FC Tokyo and the 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 cause for 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 moved on to the last big tournament of the year, the 79th Emperor's Cup All Japan Soccer Championship. The team for this day was significantly different from one week ago, with ace Amaral returning to Brazil and Kaga, who scored the crucial winning goal in the recent Niigata match, going to Australia for training. In addition, Asari and Kaburaki were out due to injuries, and Yukihiko, who had not been able to take a break for more than three consecutive days since starting in January, was forced to play after adjusting with a different menu for the past week. The effects of "overwork" were also evident. On the other hand, the opponent for this day, Kusatsu Higashi High School (representing Shiga Prefecture), may not have a nationwide reputation, but they have steadily improved in recent years, with their second appearance in the Emperor's Cup in two years and their fourth consecutive appearance in the winter high school championship. Last year, they placed third in the National Youth Championship, which also included J-Club youth teams, and they have won the Kinki tournament for two consecutive years in the 2 prefectures and 4 prefectures competition. They are a formidable opponent, even though they are high school students. Considering the difficulty of playing against high school students and the current situation in Tokyo, they were by no means an easy opponent.

High-level high school student!

The match started at 1pm in a chilly environment with a temperature of 13℃. The whistle for kickoff was blown. The uniform of Kusatsu Higashi High School was the same design as J2's Montedio Yamagata, and the "unique support" by the students of the school, which was held locally, was repeated, giving the illusion of fighting in Yamagata. Early on, Kusatsu Higashi School, who had nothing to lose as challengers, showed their boldness. Recently, high school students have made great strides in their skills, and in terms of tactics, they are not inferior to adult teams except for physical contact. And even more so when it comes to national level teams. They built up their play with a rhythmic passing game with few touches, centered around the number 10 player who looked like a game maker. In the midfield, Kusatsu Higashi was actually passing the ball more smoothly, connecting with 3 or 4 passes, but that was it. Of course, there was no way Tokyo's defense line would be broken. No matter how good they were on a national level, if they were beaten by high school students, the name of "Kenshu Tokyo" would be ruined. Komine and Sandro were not kind to high school students. Sandro, with his golden hair (dyed by his wife after promotion), was terrifying and showed off his tough play, as if to say "scary big brother", and left-back Fujiyama also showed his professional level with his sharp reading.

Disappointed with the uncertain future of the battle...

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.