The final showdown, a must-see match between Japan national team players

The 31st round of the league will be held after a two-week interval. We will face Cerezo Osaka at home. In the previous round against Kofu, we ended up with a draw, but we fought with a determination to win until the end. Taking that attitude as a minimum base, we will further enhance our common consciousness and unity to fight through the season.

C Osaka, currently in 5th place with 50 points. Although they lost to Tosu in the previous round, they had an unbeaten streak of 10 games from 8/10. Japan national team's rising star FW Kakitani, MF Yamaguchi, and other young and energetic players make up a team with an attacking style. However, the standout feature of this season is their low number of goals conceded. They have only conceded 27 goals (tied for 1st in the league with Hiroshima). All eyes are on how they will break through this solid defense.

The point difference with C Osaka is 2, and depending on the result of this round, the ranking will be reversed, making it an important match that can be called the biggest. Not only the Japan national team players, but also members who have played against each other in the past in the Olympics and U-17 age group are still present, making it an endless attraction. However, in the first half away game and in the Nabisco Cup, we must not repeat the same defeat by being caught by a small gap and losing by only one point. We want to continue to show Tokyo's soccer persistently and aggressively, and grab the victory.

This round, Takahashi is suspended from playing. Therefore, Hyun Soo JANG will be used as a defensive midfielder. The center-backs will be Mori Shige and Kaga. The match will take place at Ajinomoto Stadium, where the wind is strong but the cold is not too severe. Just before the game, the sun shines and the stadium is filled with a record-breaking 40,371 spectators. The match kicked off at 1:05 PM in Tokyo.

Despite grasping the rhythm, we allowed the first goal.

Tokyo dominated the ball from the beginning and aggressively attacked. In the 3rd minute, Lucas broke through the front line from Morishige's feed. In the 7th minute, Chang Hyun Soo picked up a loose ball in front of the opponent's goal and expanded to the left, and Higashi aimed for a shot from outside the area. C Osaka also quickly launched a counterattack after taking the ball, but Tokyo's defense quickly switched and continued to prevent them from finishing.

However, in the 20th minute, Yonemoto received a foul from C Osaka and temporarily went out of the pitch after twisting his ankle upon landing. Tokyo was pushing forward, but their rhythm was disrupted by C Osaka's tough defense. In the 28th minute, Yonemoto intercepted a loose ball and passed it to the left, where Lucas crossed it. Although it was cleared, they continued to attack and Watanabe, who had broken through to the center-right area, took a shot but was blocked by the goalkeeper.

If you miss this chance, at 31 minutes, C Osaka will pass the ball and DF Sakamoto will cross from the right side back. Tokyo DF also had enough players, but FW Sugimoto in the center of the area sent the ball to FW Kakitani with a header. MF Simplício tried to control the ball, but it spilled to the right in the midst of the chaos, and FW Minamino scored a spectacular shot... C Osaka took advantage of their first chance and took the lead.

But in the 38th minute, Lucas took a shot from a left corner kick. In the 42nd minute, Watanabe received a vertical pass from Yonemoto and turned to take a shot. In the 43rd minute, Higashi from the left area aimed for a shot from Watanabe's middle, but was blocked by C Osaka's defense. Hasegawa followed up with a shot from the ball that spilled into the right area, but was unable to score. They went into the second half behind.

Aria scores a spectacular equalizer! However, they were caught off guard in the final moments...

In the second half, Iwamoto was replaced by Ishikawa due to an injury. They immediately faced a big chance. In the 48th minute, they stole the ball in their own half and launched a counter attack. Hasegawa passed to Ishikawa who ran up the right side. Ishikawa dribbled up and passed to Watanabe in the center, avoiding the defenders. Watanabe took a step forward and took a shot, but it went to the right. After that, both teams continued to launch strong attacks.

In the 51st minute, a direct pass from C Osaka led to MF Yamaguchi breaking into the right area and sending a direct pass to the center, where FW Kakitani took a decisive shot, but it was saved by Gonda! In the 56th minute, Tokyo created another scoring opportunity. Hasegawa in the center received a long through pass from the left area and took a shot, but it was saved by the goalkeeper.

After a long period of not being able to make a decision, the 70th minute arrived. From a pass in the midfield, Lucas on the left and Masaru HASEGAWA in the center boldly aimed for a middle shot. The well-aimed shot hit the bottom of the bar and bounced inside the goal. They caught up to a tie and heated up even more. Both teams fiercely exchanged shots, aiming for an additional point. In the 77th minute, from Ota's cross, Hayato HASEGAWA headed the ball and sent it to the front of the goal, where Ko HASEGAWA pushed it in with his body, but it was ruled offside.

Substitute Kono in the 79th minute. In the 82nd minute, Tokunaga, who had advanced from the left front line after Kono's run, aimed for the center-right area, but just missed the bar. In the 87th minute, Watanabe received a pass from the left and turned around to take a shot, but it went wide. With this, C Osaka was given a goal kick, and C Osaka's GK Jin Hyeon KIM quickly moved up to the front line. The ball went over the heads of Morishige and Kaga, and was passed to FW Kakitani in the area, who then scored a one-on-one goal against Kanda.

Afterwards, despite bringing in Hirayama, they were unable to stop C Osaka's momentum and suffered a bitter defeat. As a result, they now have a 10-point gap with the second place team in terms of points, and with remaining matches against other top teams, their chances of finishing in the top 3 have been eliminated.


[Player Comments]
《Ishikawa》
「I think it was a game where both teams were focused from the first half. The quality of movement was also good. However, I wanted to increase that 'quantity' and stepped onto the pitch. I felt that the C Osaka defenders were a bit flustered when I made runs behind them. The central space opened up and we were able to create wedge opportunities. We started to see a way to bring the ball to the finish line together. We caught up to a tie and everyone had a feeling of 'we can do this'. However, we became impatient and created openings for ourselves without being able to score.

Personally, I felt the weight of the supporters' thoughts and fought with that in mind today. I haven't been able to do anything this year, and I also have the desire to play with Lucas for as long as possible. In the remaining time, I want to show our determination and pride while embodying the type of soccer Tokyo aims for, and continue to fight for the next battle."

"Mori Shige"
"Both goals were due to a lack of concentration. We were aware that C Osaka also had long kicks from the GK... It's disappointing that we couldn't win despite having so many people come to support us, but we won't give up and will continue to fight for victory. Even if it becomes difficult to secure a spot in the ACL, we need to set new goals for ourselves and keep fighting. We want to give a victory as a present to all the people who come to watch us every game."


[Coach Popovich's Press Conference Summary]
"I feel like we only lacked the result. The atmosphere at the stadium was amazing and we wanted to produce results in the midst of such support, but that was the only thing we lacked. Of course, C Osaka is also a wonderful team. They play an attractive and attacking style of soccer, and I think they are one of the teams that make the J League interesting. We also played well, but we lacked concentration in small areas. We let the opponent score their first shot, and the way we conceded the second goal was not good. However, the players fought with a high level of awareness and strong determination, and created many chances from the flow of the game. We should not hang our heads."


[C Osaka - Manager Krupe's Press Conference Summary]
"After the last game, I said, 'I've been working in Japan for about 6 years, but I don't really understand Japanese soccer.' In short, it's strange that you can lose at any time and win at any time. I felt that it was all due to the players' concentration. Today, they showed a really high level of concentration and fought tough until the end. Tokyo also played a very good game, but I felt that it was thanks to the players' concentration that they were able to win a close game like today's."