AJINOMOTO FIELD NISHIGAOKA welcomes CE Sabadell

The J1 League temporarily suspended its activities for the Japan national team's participation in the East Asian Cup. During this time, Tokyo hosted a friendly match. It took place at Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka, which is the first time since 1999 (excluding the Emperor's Cup in 2000) that a J2 team played a home game there. CE Sabadell, a Spanish second division team with which a business partnership has been established, will be the opponent. As you may know, Sotan TANABE has been on loan and has only been with the team for less than half a month, but his performance is attracting attention. The match is also worth watching for the Spanish team's unique individual skills and intense battles on the field.

On the other hand, Coach Popovic said, "We will play with Tokyo's usual style and give many members the opportunity to play. Both individual players and the team aim to fight in a serious match that leads to the league."

Tokyo, Japan national team players Tokunaga, Morishige, Takahashi, and Gonda are absent, as well as South Korea national team player Hyun Soo JANG. Therefore, GK Shibata, center-backs Kaga and Maruyama, and right-back Nakamura, who made his first appearance this season, are selected. Yonemoto and Hasegawa form a double pivot in the lineup. Additionally, Kajiyama, who was on loan to Greece's Panathinaikos until June, has made his first appearance in the squad this season. JFA/J.League designated player Matsuda is also on the bench.

The intense rain that occurred during the day has started to clear up, but with no wind and high humidity, the match started at 19:20 with a kickoff in Tokyo.

VUCICEVIC scores first, both teams attacking each other

Tokyo dominated the ball from the start. They connected passes and went on the attack. In the 7th minute, Shioda, the goalkeeper, moved up to the left front line from Maruyama's back pass. Nawakami competed for the ball and dropped it, and VUCICEVIC dribbled it forward. His well-aimed shot was sucked into the net, giving Tokyo the lead!

In the 15th minute, Yonemoto drifted to the right side and played a diagonal pass to the center of the goal. Mita controlled the ball and Watanabe took a low shot, but the goalkeeper made a save. In the 17th minute, we earned a free kick in the opponent's central area. Nakamura attempted a powerful shot directly at the goal, but it was saved by the goalkeeper at the edge of the frame.

On the other hand, Sabadel cautiously stood up and gradually started to create attacking opportunities. In the 25th minute, they allowed Sabadel to attack by losing possession to Tokyo. The development continued from the post of tall forward Suld, and in the 27th minute, left full-back Yagoubi followed up to the right midfield and played a through pass to the left area. Receiving the ball, Tanabe reversed by slipping through the Tokyo defenders and took a shot, but it went wide of the goal.

Sabadel, who tried to build from the defense line, but in the 34th minute, left back Yagoubi skillfully dribbled past the Tokyo defense and rushed into the left area. In response to a minus cross to the center, Tanabe directly scored a goal. After being caught up in a tie, Tokyo quickly attacked near the end of the first half and created chances with Vucicevic at the center, but they were unable to score an additional goal. The score remained 1-1 as they entered the second half.

Satoru KAWANO scores a go-ahead goal, but the exciting game ends in a draw

Tokyo made four substitutions in the second half. Hirayama played as the top forward, Mita as the attacking midfielder, Ishikawa as the right midfielder, Kono as the left midfielder, and Kajiyama and Hasegawa formed the double pivot in the lineup. In the 50th minute, Sabadel forward Surdo's shot hit the left post, and in the 52nd minute, Hirayama in the right area broke the offside line and took a shot after receiving a through pass from Tokyo's Ishikawa.

In the 54th minute, Kaga cut the ball in the DF line, passed it to Kajiyama in the center, who then connected with Hirayama directly and passed it to Ishikawa, who moved up on the left. The cross went far, but Kono followed and returned it to the center, where Hasegawa made a vertical pass. Mita in the central area was held down by the opposing DF, but they showed a dynamic attack.

Aggressively attacking each other, in the 57th minute, from Sabadel Tanabe's side change to the right, the left full-back initiated the attack, and MF Juan Jose shifted his timing to dodge the Tokyo DF and took a shot. The skillful attack broke down the Tokyo DF, but the ball hit the post. In the 64th minute, Sabadel broke through the left area. The cross from there seemed to shake the net with a sliding shot, but it was offside.

Gradually, Sabadel began to grasp the rhythm, but in the 67th minute, Matsumoto came in. He entered as a right back, and Nakamura moved to the left. Then, Otake was brought in as a defensive midfielder. In the immediate aftermath, in the 71st minute, Kawano broke through the central area, following Maruyama's vertical pass, who had pushed up the line. Kawano assessed the goalkeeper who had come out in front of him, and successfully scored a skillful shot with power to take the lead.

However, in the 78th minute, Shamsul MAIDIN, who competed with Tokyo DF in front of the goal, scored a shot from a chest trap from Sabadel's left cross, equalizing the score again. Nevertheless, without losing their spirit, in the 40th minute, Matsumoto sent a sharp right cross from Kajiyama's development. In response to this, Ishikawa jumped perfectly between the goal and the opponent's DF and made a header shot... In the final stages, Mita also utilized his breakthrough ability and created chances, but the opponent's GK made a great save and the goal remained intact. The exciting game, where both teams attacked each other until the end, ended in a draw.
 

[Player Comments]
"When I participated in the practice at Sabadel, everyone felt that their "footwork" was good. On the other hand, I felt that I wasn't responding well to the back of the defense, so I tried to make movements to get behind them today as well. In that sense, it was a goal as intended. I fought with a focus on scoring points. Today is a friendly match, but I thought, "I have to get results precisely because it's a time like this!" I want to connect today's goal to the league match, and I think it's meaningless if I don't score in the league match."

"Kajiyama"
"It was really a long time since I played a game, so it was personally rewarding to be able to play for 45 minutes. After returning from Greece, I prepared my condition from the start of the off-season and finished it quickly, but I was also happy to be able to show the Tokyo fans and supporters the game. (Is this your first game in Tokyo this season?) I felt the high level of everyone's skills. However, I think there is still room for improvement in terms of winning and controlling the game, and judging the flow. I want to improve on that and personally work hard to be able to control the game well."

[Coach Popovich's Press Conference Summary]
"Playing against a Spanish team with different country and culture is a good experience and valuable time. We were superior in the game, but we had to win and get results. It is important to win in a game like today and show more of the fighting spirit that Japan is said to lack."

Spanish or European teams always take advantage of any small gaps or slackness and turn them into goals. We want to focus even more, not show any gaps, and not slack off. We found some challenges in terms of one-on-one situations. The opponent only allows either the ball or the player to pass in one-on-one situations. The opponent had skill and experience in one-on-one situations. However, we also broke down the opponent with combinations and pushed them in certain time zones. We also created many chances.

The starting lineup plus six players from the field participated in the match against this overseas team, and I think it was good to make them feel this way. Unfortunately, we couldn't have all the players on the team participate, but I hope they will make a strong appeal for the upcoming league matches.

[Summary of Coach CE Sabadel Salamero's Press Conference]
"For us, it was not just a practice match, but a special match in partnership with Tokyo. That's why we wanted to make it a spectacular game. Speaking of the game, there were some missed passes and it was a bit chaotic in the first 15 minutes, but as time went on, we improved both offensively and defensively. I think we created more scoring opportunities."

Both teams were able to play a high-quality game in the first half. However, in the second half, I felt that Sabadel had a higher quality. There were also chances where the ball hit the post twice and it was unclear whether it was offside or not. However, Tokyo's resilience was amazing, which is why they couldn't score. Tokyo's combination play in the attacking phase is fantastic. They connect passes in the center and also had a tough time dealing with attacks from the sides. Additionally, their individual abilities are very high, especially Mita, who I felt is a good player.

If I were to point out areas for improvement, it would be the strength and intensity of set plays and defense. However, under the guidance of Coach Popovic, the team is performing very well and I respect his team-building skills. Today, both teams scored many goals and had numerous shooting opportunities, making it a good game. The concern is that a player got injured early in the game, which required a change in the game's dynamics. I hope the injury is minor.

I want to express my gratitude to Tokyo, with whom we have formed a partnership, and I want to work hard from now on to create something even better together."