Day 6 of the expedition.
Finally, starting today, the 'Gothia Cup' begins.
FC Tokyo will participate in the "U–17 Elite" category.
A group league with 4 teams will compete in 3 matches, followed by a ranking tournament based on the results.
(The match time for the group stage is 60 minutes, with two halves of 30 minutes each)
The opponent in the first match of the Tokyo group stage is the local Swedish League Division 1 team Djurgardens IF U–17.
At the start, perhaps due to nerves, the overall movement was sluggish and it was difficult to find a rhythm.
Even so, after 10 minutes, we gradually start to move the ball in the opponent's half.
In the 15th minute, GK Nozawa's goal kick saw Ueda break through while competing with the opposing defender. The opposing GK rushed out and collided, but Ueda quickly reacted to the loose ball and pushed it into the goal, successfully scoring the opening goal!
In the 22nd minute, starting from Numata's sharp ball recovery in the center of the pitch, Yasuda and Umehara combined to break through the opponent's central defense, and Umehara scored!
Halftime with a score of 2–0.
Maintain concentration even in the second half and do not allow the opponent's counterattack.
In the 50th minute, Tachikawa picked up a loose ball from a free kick and took a powerful shot, but it was deflected by the opposing GK, unfortunately missing the chance for an additional goal.
After that, the game progressed with repeated player substitutions, and in the end, all members of the expedition, including GK Kamoshita from the U-15 team, were on the pitch when the match ended. (Free substitution system according to tournament regulations)
We won the important first match with everyone's strength.
Tomorrow's opponent is the strong Spanish team, Deportivo Alaves.
We will do our best to advance to the upper tournament.
Participate in the opening ceremony of this tournament in the evening.
At Nya Ullevi, the largest stadium in Gothenburg, players and staff from 79 countries and 1,736 teams gathered for this tournament.
The players wholeheartedly enjoyed the grand and splendid ceremony.
