Don't forget the challenger spirit in the away game at Fukuda.A

The Emperor's Cup 3rd round will be held. JEF United Chiba will play against FC Tokyo at Fukuda Denshi Arena. In the previous league match against Kashima, they suffered a defeat and their winning streak was broken. However, the players, while acknowledging their complete defeat, said, "It's not over yet. What's important is how we recover from here and not to have consecutive losses," and vowed to move forward with each game.

In this Emperor's Cup 3rd round, MoriShige and Gonda are absent due to the activities of the Japan national team. Therefore, GK Shioda, center back Kaga and Maruyama. Yonemoto and Hasegawa serve as defensive midfielders, with Mita and Lucas on the wings, and Higashino as the attacking midfielder. On the bench, HiroNaga, Kono, Hayashi, and other fresh players are listed, and Hiramatsu also made a comeback to the team for the first time in about 3 and a half years since April 2010.

Chiba, on the other hand, had a big win against Kamatamare Sanuki (JFL) in the 2nd round of the Emperor's Cup and advanced to the 3rd round. In the J2 League, they are currently in 6th place, and today they will be without FW Kempes, who has scored 18 goals in the J2 League and is suspended, which can be a major setback. However, FW Morimoto, who joined the team in the middle of the season, is gradually improving his condition, and their individual abilities and team strength need to be highly cautious.

Coach Popovich also said, "We should not think that the opponent is from J2. It is important to approach the game with the same mindset as when playing in J1. However, the motivation for the opponent to play against J1 should be quite high. We need to show a stronger determination than them if we want to win."

A match in which Tokyo faces with a challenger spirit. Based on what we have built up so far, we want to push Chiba away with a patient and persistent fight. Under a good weather that doesn't make you feel the cold even when the sun sets, the match started with Chiba's kickoff at 19:04.

Lucas takes the lead with a penalty kick, advancing in an intense development

Both teams showed great determination and fought fiercely from the beginning. They battled for the ball after tough defending. In the 7th minute, Kaga intercepted the ball in their own half and carried it forward, changing the play to the left. From there, Higashi advanced with a ground pass to the center. Watanabe skillfully evaded the opponent's defender and took a shot from the area, hitting the ball into the top right corner of the goal. In the 9th minute, Chiba played a long ball and forward Morimoto made a run. His shot, intended to bypass the goalkeeper, was saved by Shioda from close range with all his might!

In the 13th minute, Lucas on the right side attracted the opponent's defender with an exchange of passes with Watanabe in the center, and passed to Mita on the left side. Mita took a first touch and took a decisive shot from the left area, but was blocked by Chiba's defender who had entered the goal line. Both teams pressed from the front and connected to quick attacks, but as time passed, Tokyo gradually gained control of the ball. On the other hand, Chiba collected the ball and created chances by utilizing the movement of forward Mori Moto. Both teams showcased their strengths, and there was intense back and forth between offense and defense, resulting in a heated and exciting match.

At the 40th minute, they pressed on the right side of their own field and stole the ball, passing it to Hasegawa in the center from Yonehara. Hasegawa sent a floating ball to the front line directly, and Lucas broke through into the area. Lucas was fouled and brought down by the Chiba defender behind him, earning a penalty kick. In the 41st minute, Lucas calmly converted the penalty kick to take the lead! They scored the opening goal just before the end of the first half and went into the second half with a one-goal lead.

Conceded a goal just before the end of the second half... However, Shioda made a penalty kick save, leading to a united victory

In the second half, in the 50th minute, Hasegawa in the midfield sent a long side change to Lucas on the left front line, and Lucas→from the inside, East jumped out in front of the goal and took a shot... but it narrowly missed the target. After that, without compromising the defensive balance, they aggressively tried to steal the ball, mainly through Yonemoto, and tried to score an additional goal on the counterattack. However, in the end, Chiba, who was preparing to counterattack, held onto the ball for a long time.

Therefore, in the 61st minute, Mita was replaced by Takahashi as a defensive midfielder. Hasegawa moved to the attacking midfield position, and Higashi shifted to the right midfielder position, trying to attack while maintaining a strong defense. On the other hand, Chiba also made player substitutions and found their rhythm by using quick passing and the mobility of their forward line. However, they did not create any clear chances, and afterwards, Higashi and Lucas both missed the target with their shots, unable to score a second goal. In the 88th minute, Lucas on the left side passed the ball to Ota, who was making a run on the outside. Ota crossed the ball along the ground, and Hasegawa near the goal attempted a direct shot, but the goalkeeper made a save. Hasegawa then took another shot from the rebound, but it hit the left post and was blocked.

Unable to take advantage of the opportunity and counterattacked, in the 90th minute, a long ball from the left midfield of Chiba was sent to the right front line. DF Yonekura, who had advanced to attack, was able to perfectly connect with the ball and take a shot, but it was saved by Shioda with one hand and Maruyama escaped with a throw-in. However, from this Chiba's throw-in, a direct pass was connected and a vertical pass was made to MF Machida, who had moved up in front of the goal. He dropped it with his heel and FW Fukai, who had run in from the left, scored. The game was tied at the end and entered into extra time.

In the extra time, both teams attacked each other but lacked the finishing touch, resulting in a scoreless draw. The score remained 1-1, leading to a penalty shootout. Shiota, who confidently said, "I will stop it, so everyone can kick with confidence," played a crucial role. Tokyo calmly converted their penalties through Lucas, Ota, Hirayama, Hasegawa, and Yonemoto. On the other hand, Kono and Takahashi failed to score for Chiba, while Shiota made crucial saves against Chiba's penalties from defender Takeuchi, midfielder Tanihara, and midfielder Takahashi! Finally, Tokunaga scored a powerful penalty, surpassing Chiba with a score of 6-5. The team came together and achieved victory, advancing to the fourth round.

[Player Comments]
"Shiota"
"We conceded a goal, but even before the start of extra time and penalty shootouts, I said, 'In this situation, it's important to have the right mindset. Let's express our determination to win and fight.' Regarding the penalty save, I had the data and knew the opponent's basic shooting style, but Coach Yamagishi told me, 'Jump towards the side you have confidence in,' and I trusted my instincts. I could hear the support from the opposite side clearly, and everyone maintained a strong focus until the end. After we made the save, it's natural to feel shaken if the opponent makes a save, but everyone stayed focused. In a tournament, regardless of the circumstances, the most important thing is that we won. I want to carry this victory over to the next league match and the Emperor's Cup without fail."

"Lucas"
"(Was it a goal right after the birth of your third child?) I couldn't score a goal when my previous two children were born, so this goal will be a very good memory. Ishikawa and Trainer Kurihara also recently had children, so we performed a cradle celebration to represent the joy of the three of us. (You were the first to go and greet the player who missed the penalty kick?) The player who missed the penalty kick must be the most sad and down. Still, I also had the feeling that I didn't want that feeling to be transmitted to everyone else, so I went to encourage him. Today, I am most happy about the team's victory. Because we can share the joy together. From here, I want to win all the remaining 6 league matches. I want to improve our position."
 

【Coach Ranko Popovic's Press Conference Summary】
"Thank you very much for staying until late. It should have been an exciting match until the end. I'm glad that we were able to achieve a good result, but that's why my hair is so thick... (laughs). It was a very good game in terms of the match. We were able to do what we needed to do and endure. I think we only allowed Chiba to create two decisive chances, one where they scored a goal and one where we cleared the ball just before it crossed the goal line. On the other hand, we had several chances to decide the game. We had to make sure to convert them. Today, we fought against Chiba and once again confirmed that they are a team with J1 quality. I think we had a good game where both teams gave their all and it was good for Japanese football. The players fought really well."

[Chiba・Coach Suzuki's Press Conference Summary]
"I think we played a good game, but it's very disappointing that we couldn't win. We tried to put pressure on the opponents from the beginning and aim to quickly attack by stealing the ball, and I think we were able to do that to some extent. However, I felt that the precision in front of the goal, the distance to bring the ball to the goal with one pass, and the speed of J1 teams are different. In the scene of the penalty kick, they were able to bring the ball to a decisive area with one pass. In the second half, we moved the ball and created chances to some extent, but we couldn't get close to the opponent's goal easily. It is a fact that we had the ball but couldn't create decisive chances. It can be evaluated that we managed to score near the end and took it to extra time. However, in the end, it went to a penalty shootout, and I think Tokyo had more decisive chances. Nevertheless, we couldn't produce results, but we fought well. We have to connect this game to the next one. That's the most important thing. We want to do our best to have another good game in the next match."