Seize the Cup! Challenging the first Emperor's Cup Final Round

　Tokyo, which has reached the final round of the Emperor's Cup. On New Year's Day 2012, they will face Kyoto Sanga F.C. at the Japan National Stadium. This will be the club's first Emperor's Cup final, but their third final in a cup competition, following the Nabisco Cup in 2004 and 2009. The team's previous experience is a definite advantage, and they are approaching the match with a focused and composed mindset.

　Coach Okuma, who will take command for the last time this season, also said, "The players themselves already know what they should do and what they shouldn't let the opponent do. So I want them to play energetically. However, it's a one-shot game where you don't know what will happen, so it may be necessary to attract luck. Including that, mental strength becomes important when you've come this far. Not only the members on the pitch, but all 31 players will fight with a strong determination to seize victory," he said powerfully.

　Kyoto, on the other hand, is in 7th place in the J2 League. However, towards the end of the season, the team has matured and raised their collective awareness. In the Emperor's Cup, they have defeated Yamagata, Kashima, Shonan, and Yokohama FM. They have shown that they can engage in both tenacious battles, as seen in their 1-0 victory over Kashima, and high-scoring matches, as seen in their 4-2 victory over Yokohama FM. They have evolved into a team that can bring both resilience and firepower.

　Tokyo, on the other hand, has also secured victories against Mito, Urawa, and C Osaka, all by a score of 1-0, while suppressing their opponents' counterattacks. Although they have been pushed back after taking the lead recently, it can also be seen as evidence of their ability to remain calm and tenacious. Tokyo has won both matches against Kyoto in this season's league games, but at this point, past data and records may not hold much significance. The team's strength and competitiveness at this moment, as well as the accumulation of strategies and situations, will determine the outcome.

　Never give up in any situation and unite the power of everyone, including the stands, to aim for victory on the first grand stage. The game started at 14:05 with a kickoff in Tokyo at the National Stadium, under a slightly cloudy sky.

Despite conceding the first goal, Makoto IMANO, Morishige, and Lucas' goals give us a 2-point lead going into the second half.

　From the start, we created chances by focusing on Ishikawa on the right side and aiming for the back of Kyoto. In the 3rd minute, Kajiyama → Ishikawa took a shot. In the 7th and 9th minutes, we approached Kyoto's goal with Ishikawa's breakthrough as the starting point. However, in the 13th minute, we couldn't control the left throw-in from our own half, and we were hit by Kyoto's counterattack. Now Kono and Tokunaga are trying to surround the central FW Dutra and take the ball, but the ball spills to the right side, and Kyoto MF Nakayama runs freely and scores a looping shot over Gonda's head, allowing them to take the lead.

　Without panicking, in the 15th minute, the left CK was connected short, and Inomata headed Ishikawa's left cross! The ball was sucked into the net on the opposite side, and immediately caught up to the same score. The game returned to the starting point, and afterwards, Kyoto's press troubled us, and there were times when we couldn't calm down and pass the ball, but in the 36th minute, Yuzawa received a foul and got a FK in the opponent's field, slightly to the right. Although there was a distance of about 30m, Ishikawa made this FK short and out, and Morishige aimed from a place where the GK couldn't see behind the wall of the DF. The magnificent shot without rotation hit the net beautifully and got the go-ahead point!

　After that, Tokyo grasped the rhythm and launched an offensive, connecting passes with Lucas as the starting point. Then, in the 42nd minute just before the end of the first half, Takahashi headed Kyoto's goal kick to the front line. Lucas quickly reacted to this and calmly assessed the goalkeeper's position after breaking free from the opponent's defender, and scored a goal! Tokyo took a 2-point lead into the second half.

Lucas scores the fourth goal to leave Kyoto behind, and Tokyo is crowned by Okuma!!

　In the second half, Kyoto struggled to connect against the momentum of the counterattack, but they defended well. Even when allowing the opponent to have the ball, they effectively defended and launched a counterattack. In the 66th minute, Tanihara took the ball he stole in his own half and passed it to the left front space. Mokuhara aggressively advanced and made a through pass to the left area. Lucas controlled the ball firmly despite colliding with the defender and evaded the opponent's defender to score a valuable fourth goal for Kyoto from an angleless position, putting them ahead.

　Kyoto still shows perseverance. In the 71st minute, a free kick from slightly left of the goal was aimed at MF Sung Ryong JUNG, but Gonda made a save with his left hand! However, they conceded a goal from a right corner kick given away, allowing a header from substitute FW Kubo...

　However, Suzuki, Roberto CESAR, and Nakamura, who came on as substitutes, calmly await another chance from a tough defense. Although the end of the game became hectic, they did not lose their quickness in switching and in stoppage time, Cesar and Suzuki made a run behind the defense, creating a great scoring opportunity. They were unable to score a fifth goal against Kyoto's determined defense, but they continued to play their own soccer until the final whistle.

　Kiyoshi OKUMA Tokyo, who demonstrated strength throughout, achieved their first Emperor's Cup victory and ended the season in the best possible way.

　【Player Comment】《Gonda》"Today, the result is everything. I think it's 'OK' to say that we won. We conceded 2 goals, but I am grateful to the attacking unit. There were many goals from the restart, which proved that we can score from various places. We were able to adapt to the situation and control the game, and we didn't panic. That's the growth of this season. We may still lack the skills of a master, but I want to demonstrate what we have built up on the stage of J1 next season."

　"Shiota": "I've always wanted to celebrate with the fans and give them a cup. All the players had the same feeling, but we couldn't give them the J2 League trophy, so today I really wanted to deliver it to the stands. The fans have supported us through good times and bad, and they made the National Stadium our 'home' today. Next season will be even busier, but we want to continue fighting with the supporters. We sincerely appreciate the support this season and ask for your continued support in the future."

　[Summary of Manager Okuma's Press Conference] "This season, we won the J2 league, but the players were humble, saying that they didn't know if their skills would really work in J1. Even if we win today, we can't say that we have truly become stronger, but I think we have proven our initial goal of becoming stronger and returning to J1 by continuously winning against J1 teams. I think there will be various opinions like "because it's J2" or "because it's a tournament", but I believe that a team becomes stronger by overcoming various pressures. I am very grateful to the players, and I would like to express my gratitude once again to the sponsors and supporters who have supported us. And from now on, I want you to look at FC Tokyo with both strictness and warmth. I sincerely hope that they will perform well in the J1 league next season and aim for a consecutive victory in the Emperor's Cup."

　This team has many players that I have been watching, and I wanted to take them to Asia, including their level up and the level up of the team and the club. It was a dream of the club, but it was also my own dream. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for achieving that. Soccer is a global thing, so there are still many things that we must do to move towards it, but I am grateful to the players. I would like to ask for your continued support and backing for FC Tokyo in the future. Thank you very much."

　[Summary of Kyoto Oki's press conference] "First of all, I want to thank the players. After the end of the J2 League, in the Emperor's Cup, we were told to 'win against J1', and we won against Sagawa Printing and Kashima. After that, we were told to 'go to the National Stadium' and we won against Shonan. When we came to the National Stadium, we were told 'take us to the final round' and we won again. Finally, we were told 'please win the championship', but we couldn't do it (laughs). We were able to overcome each hurdle one by one as the hurdles got higher, but we couldn't overcome the last high hurdle. However, I am truly grateful to the players who brought us this far, and I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the sponsors, supporters, and fan club. What was lacking was my own lack of effort."

　The second and third goals were very disappointing as a game. I think the difference in quality in the 4/3 area where we wanted to score was clear in the end. We had to confront FC Tokyo with better ideas and techniques in that area. However, there is no point in lamenting about it. We must reflect on it once again and move forward. Initially, there were some who said that it was a "low-level" final between J2 teams, but that was never the case. I want to sincerely congratulate FC Tokyo from the bottom of my heart and applaud their wonderful soccer. We will continue to fight in J2 for another year next season, but we will do our best to promote to J1 and become champions."