Winning the first home game with a fresh team

　The 2nd round of the Nabisco Cup will be held at Ajinomoto Stadium, with Oita Trinita as the home team. Although they have yet to win at home this season, there is a feeling that they have "lost 3 points" in every game, including league matches. Therefore, it is a crucial match where they want to secure a victory. However, Tokunaga will be suspended for this round. Evaldo, who has not been in good condition, and Kurisawa, who injured his left foot in the Iwata match, will also be absent. On the other hand, Hirayama, Inonami, and Kajiyama will leave the team from the 23rd (Friday) for their activities as Olympic representatives, and today's match will feature a fresh lineup.

　The lineup includes first-time J-League player Ikegami on the right side back, Fujiyama and Yoshimoto as center backs, and Baba as left MF for the first time this season. Hatta and Rychely are also on the bench for the first time this season. Although it will be a total team effort, Coach Hara expressed his expectations, saying, "We knew from the beginning that the Olympic representatives would be absent. That's why we have been training together as a team, and it's a chance for the new members. If fresh players can bring new energy and wind, the team will scale up even more."

　Oita may have started the season with 1 draw and 1 loss, but they have won consecutive games in the 3rd round of the league and the 1st round of the Nabisco Cup. They have accumulated points by playing solid defense in the midfield and utilizing the speed and height of their FWs from the sides. It is important to pay attention to their lively attacking lineup, centered around FW Takamatsu and FW Matsubashi, who has been selected for the Japan national team. Starting in the Nabisco Cup last round against Iwata, Shioda, who is starting again, says, "Even though it's a home game, if we concede a goal in the beginning, the damage will be significant. If we can get through the early stages, even players making their debut can play calmly, so we especially want to focus in the beginning." If they can stifle Oita's momentum with solid defense and gain an advantage in the midfield, it should be Tokyo's time. And they want to grab a victory by capitalizing on their chances.

Despite being dominated by Oita, the defense fought hard.

　The intense rain in the morning subsided at Ajinomoto Stadium, and the match started at 2:04 pm with a kickoff from Oita. Oita was the one who grabbed the rhythm from the beginning. Immediately after the start, MF Augusto attacked from the post of FW Takamatsu and was able to take a decisive shot in front of the goal. After surviving this with a save from Shioda, the Tokyo DF gradually settled down and started attacking from both sides. In the 10th minute, Baba, who had moved to the right from a combination with Ishikawa, crossed and won a CK. From the right CK kicked by Baba, Wanchope in the far post persisted and passed to Lucas in the center. From here, Baba, who had entered the right area, brilliantly cut back the opponent's DF and took a shot! However, it narrowly missed to the right.

　In the 14th minute, a right cross from Ikegami was cleared in front of Wanchope. Wanchope dropped it at his feet and took a shot, but it went over the bar. Oita regained their rhythm while Tokyo couldn't convert their early chances. In the 16th minute, MF Augusto was allowed to run free on a counter, but Yoshimoto from the back line made a sliding tackle to cut him off. In the 20th minute, Tokyo was attacking from the left side and Inakami's clearance fell short, allowing MF Augusto to receive it in the box. He took a shot from close range, but Ikegami cleared it just before it crossed the goal line!　

　Lost the ball halfway, and Oita continued to launch a counterattack, and in the 28th minute, Fujiyama stopped the breakthrough of Oita FW Takamatsu in the area with a foul. Penalty kick is given. However, the PK kicked by FW Takamatsu is saved by Shioda with his right hand! After that, it bounces off the right post, but Yoshimoto does not let MF Nemoto's shot hit his body. There were also some decisive moments, but in the end, they put their bodies on the line and did not allow a goal.

　The flow seemed to lean towards Tokyo. However, in the 33rd minute, Ishikawa broke through the side and crossed the ball to Wanchope's feet, but his trap was too long and he couldn't take a shot. Unable to grasp the rhythm of the attack, they were instead connected by passes from Oita and spent time on the defensive. In the 41st minute, Ishikawa broke through deep into the area from a counterattack by Tokyo. He sent a minus pass into the area from the goal line. Baba, who received the ball, skillfully evaded the opposing DF and took a shot, but narrowly missed the target... Although they couldn't convert their chances, the DF fought hard and kept Oita's attacks at bay, ending the first half without conceding any goals.

Conceded from a counter attack, defeated with no goals against the opponent's solid defense...

　In the second half, at the 50th minute, Ishikawa ran into the left side of the field after Baba's cross, but missed the meet. In the 52nd minute, Rychely was substituted for Wanchope and attacked with speed. In the 58th minute, Inamoto jumped in with his head after Ishikawa's right corner kick, but it went outside the frame. From here, the combination did not work and they couldn't create any chances. In the 67th minute, Lucas persisted in the front line and got a left corner kick. Baba's kick was cleared by the Oita DF and they were countered. MF Nemoto dribbled up with tremendous speed and was passed to the left side. When Tokyo DF approached FW Takamatsu, he passed to the free MF Augusto in the right area. He easily scored and they finally conceded a goal.

　Substitute Kanazawa in the 70th minute and push Norio Suzuki forward to counterattack. In the 76th minute, Akamine is substituted for Ikegami and aims for the goal with a 3-back formation, but there is little movement and they are unable to create any effective attacks, leading to Oita's offensive. In the 79th minute, Norio Suzuki boldly aims for the goal from the left side, but it hits the crossbar. In the 85th minute, Oita MF Renato Augusto steals the pass from Norio Suzuki on the left side and advances towards the goal. The shot hits Yoshimoto's foot and changes direction, resulting in the second goal being conceded.

　Despite trying to make a comeback with a goal, in the 88th minute Norio Suzuki took a middle shot from a throw-in, but the opposing defender blocked it. In stoppage time, Norio Suzuki's left side free kick was cleared by Ishikawa in the right area. Ishikawa took a shot from the trap, but missed the target and the game ended. In the first half, we were too cautious and couldn't take advantage of our chances. In the second half, our teamwork was disjointed. We also couldn't show our "style" with only 14 shots compared to Oita's 19, resulting in a defeat.

　【Player Comments】《Ikegami》"I tried to play as usual, thinking about what I could do. I wasn't nervous after 15 minutes, but I still felt solid. Today, I was careful about my positioning so that Ishikawa could attack easily. I saw Oita's left MF Nemoto and Ishikawa going up against the opponent's 3-back. (We couldn't score) I realized that we couldn't break through without going up against the opponent and creating chances. That's also my own challenge. Today, I feel so frustrated with the loss because I feel like "it's meaningless if we don't win." I will do my best to win next time.《Shioda》"The flow was bad at first, but I thought we would have a chance if we could prevent the opponent's chances, like stopping a PK. I had watched videos before, so I knew which direction the PK would go, but I was relieved when it hit the post. It was good that I stopped it, but it's meaningless if the team can't win. We didn't have enough desire to win at home today. Incomplete combustion. We need the determination to break through even when we're tired. The opponent is also tired, so we need to talk about that too. I feel sorry that we couldn't have a good game even though so many children came to watch us in the rain. But we have to lift our heads up. (In the Nabisco Cup) we still have an away game against Oita and a game against Iwata after that. We want to win those games."【Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference】"We didn't play well today. Inano was absent and Tokunaga was suspended, so I considered taking down Konno. However, we didn't have much time to prepare, so we used players like Ikegami and Yoshimoto in the final line, who have played in that position before. We also used Baba in Kurisawa's position and tried to play in a similar way to the previous game against Iwata. We knew that Wanchope's condition wasn't good, but we fought hard in the first half. Ishikawa was energetic, so I instructed him and Baba to attack while using that area, and I think we had a few chances from that. However, we couldn't connect in the final line and it became difficult to create chances. We conceded from our own corner kick. We were aware that the opponent would counterattack from an unusual formation. After conceding a goal, we lost our energy. Lucas and other players were frustrated, and we couldn't show our strengths and ended up losing. We have to overcome the problems of the absence of Olympic team players, suspensions, and injuries. We need to figure out how to use Wanchope, the relationship between Fukunishi and Konno, and the balance in the midfield, and rebuild in one week before the away game against the in-form Reysol."

　[Summary of Oita Chamusca's press conference] "We knew it would be a tough game to play against a big club like FC Tokyo, and it was really difficult. Today's game was one of the best we've had this year. With today's victory, I think we have a good advantage in this qualifying league. Our marking and dynamic speed were key factors in this result. The substitute players who came on in the second half also played their roles well, and everyone showed movements worthy of a win. We were able to make good movements on both sides today, but we couldn't utilize the speed of our weapon, FW Akira Matsubashi. The pitch was slippery, and the balls that were meant to go behind the DF didn't quite reach him. That was unfortunate."