Overcome the high wall of the Semifinal Round with a strong determination.

The first leg of the Nabisco Cup semifinal was played away against Shimizu S-Pulse. In the league match against Oita on 8/30, we persevered and played our own style of soccer, achieving our first victory in about a month and a half since 7/18. The semifinal, which will be played at home and away, will be played in just 3 days after the Oita match, making it a busy schedule of 3 games in 1 week. However, we will approach the second leg with a positive image from the victory against Oita and aim to continue in a favorable position.

　Kashima, on the other hand, faced Urawa in the quarter-finals of the Nabisco Cup. Although they lost away, they had a big win at home and have made it this far with a comeback. In the league, they are currently in 4th place after losing to Tokyo (National) in the 6/17 Sec. 15 match, but have not lost in 9 games in the past 2 and a half months. In the previous match against Kawasaki, they were able to equalize in the last minute and can be said to have had a great summer. Also, this season, their only loss at Outsourcing Stadium Japan was in the 5/20 Nabisco Yamagata match, highlighting their strength at home.

Tokyo is without Nagatomo and Konno, who were selected for the Japan national team. In their place, Mohri is placed at center back, Mukuhara on the right side, and Tokunaga on the left. Coach Shirofuku says, "Shimizu is currently the most stable and formidable team. The individual players and the team's quality are both very high, making it difficult to find weaknesses. They are more unified and have no weaknesses in attack and defense compared to when we faced them." Above all, we must be cautious of the side attacks that utilize the height of FW Yong-sun. Not only must we mark tightly, but we must also win the battle on the sides. And the key will be how we can win the second ball and launch quick counterattacks.

　If NABISCO is tied in total points for 2 games, the number of away goals will also have an impact, so we want to somehow take the goal. It's not easy to break through Shimizu's solid defense, but we want to create chances by repeating "one idea" with Ishikawa in the center. This season, Tokyo has won twice against Shimizu, so Shimizu must have a strong desire to take revenge. We will strive for victory with an even stronger determination! The match started at 19:00 with Shimizu's kickoff at the Outsourcing Stadium Nihondaira.

Yonehara scores with Cabore's goal, leading by one point and ending the first half.

　2 minutes into the game, Tokyo was immediately in trouble. Shimizu's right MF Hyodo made an early cross. FW Yong-sun hit a decisive header from far, but Gonda quickly reacted and caught it. With this shot, Shimizu's attack started with momentum, and Tokyo tried to calmly connect passes and attack. In the 10th minute, Yonemoto → Hirayama took a shot from outside the right area, but the ball narrowly missed the goal, missing a big chance. In the 13th minute, Hirayama received a pass from Tokunaga on the left side and took a one-touch shot, but it went to the right of the goal.

　As a result, Shimizu gradually gained momentum and Tokyo was forced to defend, making it difficult to bring the ball to the front line. Shimizu's MF Edamura created a chance with a shot, but Tokyo's defense, led by Gonda, showed no signs of weakness. And it was Tokyo who took advantage of the first chance. In the 33rd minute, Ishikawa's cross was cleared to the front of the area, in front of Yonemoto. Yonemoto's right-footed shot lacked power, but it rolled into the goal, giving him his second consecutive goal and putting Tokyo in the lead!

　But immediately after that, Shizuoka scored a high header from the right CK to FW Yonsen, and conceded a goal... The game returned to the starting point. After that, the offense and defense changed rapidly, and the intense battle continued. In the 39th minute, Ishikawa took a shot from the right side with speed from a counterattack. However, it was saved by the goalkeeper. Then, in the 42nd minute, Hirayama → Cabore entered the right area and cut back the opponent's DF twice with a feint before taking a shot. The ball was sucked into the net on the opposite side, giving the team the lead as they headed into the second half.

Unable to win despite having a numerical advantage, ending in a draw.

　45 minutes after the start of the second half, Shimizu DF Iwashita received a red card and was sent off for a foul against Hirayama. Shimizu is forced to play with 10 men. In the 51st minute, Hirayama advances from the left corner of the area and takes a shot. The ball bounces off the GK's save, but no one is able to follow up. In the 52nd minute, Ishikawa dribbles up from near the center line and takes a left-footed shot, but it is saved by the opposing GK and results in a corner kick. Tokyo has a numerical advantage, but they are unable to break through Shimizu's defensive block despite having more possession of the ball.

　61 minutes, a quick attack, Cabore crosses from the left. Mukuhara, who ran to the front of the right area, aimed for the goal from the trap, but it went just above the bar... In the 67th minute, Yonemoto sent a long feed to Hirayama, who broke through the opponent's DF, and it seemed to be a great chance, but he couldn't bring it to a shot as it was taken away by the opponent's DF. Then in the 69th minute, Tokyo's left side was broken through by substitute Shimizu DF Hiraoka, and it was connected to FW Yonsen, and the goal was broken by MF Edamura's attacking run... They were caught up to a tie.

　After that, there were times when we were on the defensive due to mistakes and sharp counterattacks from Shimizu. Tokyo made a comeback by substituting Suzuki and Kondo for Cabore and Ishikawa. In the 81st minute, Muhara took a shot from a big side change, but it went over the frame. In the 82nd minute, Hirayama headed Muhara's right cross, but it went outside the frame. On the other hand, in stoppage time, we gave Shimizu a direct free kick in front of goal. Shimizu's MF Yamamoto aimed directly, but it went outside the frame. In the end, we couldn't beat the 10-man opponent and the first leg of the semifinals ended in a draw.

　【Player Comments】《Yonemoto》"(About the goal) I was trying to pick up the second ball, but it rolled in front of me, so I just tried to shoot and finish it. It was a bouncing ball, so I just focused on keeping it within the frame without floating it. It was just a lucky shot. I don't think it was a very good shot. But it was good that I could score, especially since it was an away goal. We were leading and the opponent had a player sent off, so I think we could have won the game. We might have needed a stronger desire to go for another goal at that point. It's a shame. Hitting it to FW Yonson is Shimizu's weapon. They tried to develop the play by picking up the second ball, but I think we were able to respond well in the first half. However, it was painful to be equalized right after we took the lead. But we shouldn't think of it as a negative, as we were able to score two goals. We should see it as a comfortable situation for us at home. If we start defending, we might end up losing the ball and getting countered, like today. So we want to attack from the front. If we can score one more goal, we can put pressure on the opponent. We want to play calmly and have a good game to advance to the final."

　"Gonda" "We were always ahead and led 2-1, but we were caught up. It's frustrating that we couldn't win. But when I think calmly, I don't think it's bad to take two points away and draw. Today, the members of the defense were different, so we practiced how to confirm their cooperation and how to break through the solid defense that Shimizu created. I think it's the result of our practice that Yone and Cabore were able to score those kinds of shots. The attacking players worked hard to score two points, but we couldn't hold on and ended up conceding two goals, which is a challenge. (There were also many scenes where Gonda's good saves helped?) If we had conceded zero goals, we could have been proud, but we conceded two goals... However, I also think that we were able to stop them from scoring two goals because the defense fought hard. (How did you play after Shimizu was one man down?) We tried to increase the time we had the ball, but even though we had one more player, there were times when we kicked it too easily. And after we were caught up, we went for the third goal even though it would have been okay to just tie, and I made a risky pass and gave the opponent a chance for a set piece. That's also a big point of reflection. It's also a challenge for us to participate in the team's goal of "connecting" and contribute in the future."

　[Summary of Manager Jofuku's Press Conference] "Looking at the score of 2-2 away, I want to take it positively. However, from the flow of the game, I think it was a game that exposed our immaturity, and today we absolutely had to win. A team where players who came on in the middle get passed and scored, and players who came on in the middle can't run 1.5 times, can't move on to the next step. In that sense, we have to reflect strongly. We have to take this opportunity to understand why we can't start and use it for the next step. I strongly hope that you will contribute to the team's level up quickly. However, in terms of the game itself, I thought that Shimizu would kick it to some extent at first, so we were able to deal with it properly and connect when we were calm, which was according to the plan. When the opponent became 10 people, we couldn't score the third goal and ended up in a dangerous game by conceding one goal, which is a big problem for this team, and we have to gradually clear it. (How did you approach the first away game?) We have been training and preparing for the game with the image of winning both games, so we have to look at the total of 180 minutes, and we have to be aware of the away goal, but that's only about the situation at the end of the game, and it's counterproductive to not be able to give 100% of our strength while being aware of it. We approached the game with that kind of awareness."

　【Post-match Interview with Manager Hasegawa of Shimizu】"Thank you very much for your passionate support until the very end. I think the players gave their all for 90 minutes. Today was probably the peak of exhaustion. We have been playing back-to-back games in the hot summer weather with only two days of rest in between, and we have been pushing ourselves both mentally and physically to close the gap with the top teams in the league. Of course, it was a semifinal match and I believe each player fought their best, but when Aoyama fell ill before the game and couldn't play, I think the exhaustion had really taken a toll on him. In that sense, it may have been due to some changes in the lineup, but I feel that we lacked aggression in the first half and there wasn't much we could do about it. However, after going down to 10 men, the players finally woke up and their individual efforts increased, and I think their performance from that point on was fantastic. If we had lost 2-1 at home, it would have been very difficult to advance to the next round, but by securing a draw here, I think we have given ourselves a good chance for the next round. I talked to the players about various things at halftime, but I think they were able to switch their mindset and fight back with 10 men, resulting in a 2-2 draw. We will use this result to our advantage in the next away game and do everything we can to make it to the final for the second consecutive year, so let's all prepare thoroughly together."