A crucial match to make a comeback

Sec. 14 of the league, Shimizu S-Pulse played away. Due to a two-week break, Konno was absent from the national team, but everyone reflected on the previous issues and focused on training. They dedicated a lot of time to improving the movement and side changes in the front line, as well as coordinated follow-ups in both offense and defense. At the same time, they refreshed themselves both mentally and physically, and are determined to make a comeback from here with renewed spirits.

　Shimizu, on the other hand, is currently in 5th place with 21 points. FW Cho Je-jin is out due to injury, but coach Hara is increasingly cautious, saying, "There are many players who can do their job at crucial moments." In particular, FW Fernandinho, who plays as a attacking midfielder, can be considered a key player. "If the ball is passed to Fernandinho, he can attract 2-3 opponents, and during that time, other players can make runs," says coach Hara. In addition, MF Fujimoto and DM Ito also make quick runs when given freedom, so it is important for Tokyo to coordinate the midfield and defense and not allow them to play freely in the front line.

　Tokyo has been hit by a series of injuries, with Ishikawa, Akamine, and Rychely all injured, and Kurisawa out of the squad due to poor physical condition. In the attacking line, Lucas will be the lone striker with Fukunishi playing as an attacking midfielder, Suzuki Nori and Kawaguchi as the left and right midfielders, and Inonami and Kajiyama forming a double pivot in midfield. Shimizu, in particular, boasts a strong defense with only 13 goals conceded in the league, so breaking them down will be the key. First, we want to exploit the space behind the opposing full-backs who come forward aggressively from the sides and break them down from the flanks. However, simply crossing the ball will be easily dealt with by their tall center-backs, so we also want to break them down by exploiting the space behind their defensive line and making use of the runs from Fukunishi and Kajiyama.

　Fukunishi said, "If I can keep the ball in the front line, it will create time for the midfielders to attack. I want to be conscious of that and also contribute to scoring goals myself. I have a good feeling about playing as an attacking midfielder based on my training so far, so I want to see how I can translate that into a victory in this match. It's an important match where we have many injured players and we can't say that we are fully prepared as a team, but it's a crucial game that we want to approach as one unit towards the soccer we aim for." The match started at 16:04 with a kickoff in Tokyo at Nihondaira Stadium, which was blessed with strong sunlight and clear weather.

Despite taking the lead by gaining control of the game, they were equalized in an instant and the first half ended.

　From the start of the match, Shimizu dominated with their physicality and controlled the ball, taking the initiative. In the 5th minute, the ball was played from the center by Fukunishi to the left. Suzuki Norio boldly entered the penalty area and took a shot, but it was blocked by the opponent's defender and resulted in a left corner kick. In the 9th minute, Inoha passed to the left side to Kanazawa, who received a cross pass from Lucas and took a shot, but it went over the crossbar. In the 11th minute, Imamura intercepted the opponent's ball and passed it to Fukunishi. Kawaguchi on the right side and Kajiyama took a surprising shot from outside the penalty area. However, it was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper.

　17 minutes, Shizuoka also counterattacks from the left side, with DF Kodama cutting through the side and crossing in front of the goal. In the area, FW Fernandinho → MF Ito, who ran in, takes a shot, but the ball cuts to the left. Even if the marking is a little loose, they bring it to the finish. However, Tokyo's advantage remains unchanged. In the 19th minute, Tokunaga dribbles up and crosses. Suzuki Nori tries to follow up on the loose ball, but misses the hit. Lucas from the right area reverses and takes a shot. Unable to meet the ball, it goes straight to the GK. In the 23rd minute, from a throw-in on the left side, through Lucas to the right, Kawaguchi → Tokunaga crosses. Suzuki Nori closes in and shakes the net with a header, but it's offside...

　Then, in the 26th minute, Inoha stole Shimizu's ball near the half-line and passed it to Julian, who was free on the left. Julian calmly swung his left foot and the powerful trajectory slipped through the goalkeeper's hands, piercing the net to take the lead. Tokyo's momentum did not stop there. In the 28th minute, the ball was cleared once from a right corner kick, but Kajiyama dribbled into the right area from the loose ball, evaded the defenders, and took a shot. It was a decisive moment, but the shot went wide to the left and no additional points were scored.

　As the game entered the final stage, Shimizu started to send long balls towards FW Yajima and began to dominate possession by picking up the loose balls. In the 34th minute, Shimizu FW Fernandinho took a shot from the left area just outside the box. Doi made the save, but the ball was picked up and a sharp cross was delivered, only for Imakawa to clear it. In the 36th minute, a pass reached FW Yajima inside the box, but Fujiyama closed him down and prevented him from taking a clean shot. Despite a concentrated defense, they managed to hold on until the 43rd minute when MF Hyodo momentarily found himself free and took a shot from outside the left area. The ball went beyond Doi's outstretched hand and found the top right corner of the net, resulting in a goal.

　It seemed like the first half would end with a good flow almost as planned, but we were caught off guard for a moment and ended the first half with a tie.

Suzuki's goal puts us ahead, Baba also scores to secure a 3-1 victory

　Shortly after the start of the second half, Shizuoka FW Fernandinho was brought down and awarded a free kick in the center. MF Fujimoto aimed directly for it, but missed to the left. Then, in the 46th minute, from that goal kick, although the ball was initially kept by the opponent, Fukunishi took it away and passed it to Suzuki Nori on the left. He dribbled up and shot from an angleless position inside the left area without hesitation, and the ball was sucked into the right side net. It became a go-ahead goal that regained momentum for the team, more than enough to erase the unpleasant flow of the first half.

　Shimizu immediately attacks mainly through set plays. In the 48th minute, FW Fernandinho's shot from the left free kick was saved by Doi with his left hand. In the 50th minute, from MF Fujimoto's kick from the right corner kick, DF Aoyama was left free in front of the goal and was shot with a header. It was a decisive moment, but it missed the target and the danger was avoided. In the 52nd minute, MF Fujimoto made a lobbed pass in front of the goal. It hit the Tokyo DF and spilled into the right area, where Shimizu FW Yajima ran in, but Kanazawa cut it off with a sliding tackle.

　Shimizu's attacking time continues, but they respond with a concentrated defense. On the contrary, they create chances on the counterattack after stealing the ball. In the 57th minute, Inoha attacks the right side and crosses, but it doesn't reach Fukunishi in the middle. In the 59th minute, Tokunaga on the right side passes to Imano on the outside, who crosses, but it is caught by the goalkeeper. In the 62nd minute, Kawaguchi receives a pass on the left side, enters deep into the area, sends a negative pass in front of the goal, and Lucas runs into it, but is blocked by the Shimizu defenders.

　Shimizu made a double substitution. FW Nishizawa (← Yajima) and Fernandez in the front line, FW Okazaki (← Fujimoto) in the attacking midfield, and MF Edamura on the left, attempting a counterattack, but the flow is still in favor of Tokyo. In the 68th minute, tired Kawaguchi was replaced by Baba and played as the right MF. Then, in the 72nd minute, Kajiyama chased after the opponent's ball and stole it, and from this attacking move, Baba became free in the center and shot a middle shot from outside the area, grazing the crossbar and bouncing off the goalkeeper into the goal. The lead is now 2 points.

　After that, they threatened the opponent's goal with a solid defense and counterattacks. In the 81st minute, Asari was substituted for Fukunishi and Kajiyama moved to the attacking midfield position. In the 84th minute, Asari connected from an intercept and Inonami advanced up the left side and crossed. Asari jumped in with a header from the front of the goal, but it didn't connect. Baba from the far side connected and won a corner kick from the last pass. In the 87th minute, Tokunaga intercepted and dribbled forward. He entered the right area and took a shot, but it went wide of the goal.

　In the final stages, Shimizu pushed DF Aoyama forward and kicked a long feed into the center, immediately replacing Kajiyama with Shigeki. They didn't allow him to play freely by man-marking him. In the closing moments, FW Nishizawa headed a free kick from the right corner but missed the target, and all hope was lost. They consistently dominated Shimizu by playing their own style of soccer. They adorned the important match of the league restart with a victory.

　【Player Comments】《Noriyuki SUZUKI》"For me, it was a match I could enjoy. I'm happy to have scored, but I think it would be even better if this match allows the team to gain momentum. I happened to score today, but I was always conscious of shooting. I think I was able to find my rhythm by actively shooting with my right foot. The first goal was from a familiar angle. The second goal came from a good pass. In the first half, I had a similar opportunity, and at that time, I chose to cross. Lucas and Fuku-san were closing in, but it went between the GK and DF. Then I heard shouting from the bench (laughs). At halftime, I was told, 'Shoot from there,' and I switched my mindset. So, although the angle wasn't great, I just went for it. But the happiest moment was when the headed shot that was offside went in (laughs). I had never scored in official matches or even in practice games since I was little. This season, I played mostly as a fullback, but I was able to prepare well in two weeks. It was hot, but I pushed hard from the first half, and I was able to play the kind of football I couldn't in the Nagoya match—going to win the ball from the front. Nihondaira is a stadium where we broke our losing streak two years ago. I want to connect this to a winning streak from here." 《Baba》"Since it was my first appearance in a while, I tried to play boldly. I thought the shot might have gone in directly because it was wobbling... I wasn't consciously trying to do a knuckleball; I just kicked it with all my might."

　[Summary of Coach Hara's Press Conference] "There was a break, but I think it was somewhat lucky that Kajiwara and Inoha were not called up for the Olympic representative match against Malaysia. This season, from the beginning, including the full national team player Konno, the Olympic representatives have been going back and forth between the national team and the club, but during these two weeks, we were able to train together, which allowed us to make various adjustments. Everyone moved and ran together, and we confirmed various things. Rather, I think Shimizu had players like Edamura, Okazaki, and Sugiyama called up for the Malaysia match, and they fought in the recent match, while full national team players like Fujimoto and Aoyama were also called up, making it difficult for them to train together and adjust their conditions. I think that difference showed in today's match. In the first half, we were able to fight almost as planned, and within that, Norio Suzuki scored the opening goal. However, even though we had not been threatened much, we were equalized by Hyodo's wonderful goal. It felt a bit unpleasant to be caught up after having such a good shape. Looking at the data, Shimizu is a team that scores a lot and concedes few goals in the first half, while conversely, we are a team that has only scored 2 goals in the first half so far, so we aimed to score from the beginning. Also, since we score more in the second half, we aimed to start again from the beginning, and Suzuki's goal at the start was significant. With Baba, who came on as a substitute, scoring, it felt like the team gained momentum. However, if we do not continue this, it will be meaningless, so I want to train for another week and prepare for the next match."　

　[Summary of the press conference with Shimizu's coach Hasegawa] "It is very regrettable that we could not secure a victory despite having many supporters come to our home after the break, resulting in a disappointing outcome. Overall, there were few chances to win today's game. After conceding the first goal, we managed to equalize in the first half, but right when we thought we could build momentum, we conceded another goal at the start of the second half. I knew that FC Tokyo scores many goals during that time, so we focused on being concentrated in the second half, but we were caught off guard for just a moment. It felt like we were thrown off our rhythm. We then conceded a third goal from a long-range shot without being able to regain our rhythm. I think we need to reflect on the fact that we have been conceding goals from mid-range in the last few matches. Today, we couldn't create good plays in the midfield, and although we knew FC Tokyo would send in long balls, we couldn't deal with them effectively. The inability to navigate the opponent's pressure while distributing the ball well between the front line and midfield was the reason for today's defeat. Since we have more home games coming up, there's no point in feeling down about this. I want to switch my mindset and prepare positively for the next game."