Restart of the Nabisco Cup, overcoming the absence of national team members, the team comes together as one

　The Nabisco Cup has resumed, with four preliminary league matches scheduled between now and June 9. Sec. 3 will be held on Saturday the 22nd at home in Komazawa, where we will face Albirex Niigata. Throughout the Nabisco Cup preliminary league, Japan national team players Nagatomo and Konno will be absent, but this tournament also tests the overall strength of the team. We want to unite everyone's power, ride the momentum gained from the previous league match against Shimizu, and steadily accumulate points.Regarding this round, World Cup registered members Tokunaga and Ishikawa cannot participate due to FIFA rules. Kim Young-gun is suspended due to accumulated warnings in this tournament. Also, Hiraide has left the team for U-19 Japan national team activities, and excluding the injured Yonemoto and Hiramatsu, we will be missing six players. Therefore, for this round, Morishige and Takahashi will pair as center backs, Mukuhara will play right side back, Nakamura on the left, Kajiyama and Hanyu as double defensive midfielders, and Suzuki and Matsushita on the wings. Takumi ABE and Yukino also made their first bench appearances.On the other hand, Niigata currently sits second in Group A with the same 4 points as Tokyo. With new manager Hisashi KUROSAKI starting this season, they struggled to secure wins early on but are now in excellent form with four consecutive league wins and unbeaten in the last six matches. Coach Shirofuku also warned, "Early in the season, Niigata's match content and results did not match. Their solid defense and attacking accents remain as strong as last season, making them quite formidable. If we allow Niigata to show their strengths, it will be tough for us."For this round, Japan national team forward Yano and support member defender Sakai will be absent, but the attack led by forward Oshima's post play, forward Michel, midfielder Marcio Richardes, and midfielder Cao is high in both movement quality and finishing ability. In response, Tokyo wants to counter by maintaining longer ball possession. After two rounds, Tokyo leads Group A. Without losing aggressiveness, they will focus on winning each match and fight through.The match started exactly at 14:00 at Komazawa Athletic Stadium under cloudy skies but with a high temperature of 27.4 degrees, kicked off by Niigata.

Calmly enter the match and find rhythm from solid defense

　Calmly fought from the start, gradually gaining their own rhythm from solid defense and moving into attack. At 2 minutes, Niigata aimed behind Tokyo's defenders with a long ball, which Takahashi calmly headed back to Gonda. Then, Mukuhara used his strength to stop a breakthrough from the left side and secured possession. At 8 minutes, Takahashi sent an accurate feed to Hirayama up front, who laid it off to Suzuki; they exchanged vertical passes again, and Suzuki aimed for the goal without hesitation. At 9 minutes, from Niigata's speedy attack, midfielder Marcio Richards unleashed a powerful long-range shot, which Gonda saved. At 14 minutes, a decisive moment came. Morishige, Takahashi, and Hanyu connected several passes from the defensive line, and Suzuki, positioned on the left side, sent a longer pass into the left area. Kajiyama rushed out to meet it and made a back pass from the sideline to the front of the goal. Nakamura ran in and took a shot, but it went over the bar. At 18 minutes, Niigata stole a loose pass up front and quickly launched an attack; forward Oshima fired a sharp long-range shot, but Gonda touched it and forced a corner kick. Although Niigata managed a long-range shot from a counterattack, Gonda's saves and focused coverage by Morishige, Takahashi, Mukuhara, and Nakamura prevented any real chances. At 29 minutes, Kajiyama made a through pass into the area. Shigematsu rushed out from the left to create a great chance but just missed the trap. At 31 minutes, from the combination of Hanyu to Matsushita, Hanyu took a shot near the left goal area, but with no clear path, the goalkeeper blocked it. At 36 minutes, Matsushita connected a short right corner kick, and Mukuhara crossed, with Morishige attempting a header, but he couldn't finish, and the first half ended 0-0.

In the closing moments, Otake scored a dramatic goal, securing a valuable 3 points.

　Perhaps affected by the pitch conditions, there were moments of mistakes due to poor ball control, but in the second half, they mostly took control by attacking with a mix of long plays and short passes according to the situation. At 46 minutes, Matsushita on the left passed to Kajiyama in the center, who then passed to Hanyu drifting to the right front, sending in a cross. Mukuhara, who made a run inside, stretched out his foot, but the shot went straight to the goalkeeper. At 51 minutes, Suzuki caught up with a long pass sent by Takahashi into the space upfront and charged into the area dribbling. However, he was stopped by a sliding tackle from a Niigata defender, and the shot went far off target. At 59 minutes, Ricardinho was brought on for Shigematsu. Just after that, at 62 minutes, Hirayama dropped Mukuhara’s right cross to his feet in the center of the area, and Kajiyama, who advanced from behind, took a shot. At 65 minutes, starting from the right side, Kajiyama was involved in a cut-back to the inside, and Hanyu, who followed up from just outside the area, took a decisive shot, but neither could shake the net. At 67 minutes, Otake was brought on for Nakamura, changing the formation with Matsushita playing left side back. After that, Otake became a good accent, pressing Niigata’s goal with a thick attack. At 76 minutes, Otake charged into the area from the left side. Receiving a return pass from Hirayama in the center, he brought the ball close but was cut off by a defender and caught in a counterattack. From Niigata defender Chiba, a long ball was sent directly to FW Fagner, who broke through in front of the goal, but Morishige defended resolutely with his body. Niigata mainly attacked through set pieces, but the defenders stayed focused and dealt with them well, not allowing a single shot in the second half. However, time passed scoreless, and it seemed the match would end in a draw. As the 3 minutes of stoppage time neared its end, Niigata’s corner kick went out of bounds, resulting in a goal kick for Tokyo. Quickly moving the ball forward, they earned a left throw-in. Receiving Hanyu’s throw, Otake decisively broke into the left area, cut back against the opposing defender in front of him, nutmegged him, and shot with his favored left foot. The ball, aimed precisely, pierced the net on the opposite side, scoring a dramatic goal! Their relentless and bold approach to goal paid off, pulling away from Niigata at the very end and securing valuable 3 points at home in Komazawa. 【Player Comments】《Otake》“I was given a chance to come on as a substitute, and I stepped onto the pitch with the mindset of ‘I will produce results even in a short time!’ The coach told me to keep receiving the ball actively, so I tried to touch it a lot and create the team’s rhythm. For the goal, I first thought about getting into the area. At first, I tried to bring the ball to the line, but the opposing defender pressed on the line side, so I thought the inside was open and cut back. I saw the shooting lane and aimed only there. When I’m in good form, I can see the lanes well. I want to keep scoring goals and producing results that lead to victories in this way.” 《Takahashi》“My impression of my first appearance is that you can never let your guard down. If you relax even for a moment, you lose the ball or your line control gets disrupted. In that sense, I fought without losing concentration, calmed down in the second half, and think I was able to show a bit of my strengths. I feel I was somewhat able to contribute in build-up and feeding the front line, but I also felt there are challenges. When the opponent’s pressure was strong, I panicked and couldn’t move the ball forward without support around me. In one-on-one situations, I felt I was slightly outmatched by Niigata FW Oshima. I couldn’t defend by holding him with my body without using my hands. I want to take these challenges back to practice and work hard to improve. The experience I gained from this one match is very valuable to me.” 【Coach Jofuku’s Press Conference Summary】“While the world is becoming all about the World Cup, I think the fans who came to the stadium today are very important. Heading into this match, we were missing four Japan national team players and Kim Young-gun due to accumulated warnings, and it must have looked like a very tough situation from the outside. But spending time together on the Kodaira pitch, there were many players with strong determination betting on today. How they worked daily at Kodaira, watched their own team at Ajinomoto, and watched away games on TV — that feeling was conveyed, and I believed that feeling would definitely work as a plus more than the absence of the national team players. Meeting the fans who gave passionate support in today’s Nabisco Cup and the media who came, I was reminded that the most important thing is the club. I want to further develop this club, and I’m glad we could end today sharing joy. (About the match) Niigata works hard as a team, so it’s hard to find gaps. The key is how patiently we can move the ball and make the opponent run. Only then do gaps open. However, moving the ball means there is a risk of losing it and being caught on the counterattack. How far can we do that with a changed lineup? There were many moments it didn’t go well, but in the last 15 to 20 minutes, we pressed forward. That was the result of today’s members moving the ball despite the risks. Niigata’s legs stopped because we moved the ball taking risks from the first half. It was very good to finish the match with a sense of accomplishment with today’s members. However, of course, there are many points to reflect on. The way we ended today clearly showed our current challenges. It’s good if we can keep possession and score early, but if not, it becomes the usual scene. We still have a lot to learn at the stage just before shooting, such as the accuracy and judgment of the final cross. Today, Yohei OTAKE scored with a play and idea that we coaches can’t teach, but I think the match development showed the team’s challenges.” 【Niigata Coach Kurosaki’s Press Conference Summary】“Although Japan national team players were absent, we tried to play the same way as usual. Our style is similar to FC Tokyo’s, with ball circulation, but although we could pass, we couldn’t connect it to goals. We couldn’t create many good chances at the end. We did create a chance to score from set pieces, but it didn’t lead to a goal, and I’m disappointed with the result. I also had questions about the length of stoppage time, but we must reflect on being scored against at a moment when we should have stayed focused until the end.”