Day 7 of the France Expedition
On the final day of the tournament, today is the ranking match for 11th place against Stade Reims.
Before the match, Coach Miyazawa commented, "Today is the culmination of the France expedition. Let's finish with a good match and achieve a good result."
Despite pushing the opponent from the first half, we couldn't score and ended the first half at 0-0. During halftime, Coach Miyazawa encouraged the players by saying, "We can fight more," before sending them out for the second half.
With that support, they continued to push forward in the second half, and in the 23rd minute, Nakata scored the opening goal directly from a free kick taken from the center.
They created chances to attack for additional goals, but were unable to convert, and then conceded two goals from the opponent's counterattacks.
In the end, it was a 1-2 defeat, and the result of this tournament was 12th place.
After the match, Coach Miyazawa commented, "Let's not forget this experience we felt on our skin and work hard to grow even more after returning to Japan."
The team was awarded the Fair Play Award and recognized in this tournament.
After that, I watched the Final Round between Toulouse and Rennes.
Both teams have high-level players and are good teams, making for an exciting match.
Both teams launched good attacks, but defended fiercely until the end, resulting in a 0-0 draw that went to a penalty shootout. As a result, Toulouse claimed their first championship.
After that, I gave a thank-you gift to Matthew, the local staff who took care of us throughout the tournament, and said my farewell.
I received various support, and during the matches, you fought alongside us as a member of the team, so there was a sadness in parting, and it was an emotional scene.
We participated in this tournament aiming for victory, but unfortunately finished in 12th place.
It was a disappointing result, but I would like to connect the experiences gained from this tournament to future activities.
Tomorrow is the final day of the expedition, and we will be doing sightseeing in the city of Paris.
Although it is different from soccer, I would like to be inspired by experiencing the history and culture of foreign countries, leading to personal growth.
