FC Tokyo and Emperor's Cup

This is the Emperor's Cup, the first participation for FC Tokyo, but counting from the predecessor Tokyo Gas FC, this is their 6th consecutive appearance in the tournament, and the 6th time overall. Their first participation was in 1994. It was the first tournament for Coach Okuma (who was appointed as interim coach just before the tournament, while he was a coach that year), and they made a remarkable debut by defeating Kashima Antlers in the first match and advancing to the quarterfinals. In 1995, they were eliminated in the first round, and in 1996, they were eliminated in the third round by J-League teams. However, in 1997, they caused a sensation with the "Tokyo Gas whirlwind" that is still fresh in our memories. They had a tough time against the high school team Ehime FC Youth in the second round, but managed to win with a golden goal in extra time, leaving some concerns in the early stages. However, they woke up from the third round. They easily defeated Nagoya Grampus Eight in the third round, and in the following fourth round, they defeated Yokohama Marinos, who had many national team players at that time. Furthermore, in the quarterfinals, they defeated Shonan Bellmare, who had Naoki Nakata (currently with Perugia/Italy), after extra time, and advanced to the best 4 by defeating 3 J-League clubs in a row. In the semifinals, they faced Kashima Antlers on the stage of the first national stadium (Kasumigaoka National Stadium), and although they were defeated, they made the name "Tokyo Gas" resound throughout the country.

The results in the previous Emperor's Cup have been 11 wins and 5 losses, and Tokyo's image as a strong team in cup competitions continues to grow, as they have also advanced to the top 4 in this year's Nabisco Cup. It remains to be seen how far they can progress this year, and they are attracting attention.

Is fatigue a concern?

"One week after the miraculous comeback to J1 promotion, the players had no time to rest from the fatigue of the J2 league and immediately moved on to the last big tournament of the year, the 79th Emperor's Cup All Japan Soccer Championship. The lineup for this day was significantly different from a week ago, as the ace Amaral temporarily returned to Brazil and Kagami, who scored the crucial winning goal in the recent Niigata match, went to Australia for training. Both attacking cores were absent. Furthermore, Asari and Kaburagi were sidelined due to injuries, and Yukihiko also played despite having a separate training menu for the past week, unable to take a break of more than three consecutive days since the start of January due to "overwork". There were concerns. On the other hand, the opponent of the day, Kusatsu Higashi High School (representing Shiga Prefecture), may not have a nationwide reputation, but they have steadily gained strength in recent years, participating in the Emperor's Cup for the second time in two years and the winter high school championship for the fourth consecutive time. Last year, they finished third in the National Youth Championship, which also included J-Club youth teams, and won the Kinki tournament, which is competed by two prefectures and four prefectures, for the second consecutive year. They are a presence that cannot be underestimated, even though they are high school students. Considering that it is already difficult to compete against high school students, and also considering the current situation in Tokyo, they were by no means an easy opponent.

High-level high school students!

The match started at 1:00 PM in a chilly environment with a temperature of 13℃. The uniform of Kusatsu Higashi High School has the same design as Montedio Yamagata, a J2 team, and the support from the local fans created a "unique support" by the students of the school, giving the illusion that the match was taking place in Yamagata. From the beginning, Kusatsu Higashi, who had nothing to lose as challengers, showed their boldness. Recently, high school students have made significant improvements in their skills, and tactically they are not inferior to adult teams except for physical contact. Especially when facing a national-level team, this becomes even more apparent. They built their play around the number 10 player, who played like a playmaker, with rhythmic passing that required minimal touches. In the midfield, Kusatsu Higashi was even more agile in passing, connecting with 3 or 4 passes, but that was it. The defense line of Tokyo was not going to be broken. No matter how good they were at the national level, if high school students could break through, the reputation of "solid defense Tokyo" would be ruined. Komine and Sandro were not kind to the high school students. Sandro, with his gold hair (dyed by his wife after promotion), looked terrifying and demonstrated a tough play, as if he was saying, "I'm a scary older brother," and left-back Fujiyama also showed his professional level with his sharp reading of the game.

Disappointed with the uncertain future battles...

On the other hand, Tokyo's attack struggled as the top forwards Okuhara and Enomoto failed to function properly and lost the ball frequently, making it difficult to find a rhythm. Starting from Almir in the midfield, the ball was spread left and right and passed to the forwards, but the post-play in the front line did not work well and they also failed to break through the defense and continued to lose the ball. Without being able to establish a focal point in the front line, Tokyo's "wings," which they pride themselves on, were unable to create an effective form, resulting in an increase in monotonous attacks from the back. The only real chance seemed to be when Almir made an individual play. In the 12th minute, Almir received a ball that was connected with a header in front of the goal, and he scored a powerful goal with his left foot after a sharp feint, taking the lead without any resistance. After that, Tokyo gradually started to circulate the ball in the midfield, and Fujiyama, the left full-back, also began to create chances with his dribbling skills. In the 26th minute, this time Yukihiko Sato ran into the near post from a cross sent by Almir from the right side and scored the second goal with a header. It was not a goal that was completely broken down, but rather a result of the high school student's lack of marking in front of the goal.

After that, finally a J-League-like attack with fast short and long passes was seen and chances were created, but the forward players did not function well and additional points could not be scored. In the second half, young attackers like Masamitsu Kobayashi were brought to the front line, but there was no significant improvement and the match became a back and forth battle again. It seems that Kusatsu Higashi High School is well trained, as they showed no signs of fatigue even in the second half and their start became sharper. In contrast to the high school students who desperately attacked to score a goal against a J-League team, Tokyo's attacking line seemed hesitant and repeated ineffective attacks. The defense was relatively stable and I didn't expect them to concede a goal, but there was no atmosphere to score additional points either. In the end, the match ended as it was. Although the team was not sufficient in terms of members, they had a rather disappointing match against high school students. Even when they advanced to the Best 4 two years ago, they struggled against high school students in the 2nd round, but that's that. If it's high school students as opponents, they still want to aim for a decisive victory with a large number of goals. Based on the results of the matches held at other venues on this day, the opponent for the match on December 5th (Sunday, 13:00-, Nishi-Gaoka) has also been decided as a high school team (Representative of Wakayama Prefecture, Hatsushiba Hashimoto High School / 3rd appearance). From the 3rd round against Bellmare Hiratsuka, a fierce battle between J-League clubs awaits. Before that, they want to firmly rebuild the team.

[Coach Okuma's Comment]

I have few opportunities to play against high school students, so it was difficult. We couldn't create a base in the front line until the end, so we couldn't dominate the game and struggled. It's disappointing that the players who don't usually play couldn't mentally do their best and I wanted them to appeal more. The goal of this year's Emperor's Cup is not "how many wins" but how much we can do in this (accumulated fatigue both mentally and physically) situation, and how far we can go while striving together. I want to have as many games as possible and give young players a good experience.