Overcoming the absence of national team members, the team will face the restart of the Nabisco Cup with unity

　The Nabisco Cup resumes, and between now and June 9th, four qualifying league matches will be held. In the third match on the 22nd (Saturday), we will play against Albirex Niigata at home in Komazawa. The Nabisco Cup is a tournament that tests the overall strength of the team, even though Japan representatives Nagatomo and Konno will be absent due to the qualifying league. We want to gather the strength of everyone, ride the momentum gained from the previous league match against Shimizu, and accumulate points. Regarding this match, Tokunaga and Ishikawa, who are registered members of the World Cup, cannot participate due to FIFA rules. Kim Young Gwon is suspended for accumulating warnings in this tournament. In addition, Hirade has left the team due to the activities of the U-19 Japan representative, and even without injured players Yonemoto and Hiramatsu, we will face this match with six players missing. Therefore, in this match, Morishige and Takahashi will form the center-back, Mukuhara will be the right full-back, Nakamura will be the left full-back, Kajiyama and Hanyu will be the double defensive midfielders, Suzuki and Matsushita will be the wingers. Abe and Kono also made their first appearance on the bench. On the other hand, Niigata is currently in second place in Group A with the same 4 points as Tokyo. This season, they welcomed new coach Hisashi Kurosaki, and although they couldn't achieve victory in the early stages of the season, they are currently in a great condition with 4 consecutive wins in the league and unbeaten in the last 6 matches. Coach Jofuku also said, "In the early stages of the season, Niigata didn't have the impression that the game content and results were in line. They are still quite formidable in terms of solid defense and how they add accents to their attacks. We will be in trouble if we let Niigata show their characteristics," and he is becoming more cautious. In this match, FW Yano, who is a member of the Japan national team, and DF Sakai, who was selected as a support member, will be absent. However, the attack led by FW Oshima, with FW Michel and MF Marcio Richardes and MF Cao making moves, has high quality in both movement and finishing. In response to this, Tokyo wants to counter by prolonging the time of ball possession. Tokyo is currently in first place in Group A after two matches. We want to maintain our aggressiveness, focus on winning each match, and fight until the end. The match started exactly at 2:00 PM at Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium, with Niigata kicking off under cloudy skies and a high temperature of 27.4 degrees Celsius.

Enter the game calmly and establish a rhythm from solid defense

　They calmly fought from the beginning and gradually found their rhythm after a solid defense. In the 2nd minute, Niigata aimed for the back of Tokyo's defense with a long ball, which Takahashi calmly headed back to Gonda. Then, Mokuhara held off the attack from the left side, utilizing his strength and turning it into a counterattack. In the 8th minute, Takahashi accurately fed the ball to Hirayama in the front line, and Hirayama dropped it to Suzuki, exchanging a vertical pass, and Suzuki aimed for the goal without hesitation. In the 9th minute, from Niigata's speedy attack, MF Marcio Richardes unleashed a powerful shot, but Gonda saved it. In the 14th minute, they faced a decisive moment. Mori, Takahashi, and Hanyu passed the ball multiple times from the defense line, and Suzuki, who positioned himself on the left side, sent a long pass into the left area. Kajiyama jumped out and made a minus pass from the sideline to the front of the goal. Nakamura ran in and took a shot, but it went over the bar. In the 18th minute, they lost the ball to Niigata after a loose pass in the front line, and immediately turned it into an attack. FW Oshima took a sharp shot, but Gonda touched it and it went out for a corner kick. Although Niigata had a few shots from counterattacks, Gonda made saves and Mokuhara, Nakamura, as well as Mori and Takahashi, covered their respective areas, not allowing any clear chances. In the 29th minute, Kajiyama made a through pass into the area. From the left, Shigematsu jumped out, trying to create a great chance, but his trap was slightly off. In the 31st minute, from a combination play between Hanyu and Matsushita, Hanyu took a shot from near the left goal area, but there was no space and the goalkeeper blocked it. In the 36th minute, Matsushita connected a short pass from a right corner kick, and Mokuhara crossed the ball for Mori to head, but he couldn't finish it, and the first half ended with a 0-0 score.

Daichi marked a dramatic goal at the end and secured valuable 3 points

　Due to the influence of the pitch condition, there were moments where ball control was lacking and mistakes were made, but in the second half, they almost took control of the game by incorporating long plays and short passes according to the situation. In the 46th minute, Matsushita on the left passed to Kajiwara in the center, and Hayu, who flowed to the right front line, sent in a cross. Mukuhara, who made a run inside, stretched out his foot, but the shot went straight to the goalkeeper. In the 51st minute, Takahashi sent a long pass into the space in the front line, which Suzuki chased down, dribbling into the area. However, in the end, he was slid into by a Niigata DF, and the shot went well wide of the target. In the 59th minute, Ricardinho was brought on to replace Shigematsu. Just after that, in the 62nd minute, Hirayama dropped Mukuhara's right cross at his feet in the center of the area, and Kajiwara, who surged up from behind, took a shot. In the 65th minute, they created a play on the right side, and Kajiwara was involved in the return to the center, where Hayu, who followed from just outside the area, took a decisive shot, but none of them found the net. In the 67th minute, Otake was brought on to replace Nakamura, and Matsushita switched to play as the left side back. After that, Otake became a good accent, and they approached the Niigata goal with a more substantial attack. In the 76th minute, Otake surged into the area from the left side. Receiving a return from Hirayama in the center, he brought the ball close, but it was cut off by a DF, leading to a counterattack. A long ball was sent from Niigata DF Chiba to FW Wagner, who broke free in front of the goal, but Morishige defended well with his body. Niigata attacked mainly through set plays, but the DF line remained focused and responded well. They held on well and did not allow a single shot in the second half. However, time passed without a score, and it seemed like it would end in a draw. The 3 minutes of stoppage time was nearing its end, but when Niigata's corner kick went out of play and turned into a goal kick for Tokyo, they quickly moved the ball forward and earned a left throw-in. Otake, receiving Hayu's throw, decisively attempted to break into the left area, cutting back past the opposing DF and shooting through his legs with his favored left foot. The ball, aimed precisely at the course, pierced the net on the opposite side, securing a dramatic goal! Not giving up until the end, their bold approach towards the goal paid off, and they earned a valuable 3 points at home in Komazawa, pulling away from Niigata just before the end. 【Player Comments】《Otake》"I was given the chance to come on as a substitute and stood on the pitch with the thought of 'I will produce results in this short time!' The coach told me to 'keep receiving the ball,' so I tried to touch it a lot and create the team's rhythm. For the goal, I first thought about getting into the area. At first, I tried to bring it to the line, but the opposing DF was holding the line, so I thought the inside was open and cut back. I saw the shooting lane, so I aimed only for that. When I'm in good form, the lanes are clear. I want to continue to produce goals and results that lead to victories in this way." 《Takahashi》"As for my impressions of my first appearance, I felt that I could never let my guard down. If I relax for even a moment, I lose the ball or disrupt the line control. In that sense, I fought without losing focus, and in the second half, I was able to calm down a bit and think I was able to show some of my strengths. I felt that I was able to do a bit in terms of build-up and feeding the front line, but I also felt there were issues. When the opponent's pressure was intense, I panicked, and without support from around me, I couldn't move the ball forward. I also felt that I lost a bit in the one-on-one situation against Niigata FW Oshima. I couldn't defend by using my body to hold him without using my hands. I want to take those issues back to practice and work hard to grow. The experience I gained from this one match is very significant for me." 【Coach Jofuku's Press Conference Summary】"As the world is becoming increasingly focused on the World Cup, I believe the fans who came to the stadium today are very important. Coming into this match, we were missing four players from the Japan national team and Kim Yong-gun due to accumulated warnings, and it must have seemed like a very difficult situation from the outside. However, there were many players who spent time together on the pitch in Kodaira and had strong feelings about today. I believed that the efforts they made daily in Kodaira, watching their team at Ajinomoto, and watching away games on TV would be conveyed, and that their feelings would work positively, more than the absence of national team players. After interacting with the fans who passionately supported us in today's Nabisco Cup and the media who came, my belief that the most important thing is the club has grown stronger. I want to further develop this club, and I am glad that we were able to end today in a way that we could share joy. (About the match content) Niigata works hard as a team, making it difficult to find gaps. The key is how patiently we can move the ball and make the opponent run. Only then do gaps start to open up. However, moving the ball also carries the risk of being dispossessed and facing a counterattack. With the changes in the lineup, I wondered how much we could do that. There were many moments where it didn't go well, but in the last 15-20 minutes, we pushed forward. That was a result of today's members taking risks to move the ball. I believe that Niigata's legs stopped because we took risks and moved the ball from the first half. It was very good that we were able to finish the match with a sense of achievement with today's members. However, of course, there are many points for reflection. The way we ended today clearly reflected our current issues. It would be good to hold the ball and score early, but if we don't, it becomes the usual scene. We still have much to learn about the accuracy and judgment of the final cross and the stage just before the shot. Today, Yohei Otake scored with a thought and play that we as coaches cannot teach, but I think the match development reflected the challenges of this team." 【Niigata Coach Kurosaki's Press Conference Summary】"Although we were missing national team players, we tried to play in a similar way as usual. Our style of play is similar to FC Tokyo's, but even though we can pass the ball around, we are in a state where we cannot connect it to goals. We couldn't create good shapes at the end. We were able to create a shape where we could score from set plays, but unfortunately, it did not lead to a goal, resulting in this outcome. I also felt some questions about the length of stoppage time, but we must reflect on being scored against where we should have remained focused until the end."