Welcoming the start of the Emperor's Cup as the first match after the break

The Emperor's Cup for this season has begun. The J Team will face Blaublitz Akita, the representative of Akita Prefecture, in the second round. It is the first match after the break, marking the start of this tournament. Coach Massimo said, "The first match of a cup competition is always difficult. We need to regain the feeling of official matches after the break, but we will give our all and focus on winning by showing what we have been working on. We want to present good results to the fans and supporters who always create a wonderful environment." He also mentioned that they will give their best in each match and gradually advance towards the final.

Akita, who will face us, has a traditional TDK soccer club as its predecessor. They have gone through the Tohoku Amateur League and the Japan Soccer League, and have been in the JFL since 2007. They joined J3 from this season and are currently in 10th place out of 12 teams. In the first round held on July 6th (Sunday), they won a great victory of 7-1 against Saitama SC, the representative of Saitama Prefecture, and advanced to the second round. Akita, who will come with the momentum and challenger spirit, must not be passive. However, it is also the first match of the Emperor's Cup, which is held in a unique atmosphere. It is an important match where we need to calmly and persistently seize victory and carry it over to the league matches.

Mori Shige, who returned from the Japan national team, and Gonda also started, with Edu and Muto as the top two. Kono is in the attacking midfield position. Takahashi is the anchor, and the midfield is composed of Yonemoto and Mita. The match started at 18:00 with a kickoff in Tokyo at Ajinomoto Stadium, where the weather is reminiscent of midsummer.

Starting with Mita's opening goal, Kono, Morishige, and Edu follow! 

Immediately after the start, Edu aggressively pressed the opponent's defender and stole the ball, showing an aggressive attitude in defense and trying to grasp the rhythm. In the 11th minute, Tokunaga stole the ball in his own half, and Yonemoto passed it to Muto on the right front line. From here, Kono passed the ball through to Mita on the left from Edu in the center. Mita took the ball forward in the left area and struck it with his left foot from an angleless position. The powerful shot pierced the net, and they took the lead with a speedy attack!
 

After that, Akita held onto the ball and calmly responded even when passed around. They quickly switched to the attack after stealing the ball. In the 22nd minute, Takahashi stole the opponent's defender's clearance from Yonemoto's pass and boldly aimed for a middle shot while carrying it out to the right. The controlled shot hit the left post. Kono reacted faster than the opponent's defender to the rebound and pushed it into the goal.
 

Although they took a 2-point lead, Akita counterattacked from the development of midfielder Kumabayashi. In response, Tokyo changed their formation to a 4-4-2 with a double pivot of Takahashi and Yonemoto, and positioned Mita and Yonemoto on both sides to match up. In the 25th minute, Edu was fouled and awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area. Ota's powerful shot hit the right post. However, Takahashi tenaciously connected the ball that spilled to the left, and Morishige took a ground shot from a distance on the left side. The ball slipped through the players and went into the bottom right corner, GOAL!!
 

In the 29th minute, Mori Shige, who entered the area from a corner kick, was fouled and awarded a penalty kick. Edu calmly placed it in the bottom left corner, extending the lead. There were also periods in the latter part of the first half where Akita attacked, but they were able to withstand it without losing focus, thanks to Kanda, and maintained a four-goal lead going into the second half.

After the second half, we scored 4 goals and won with the most goals in the team!

In the second half, they added another goal at the start. In the 47th minute, Mita was fouled near the right area and won a free kick. Ota's shot towards the far post was sucked into the top left corner, GOAL!! They continued to control the game in Akita's half. In the 58th minute, they launched a quick counterattack after Yonemoto's ball recovery, with Edu advancing through the center. He took the ball to the right area, evading Akita's defenders, and scored a goal with his right foot.

Substitute HIRAYAMA for Edu, who scored two goals today, in the 60th minute. In the immediate 62nd minute, Tokunaga's cross reached HIRAYAMA in the center. Although it initially passed to the opponent's defender in the midst of a scramble, HIRAYAMA tenaciously utilized his ball control skills and calmly scored the 7th goal into the net.
 

In the 63rd minute, Haneda replaced Kono, and in the 68th minute, Watanabe replaced Muto. They attacked without letting up. In the 70th minute, Hirayama and Watanabe took consecutive decisive shots, but they couldn't take advantage of the chance as they were blocked by Akita's goalkeeper's save. After that, there were also scenes where Akita attacked from the side in an attempt to retaliate. However, in the 84th minute, Hirayama pressed the opponent's defender, and Watanabe marked a long-awaited goal with a powerful dribble.

Akita held off the counterattack and scored 8 goals from aggressive and fast-paced attacks. They recorded the team's highest score, surpassing the 7-0 victory against Bandione Kobe in the 4th round of the Emperor's Cup in 2006, and won the first match.

【Player Comments】

《Mita》
"I wanted to score as well, but first I was conscious of the speed of switching between offense and defense, and I was also thinking of doing my best in defense. By being able to take the lead early in the game, I think I was able to relax and have more room to play the game. This is also a restart for me. I want to do my best to continue winning in the league matches."
 

"Edu"
"Any cup competition is difficult. Especially when playing against lower category teams, it becomes even more challenging. The most important thing is to play in our own rhythm from the beginning. And if we can score an early goal, we believe we can also get additional goals. It's good that the result turned out just as we expected. Scoring a goal makes us happy and gives us confidence. We want to continue like this."
 

[Summary of Massimo FICCADENTI's press conference]
"Although it may seem like an easy game just by looking at the result, every game has its own difficulties. As some other J1 teams have already been eliminated, there should have been difficulties after the break. However, the players entered the game in a good shape, took the lead, and scored the second and third goals, making it easier to manage and continued to score. I think it is positive that we fought with continuity until the end. Also, the return of Morishige and Kanda was a big factor for the team. They were not only important in terms of technique and tactics, but also provided a sense of security to the team. Our team has many young players and players who had few chances last season playing in the games. We are patiently and steadily building the team at this stage. I am confident that if the fans and supporters can watch patiently, we will definitely achieve stable results."

[Summary of Coach Yutaka AKITA's Press Conference]
"It feels like it wasn't bad, but Tokyo took control and scored multiple goals. In the second half, I could see the players trying their best to score goals. However, we were defeated by 8 points, and I think it was a complete loss. We didn't start the game well, but we need to make an effort to bring our individual plays closer to those of J1 teams. I felt that we need to raise the level of our play. In the midst of a tough battle in the league, I wanted this Emperor's Cup match to be a confidence booster. However, many players were looking down after the game, and it becomes a challenge to regroup for the league matches."