FC Tokyo U-23 thrived in Okinawa.

The 2016 Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company J3 League Sec. 17 will be an away match against FC Ryukyu, following the previous match.
In the home opener against FC Ryukyu, we fought back from 0-3 with goals from Yajima and Matsuoka, but lost 2-3.
I don't want to lose consecutively to the same opponent.
Tokyo will deploy a 3-5-2 formation, just like in the previous match. Many of the players who participated in the last match are also included in the starting lineup for this match.
Enomoto, who has been guarding the goal since Sec. 4.
The DF line consists of a three-back formation with Okazaki, Suzuki, and Ogawa.
The midfield anchor and inside half are Nozawa, Sho SASAKI, and Tanabe, just like the previous match.
On the left is Koyama, on the right is Mizunuma, and up front are Hayashi and Insoo YU.
Riyukyu adopts a 4-5-1 formation centered around the top scorer, Keita TANAKA (8 goals).
Like Fujieda, they will connect short passes and engage in aggressive play both offensively and defensively.
About 60 FC Tokyo fans and supporters rushed to the stands and united to challenge Ryukyu in a temperature of 31.9°C.

[First Half]
Tokyo played aggressively in both offense and defense.
From the start, the players of Tokyo rapidly changed positions and connected short passes.
The transition between offense and defense is very quick, and especially the first press after losing the ball is very fast, which does not give Ryukyu any freedom.
Although there were moments when they were occasionally pressed into the goal area, the defense led by Enomoto closed in and responded to protect the goal.
Tokyo, taking control, changes the game in the 19th minute.
Deep in the opponent's right side of the field, Hayashi takes advantage of the opponent's mistake to win the ball and holds it inside the penalty area.
Hayashi observed the opposing GK who had come out and passed the last ball to the center to Insoo YU, who then calmly slotted it into the open goal to take the lead.
After that, even with a water break, the flow remained unchanged as Tokyo dominated the game.
Rugby attempts to build up from the DF line and sends a vertical pass to the FW, but Okazaki and Ogawa do not give them any freedom with their intense pressure on the ball.
Furthermore, Nozawa, Sho SASAKI, and Tanabe quickly reacted to the second ball and continued to recover the ball.
The attack supported by such a stable defense launches a robust offensive.
In the 34th minute, Tanabe faced an opponent one-on-one on the left side, broke through vertically, and crossed to the near post.
Hayashi dives in here but is cleared once.
He picks up the loose ball again and this time sends a cross from the right side, launching a wave attack, but fails to score.
Then the momentum gradually shifts to Ryukyu.
In the 41st minute, when the ball was spread to the left side by Ryukyu, there was a momentary delay in the approach, allowing them to advance deep into the area.
The cross was headed at the far post but went outside the frame.
Furthermore, just before the end of the first half at the 45th minute, we allowed a breakthrough from the right side, and a cross was sent to the near post, but the DF cleared it.
During this period, second balls are also picked up, leading to a difficult situation, but the defense responds calmly and goes into halftime with a 1-0 lead.

【Halftime】
Coach Anma's Comments
"In the latter part of the first half, our build-up position was getting lower, so we need to play higher up the pitch. To do that, we must effectively exploit the opponent's flanks."
Let's be careful not to stretch out in defense. Instead of just defending the first goal, let's go for the second one.

【Second Half】
Ryukyu brings in Pablo to add intensity to their attack.
Tokyo entered the second half without making any substitutions, facing Ryukyu's kickoff.
Immediately after the start, although we were attacked from the right side, the defense repelled it, and the offense responded.
In the 50th minute, Tanabe broke through on the right side and dribbled diagonally into the penalty area.
A grounded cross is sent to the near post, but it just barely misses Insoo YU and the ball passes in front of the goal.
Two minutes later, Ogawa broke through on the left side and delivered a sharp cross to the near post, but Insoo YU's header in a difficult position was saved by the goalkeeper.
Picking up the loose ball, Mizunuma crosses from the right side to the near post where Hayashi takes a shot, but the Ryukyu defense puts their bodies on the line, resulting in a right corner kick.
Mizunuma connected this right corner kick to the far side, and when he crossed it back, Okazaki headed it to Insoo YU, who took a header shot but missed the goal.
"The players chose to go for a second goal instead of just defending the one-point lead during halftime," said Coach Anma after the match.
In the 55th minute, Mizunuma received the ball on the right side and attempted to break through diagonally, entering a kicking motion from about 45 degrees inside the penalty area.
The opposing GK thought this was a cross, and as they shifted their weight to the far side, we took advantage and struck the near post behind the opposing GK.
Tokyo, who scored the additional goal they wanted, intensified their offensive.
In the 60th minute, a free kick was awarded on the left side of the opponent's half, with Mizunuma and Ogawa as the kickers.
Mizunuma fakes and sends a big ball to the far side, where Nozawa dives in completely free and strikes a direct volley into the goal.
Tokyo had a three-point lead, but from here they faced Ryukyu's tenacious attack.
In the 74th minute, a low cross from the left side allowed a shot that was saved by the crossbar.
Just when we thought we could relax, in the 76th minute, we allowed a cross from the left side, and it was converted in the center, reducing the lead to two goals.
The flow completely shifted to Ryukyu, and they were pushed back, but with Mizunuma's strike, Tokyo scored an additional point.
In the 81st minute, Mizunuma has the ball on the right side of the midfield and passes it to Hiraoka, who has come on as a substitute and is making a run behind the defense in the center.
When Ryukyu stopped this with a foul, Mizunuma directly curled the free kick into the bottom left corner of the goal, making it 4-1.
Continuing to make substitutions, Tokyo, not wanting to easily give up the momentum, scored a goal in the 89th minute with a breakthrough utilizing Hiraoka's characteristic speed.
Hiraoka charges up the center on the counter.
If the opposing defender's response is slightly delayed against this dribble, Hiraoka breaks through the opponent with speed.
Bringing the ball in alone from about 40 meters, he shakes the far side net from a right diagonal angle of 45 degrees.
After that, the defense held firm during the 4 minutes of additional time, securing a victory with a score of 5-1.

Thank you very much for your passionate support for FC Tokyo U-23 today.
We appreciate your continued warm support.

【Summary of Coach Anma's Press Conference】
"I am very happy to have shown our victory and active play to the fans and supporters who came all the way to Okinawa in this heat and provided their usual passionate support."
In the last match, we really couldn't compete against them, but I am encouraged by the players' growth as they have become able to play the game properly.
We were able to dominate our opponents in every match like today, but the plays that decide the game, meaning scoring goals, did not go well, and we could not turn that into a victory.
I believe that not running away from there and actively taking on the challenge led to today's goal.
However, I want to continue training with the players every day to improve our quality so that this can be sustained not just in one match, but in future matches as well.

【Player Comments】
《Nozawa》
"(What are your thoughts on the match?) It was good to win with a large number of goals as a result, but conceding 1 goal was a shame, and I would like to reflect on that."
In the last few matches, even though the performance was good, the results were not following. In such a situation, I think it was very good that we were able to have a match that had both results and quality.
(How do you feel about your own performance?) I was very happy to score for the first time in the J-League. However, I was even happier that the team won.
There were still things I could do as an individual player, and in the end, I cramped up and caused trouble for the team, so I want to work hard in practice again and strive to play better.
(Were you aiming for the scoring scene?) In the pre-match meeting, my role was to not enter the goal area but to aim for loose balls. During the scoring moment, I wasn't marked, so I thought I could get free by going to the far side. I asked Insoo YU to run to the near side, and I was able to take a shot freely at the far side. I want to thank Insoo YU for that, and I was really happy to score a goal.
(Please share your enthusiasm for the next match) I definitely want to play in the J1, and to do that, I am giving my all here in practice. I want to continue working hard so that my efforts here can lead to opportunities with the top team.

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