A battle that we absolutely cannot lose!

　The 5th round of the Emperor's Cup will be held at Ehime General Sports Park Stadium, where Urawa Reds will face off. This is the last tournament of the season, which comes one week after the end of the league matches, and Coach Hara cannot hide his concerns, saying, "To be honest, it seems that the players are still fatigued from playing the league matches." However, the players' spirits are united.

　Urawa is the team that lost twice in this season's league matches. The players are saying, "We definitely want to repay the debt," and under the guidance of Manager Hara, who will lead the team for the last time in this tournament, they are fully motivated to "defeat Urawa as one united front!" The manager himself also said, "In the final tournament of the season, the level of motivation will determine the outcome," and he will challenge the game with determination, absolutely not wanting to lose.

　Urawa finished the league in 2nd place. In the final match, they scored 4 goals against Niigata and the team is in good condition. Especially, there is sharpness in the attack led by MF Ponte. "He is the key. The whole team connects the ball and changes the rhythm when it reaches him, and Hasebe and other midfielders also come forward," said Manager Hara, who is most cautious. Also, it is necessary to pay sufficient attention to set plays centered around Toshihiro Oiwake.

　Tokyo, on the other hand, is not in good team condition as Jean has a left thigh injury and Toda has an abdominal injury. In the defense, Kanazawa and Kaji are on both sides, and Fujiyama is in the center. In the attack, Sasa is placed as the lone striker, while Abe, Kurizawa, and Noriyuki SUZUKI change positions fluidly. Coach Hara says, "We can't predict whether Urawa will match Tokyo with a 4-back formation or stick to their usual 3-back formation," but in any case, Tokyo will attack with all their might.

　"If we lose, it's over" is a tournament match, but Coach Hara declared, "We will face it head-on without any tricks. We will fight with all our might and come back victorious!" The match started with Urawa's kickoff at 1:04 pm.

Allowing Urawa to take the lead by taking advantage of a momentary gap

　Tokyo takes the initiative from the start of the first half. In the 1st minute, Suzuki Nori breaks through with Kajiyama's through pass, but it's offside. In the 3rd minute, Kajiyama breaks through the left side and enters the area, but fails to finish. In the 7th minute, Abe Yoshiro picks up Urawa's clearance and passes it to Sasa. He takes a daring shot from outside the area, but it goes wide. In the 8th minute, Abe Yoshiro on the right side switches play to the opposite side. It is initially cleared, but Kurisawa picks it up and passes it to Kajiyama. He takes a shot, but it goes to the left of the goal. On the other hand, Urawa occasionally launches counterattacks but fails to create any promising opportunities.

　11 minutes, Kurizawa -> Yoshiro ABE's dribble breakthrough is stopped by the DF, but Kurizawa picks up the loose ball and shoots it to CK. In the 15th minute, Imakano, who stole the ball in the center of his own field, shoots to the left side of Suzuki Nori -> Yoshiro ABE, but it goes to the left of the goal. Urawa completely becomes passive against Tokyo's momentum. In the 23rd minute, a decisive chance comes. Kurizawa shoots from the left CK, cleared by the opponent's DF from the short corner with Kanazawa, but Kurizawa picks it up and Yoshiro ABE heads it fiercely into a liner-like cross! However, it goes slightly to the left of the goal. Then, taking advantage of a momentary gap, Urawa concedes the first goal.

　30 minutes, left side MF Mitsushu's cross is well combined with FW Maric's head, and the shot passes by Toi's side and goes into the goal. Then the game quickly transitions between offense and defense. In the 34th minute, MF Ponte → FW Nagai breaks through the right side, but Fujiyama cuts it off at the last moment. He narrowly escapes danger. In the 39th minute, Kaji overlaps and crosses from the right side. The GK punches it. In the 43rd minute, Sasu heads a cross from the left side by Suzuki Nori! However, the ball floats and goes over the bar.

　44 minutes, Maric, the forward in front of the goal, calmly traps and shoots the cross from the right corner kick of Urawa. It seemed like a goal, but Salcedo clears it on the goal line! It was a scene where he covered his face, but they didn't allow an additional point. The game ends the first half as it is. They will enter the second half with a one-point deficit.

Unable to score despite continuous attacks, resulting in a defeat. The entire schedule for this season has ended.

　"1 goal conceded is okay, the next goal is the game," said Coach Hara, and the team aggressively attacked from the start of the second half. Then, a big chance immediately came. Noriyuki SUZUKI broke through from the left side and rushed towards the center. Surrounded by two defenders, he made an exquisite fake and passed to KURIZAWA, who was free on the right. KURIZAWA had a one-on-one opportunity with the goalkeeper, but his shot was saved by the goalkeeper and did not result in a goal.

　51 minutes, an accident occurred when Urawa GK Tsuzuki was injured and GK Yamagishi came in. Tokyo substituted Miyazawa for Kurisawa in the 54th minute and wanted to launch a counterattack all at once, but Urawa tightened the center and aimed for a counterattack strategy, making it difficult to reach the opponent's goal. In the 55th minute, Abe Yoshii jumped to compete for Suzuki Nori's cross from the left side, but couldn't control it. In the 57th minute, there was a chance for a FK from outside the area in front. Sasa kicked it powerfully, but the ball narrowly went over the bar. In the 59th minute, Suzuki Nori, who ran into Fujiyama's long ball, crossed from the left. It was caught by the GK.

　In the 60th minute, Imakano, who collided with the opponent in a contest, injured his leg and went off the pitch. Then, 1 minute later, in the situation with one less player, they allowed an additional goal. MF Shigetoshi HASEBE passed the ball through, and MF Yamada broke free on the left side. He cut inside until near the goal, calmly kicked it into the right side net.

　Tokyo, which must attack even at the risk of danger, substitutes Miura for injured Imano, and Yusuke Kondo for Kanazawa, increasing the number of attacks and launching a counterattack. In the 70th minute, Sasa jumped into the area from a cross by Kaji from the right side and took a direct shot! However, the ball went to the left of the goal. In the 73rd minute, Nori Suzuki on the left side dribbled through, connected to Yoshiro Abe → Yusuke Kondo, but couldn't take a shot. In the 78th minute, Nori Suzuki's powerful shot from outside the area in front of the goal narrowly missed the crossbar.

　81 minutes, Sasa dropped the cross from the left side that Miyazawa lifted, and Suzuki Nori, who had jumped into the area, took a powerful volley shot! However, the ball floated high. In the 83rd minute, Abe Yoshiro on the right side received the ball and crossed it. The ball was crossed back to the center, and Shigenobu, who had come up, took a shot! However, it was blocked by the Urawa DF and resulted in a right corner kick. Miyazawa relentlessly threw a fast cross into the goal area from the starting point, but the Urawa DF desperately bounced it back.

　In the 89th minute, a great FK from the left front of the area. Sasas low and fast shot was caught by the GK. They continued to attack, but couldn't score and the second half ended with a whistle. They disappeared from the Emperor's Cup with a 2-0 defeat, and the entire schedule for this season has ended. After the game, all players and staff greeted the fans. Manager Hara, who will leave after this season, shook hands with each fan behind the goal and bid farewell with tears.

　【Player Comments】《Kajiyama》"I wasn't feeling bad. I just focused on taking each game seriously. I couldn't convert the chances in today's game. I think if I had converted them properly, (Urawa's defensive play) wouldn't have mattered. We were just caught off guard on the counter. (I received a lot of advice from Coach Hara). There were various things, but I am grateful."《Miyazawa》"In a situation where we had to score a goal, we were told to keep sending long balls, but the opponent also responded well and we couldn't break through. It was a game where I don't know what would have happened if we had scored a goal. Even in the league matches, if we had converted the chances properly, our position wouldn't be where it is now. There are still challenges ahead. I am grateful to Coach Hara. I learned a lot and he used me in the matches."

　[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "I talked about hitting Reds with the players who are currently available, such as Jean and Lucas, as many players are injured. Reds played a really good game in the recent Niigata match, so we approached the game with the determination not to lose to them. In the end, we lost, but we were able to function well with players like Imamura and Kajiyama picking up the ball in the midfield, and with good rhythm from Abe's header and Suzuki's breakthrough in the first half. However, we allowed Maric to score in a momentary lapse. We had chances after that, but couldn't convert them. Especially, we couldn't score from the decisive scene of Suzuki's last pass at the start of the second half. I think that was the difference in today's game. Also, there was an incident with Imamura, who has been leading our team, and we conceded a goal on the counterattack while he was off the pitch. I think the players did well. I feel like the players put too much pressure on themselves because I will be leaving this year, and they may have been spinning their wheels. They were too tense and focused, and I think if that wasn't the case, Abe's header and Kurisawa's shot would have gone in. However, as a game, even with injured players, other players performed well and showed our style. Reds have incredible power when it matters. Today's performance wasn't great, but that's the strength of Urawa, being able to score even then. I want Reds to continue winning. I'm really happy that I was able to be the manager for four years and that the supporters have given us a lot of support. I really wanted to win and play more games, but I have no regrets. I really gave it my all. During this period, many young players have grown, and I have had a good time for four years in a good environment."

[Urawa Buchwald's press conference summary] "The key to this game was that Abe Yoshiro's shot in the first half did not go in, but Maric's shot did. There were also miraculous clears by Sasa, but if those shots had gone in or not, this game would have been unpredictable. I am satisfied with the result of victory, but I am dissatisfied with the many simple mistakes. We need to improve. Today, Tsuzuki was injured and Yamagishi came in, but he played as if there had been no goalkeeper substitution. I am grateful to him."