokunaga will be suspended for this round, making the team composition difficult.

　On the other hand, FW Washington has joined the team. Although the time he has spent with the team is short, he is determined to make a new start. Washington himself says, "This will be my first battle in Japan, but I am very excited. I am also good at heading. I want to enter the area with momentum and show intense soccer without hesitation."

　Urawa is currently in 2nd place and will surely aim for 3 points at home today in order to reclaim the top spot. 7 players have been selected for the Japan national team and will play in the match against Trinidad and Tobago on the 9th. Concerns about poor condition due to consecutive matches are expected, but they will have high motivation and a tough battle is expected for Tokyo.

　The starting lineup includes Washington as the top striker, with Lucas and Baba in the second row. The left and right midfielders are Inaba and Ishikawa. Asari and Kajiyama, who are starting for the first time this season, will form a double pivot, and the back three will consist of Mashima, Shigeta, and Jean. In order to counter the attacking players of Urawa, Shigeta will be placed in the center of the back three, with Mashima and Jean acting as stoppers. The aim is to create a rhythm from a strong defense and increase ball possession. In addition, Inaba and Ishikawa will take control on the sides and look to feed the ball to Washington to find opportunities for attack.

Urawa gains momentum by allowing the first goal in the beginning.

　The heavy rain during the day has stopped, and the Saitama Stadium 2002 can be seen in the sunny intervals. The game started at 19:04 with a kick-off from Tokyo. However, in the first 5 minutes, Urawa's right MF Hirakawa crossed the ball, and central FW Tanaka Tatsuya competed for it with a header, while MF Ono attacked from the far side. Tokyo was unable to mark this MF Ono and he scored with his left foot, resulting in a goal. Once again, they conceded a goal early on and Urawa was able to take control of the game.

　Urawa, who deployed speedy plays on both offense and defense, troubled Tokyo and in the 10th minute, FW Nagai took a shot. In the 14th minute, FW Tanaka Tatsuya broke through in front of the goal and took a difficult shot. In response, Tokyo launched a counterattack with Lucas and Kajiyama as the starting points. Washington also put his body on the line in the front line and tried to create a rhythm. In the 15th minute, Inoha ran up the left side and sent a cross that Washington jumped for with his head. Both he and the opponent's goalkeeper collided and were injured, but fortunately nothing serious happened.

　In the 24th minute, from a right to left side change by Urawa, MF Ono crosses. FW Nagai and Tatsuya TANAKA jump into the goal, but this is firmly held by Tokyo DF. In the 26th minute, they prevent Urawa's attack and try to turn it into their own, but they are caught off guard and MF Hasebe, who was left free in the area, receives a pass. He takes a decisive shot, but it goes over the bar. After conceding a goal, Tokyo creates a rhythm from defense and tries to attack, but they struggle to bring the ball to a shot.

　At 40 minutes, Kajiyama unleashed a powerful middle shot, but the opponent's GK Yamagishi spilled it and it was immediately caught. At 44 minutes, Kajiyama again passed to Lucas, who was closer to the center, from the motion of the middle shot. Lucas' shot from just outside the area floated, but it gave hope for a comeback in the second half, and they went into the second half trailing by one point.

Lost second goal immediately after Inaba's exit, failed to make a comeback with 10 players

　In the second half, they started with an aggressive attack, but in the 54th minute, Inonami received a counter from Urawa and stopped the opponent with a foul without the ball. He received his second warning of the day and was sent off. However, at the moment of the resulting free kick, Tokyo lost their focus and allowed Urawa MF Santo to dribble from the left to the center, and score a goal from just outside the box to the top right corner. This goal ultimately had a big impact on the rest of the game.

　Tokyo, who became 10 players, sent in Abe, Kawaguchi and attacking players. They went to get one point back with a 4-3-2 formation, with Shigeki on the left and Ishikawa on the right side back. However, in the 71st minute, Urawa MF Yamada dropped the ball to FW Tatsuya Tanaka with a right cross, and MF Mitsudomoe pushed the ball into the low position with his head, conceding the third goal.

　In the 74th minute, the ball was passed to MF Mitsutoshi who broke free in front of the goal, but Ishikawa made a fierce dash back and escaped with a sliding tackle. In the 83rd minute, Miyazawa was substituted for Baba. They never gave up attacking until the end, but in the 88th minute, Urawa's MF Hasebe received a vertical pass and broke free in front of the goal. Hasebe attracted Tokyo's DF and made a last pass to the left. FW Tanaka Tatsuya neatly put it into the goal, making it the 4th point...

　Urawa, who was gaining momentum, faced a defensive battle. The DF line, including Jean, and the midfielders Asari and Ishikawa fought with all their might, but they couldn't stop Urawa's attacks. They were completely outplayed and suffered a complete defeat. Every play was on the back foot, and they lost with 4 goals conceded.

　【Player Comments】《Doi》"Regardless of being one player down, we have to catch the opponent in front of us. Even after becoming 10 players, it's more about concentration and mentality than positioning. We need to show more fighting spirit... Each and every one of us needs to think a little more. We want to regroup from tomorrow's practice."《Asari》"We were instructed to be tough in the midfield, but we became loose. We couldn't compact and ended up being passed around by Urawa. The way we started the game was the problem. Whether to go and take the ball or to play aggressively was half-hearted, and we were caught early on. It was the same in the FC Seoul game. However, if we had just conceded one goal, it would have been fine, but giving up the second goal was a big blow. If we had just taken a moment to think (about playing with 10 players) after the free kick, it would have been better. (You played the full 90 minutes for the first time this season?) The result is everything. We want to start over again."

　[Garro Manager's Press Conference Summary] "Following the previous game against Hiroshima, it was a very bad game. We have been trying to regroup and practice for a week, but unfortunately we couldn't do it. I think our performance in the first half was very poor. Although it got a little better at the beginning of the second half, Inoha was sent off and we conceded goals in quick succession. However, even if Inoha had not been sent off, our performance in both the first and second half was poor. We were losing, so I thought it was not enough to just lose and we went on the attack to get points. We tried to score by putting Shigeno on the left and switching to a 4-back and 2-midfielder formation, relying on two speedy FWs. However, we were countered by Urawa. It was a big blow to concede a goal early in the first half. The damage was big and everyone was down. We have a lot of young players and we couldn't recover mentally. I know Washington well, including his strengths, as I have seen him play for Portuguesa and Palmeiras in Brazil. He has only played one game in the red and white team since joining, so I knew our combination was not good. However, I used him with that in mind."

　[Urawa Buchwald's press conference summary] "The schedule for this game was very difficult. After the World Cup break, we had four consecutive games and no league games for 14 days. It was great and honorable to have many players selected for the national team, but it was difficult to practice because almost half of the players were missing. I was worried about how the selected players would come back, but they showed high motivation in practice on Thursday and Friday for this FC Tokyo game. The start of today's game was also good. We were able to create many chances and the key was to score the first goal quickly. Our combination play was good, but we couldn't score the second goal. After 15-20 minutes, FC Tokyo started to attack more and more. The reason for this was that we didn't use the sides and focused too much on through balls and runs behind the defense, which allowed them to counterattack. I am satisfied with our defense in the first half, but I think we needed to be more creative in our attack. In the second half, especially after the opponent had one player sent off, we played really well. We didn't make any mistakes that we tend to make when we have a numerical advantage, and we were able to have good attacks by connecting passes and changing the pace. In the midst of that, Mitsudomoe scored for us. We didn't give the opponent any real chances. The players proved that they are part of a top group team. I want to praise all the players who played today."