On April 9th (Sunday), the 7th day of the France expedition, a total of 3 matches were held, including 2 matches in the ranking determination league and 1 ranking determination match.
The second match of the ranking determination league was against the prestigious Portuguese club FC Porto.
FC Porto's players not only have high individual skills, but their teamwork is also well organized, resulting in them having more possession of the ball. However, FC Tokyo did not fall behind in individual quality, creating several chances through counterattacks from good ball recoveries and dribbling breakthroughs from the sides, centered around Tessyo TAKAI. It was a tense game from start to finish, ending in a 0-0 draw with neither side conceding.

And the third match of the ranking decision league was against the selected team from the Sans region.
If we win this match by a margin of more than three points, we will advance to the upper tournament of the ranking decision league, so the players were highly motivated.
This match will see us having possession of the ball more often.
In the 3rd minute of the first half, Riku NAKASHIMA's through pass allowed Tessyo TAKAI to break free, and he calmly slotted the ball into the goal, making it 1-0.
The first half ended 1-0, and in the 5th minute of the second half, Takuto ISHIMURA scored with a volley from a corner kick rebound, making it 2-0.
Furthermore, in the 15th minute of the second half, Arata WATANABE's cross from the right side was headed in by Rento KAJIYAMA, making it 3-0.
We won 3-0 and were able to advance to the tournament that determines the 13th to 16th places.

The opponent in the Semifinal Round of the ranking determination tournament was Fulham FC from England.
Although the players were fatigued from a schedule of three matches over two consecutive days, we approached this expedition with the awareness to fight not only for this trip but also for our future growth.
From here, if the match ends in a draw, it will go directly to a penalty shootout.
Although there was fatigue and noticeable technical and coordination mistakes, the defense, led by goalkeeper Taishi SUZUKI and Shunpei KATO, maintained their concentration and defended the goal. The second half continued with back-and-forth attacks, but as we were preparing for a penalty shootout with only 30 seconds left in stoppage time, Rinka HASHIMOTO received the ball on the right side and crossed it to the far side, where Shuto JO was positioned. We achieved a dramatic victory with a 1-0 goal.
Of course, as a team, but the entire venue was excited by this dramatic development.
When we returned to the locker room, we celebrated together with everyone and our local supporter, Karl.

After that, we moved to the dining venue and while having dinner, a birthday song (French version) played in the venue, celebrating the birthdays of Louis ONONUJU, Hisato MATSUMOTO, and Shuntaro SANO, who have birthdays coming up. Other team players and staff also celebrated together, and the three of them looked very happy.
Mr. Oguri, who is attending this trip to France, has planned the cake and the venue decorations.

Tomorrow is finally the last day of the tournament.
We will face FC Porto today in a match to determine the 13th and 14th places.
We will do our best to conclude the last match of the expedition in a good way.