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

The 3rd round of the Emperor's Cup will be held. JEF United Chiba will face off against Fukushima United FC 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 defeat, lifted their heads once again and vowed to move forward one game at a time, saying "It's not over yet. What's important is how we recover from this and not losing consecutive games."

In this 3rd round of the Emperor's Cup, MoriShige and Gonda are absent due to the simultaneous activities of the Japan national team. As a result, GK Shioda, center back Kaga and Maruyama. Yonemoto and Lucas serve as defensive midfielders, with Mita and Lucas on the wings and Higashino in the attacking midfield position. On the bench are fresh players such as Hiroe, Kono, and Hayashi, and Hiramatsu has also made a comeback to the team after about 3 and a half years since April 2010.

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

Manager Ranko POPOVIC also said, "We must not think that the opponent is from J2. It is important to approach the game with the same mentality as we do in J1. However, for the opponent, their motivation will be very high when facing a J1 team. We must show a stronger determination than them in order to achieve victory."

A match in which Tokyo will face with a challenging spirit. Based on what we have built up so far, we want to push Chiba away with a persistent fight without rushing. Even as the sun sets, the game started at 19:04 with Chiba's kickoff under a good weather that doesn't make you feel too cold.

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

Both teams showed intense fighting spirit from the start. They battled fiercely, with tough defense and back-and-forth attacks. In the 7th minute, Kaga intercepted the ball in their own half and carried it up the left side. From there, Higashi advanced and passed it to the center. Watanabe skillfully evaded the opposing defender and took a shot from the area, hitting the top right corner of the goal. In the 9th minute, Chiba's long ball was met by FW Morimoto, who made a run towards the front line. His shot, aimed at getting past the goalkeeper, was saved by the determined Shioda from close range!

At 13 minutes, Lucas on the right side exchanged passes with Nakawaki in the center, attracting the opposing DF and passing to Mita on the left. Mita took a first touch and shot decisively from the left area, but was blocked by Chiba DF who just made it to the goal line. Both teams pressed from the front and connected with quick attacks, but as time passed, Tokyo gradually took control of the ball. On the other hand, Chiba collected the ball and created chances by utilizing the movements of FW Morimoto. Both teams showed their strengths and the intense exchange between offense and defense continued, resulting in a heated match.

At the 40th minute, they pressed and took the ball on the right side of their own field, and passed it to Hasegawa in the center from Yonemoto. Hasegawa sent a high ball to the front line with a direct pass, and Lucas broke through into the area. Lucas was fouled and taken down by the Chiba DF behind him, earning a penalty kick. In the 41st minute, Lucas calmly scored the penalty kick to take the lead! They scored the first goal just before the end of the first half, leading by one point going into the second half.

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

In the second half, in the 50th minute, midfielder Hasegawa sent a long side change to forward Lucas on the left side, and Lucas → from the inside, East jumped out in front of the goal and took a shot... just barely missing the frame. After that, they maintained their defensive balance and aggressively tried to steal the ball, with Yonemoto at the center, and attempted to score another goal on the counter. However, in the end, Chiba, who was trying to counterattack, held onto the ball for a longer period of time.

Therefore, in the 61st minute, Mita was replaced by Takahashi as a defensive midfielder. Hasegawa moved to the attacking midfielder position, and Higashi moved 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 front line. However, they were unable to create any clear chances, and then Higashi and Lucas both missed the target with their shots, and they were unable to score a second goal. In the 88th minute, Lucas on the left side passed to Ota on the outside. Ota sent a low cross, and Hasegawa in the near post took a direct shot, but the goalkeeper made a save. Hasegawa then took another shot from the rebound, but it hit the left post.

Unable to take advantage of the chance and receiving a counterattack, in the 90th minute, a long ball was sent from the left midfield to the right front line by Chiba. The ball was perfectly passed to DF Yonekura who had advanced forward, and a shot was taken, but it was saved by Shioda with one hand and Maruyama escaped with a throw-in. However, from this throw-in by Chiba, a direct pass was connected and a vertical pass was made to MF Machida who had moved up to the goal. He dropped it with his heel and FW Fukai, who had run in from the left, scored. The game was tied in the final minutes, and it went into extra time.

In extra time, both teams attacked each other but lacked the finishing touch, resulting in a scoreless draw. The score remained 1-1 and went into a penalty shootout. Shioda, who confidently said "I'll stop it, so everyone can kick with confidence," played a crucial role. Tokyo's Lucas, Ota, Hirayama, Hasegawa, and Yonemoto all calmly scored their penalties. On the other hand, Kono and Takahashi were unable to convert for Chiba, while Shioda stopped the kicks of Chiba's defenders Takeuchi and midfielders Tanizawa and Takahashi! Finally, Tokunaga scored a powerful penalty, leading Tokyo to a 6-5 victory over Chiba. They came together as one and advanced to the 4th 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 Popovich'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."