Star Corps Antlers

The opponent in the semifinal round of the Nabisco Cup is last year's J.League champion, Kashima Antlers. Since the start of the J.League in 1993, this powerhouse team has always been in the running for the championship and can now be considered one of the top clubs in Japan. This season, however, the team has struggled with a generational shift between young and veteran players, resulting in a low ranking of 9th place (1st stage: 9th place, 2nd stage: 8th place) in the J1 league. Nevertheless, their potential is still top-notch. In this match, six players from the Olympic team (who are currently competing in the second round of qualifiers for the Sydney Olympics) are absent, and star striker Magno is also out due to injury. However, the defense line, consisting of Soma, Akita, and Narahashi, who all played in last year's World Cup in France, is one of the strongest in the J.League. In the midfield, there is former full national team player Honda as the defensive midfielder, and Bismarck, a former Brazilian national team player and key player, as well as veteran Hasegawa, who also has experience playing for the full national team, in the forward position. The lineup is still one of the most star-studded in the J.League. Just like in the quarterfinals against Yokohama F.Marinos, it will be interesting to see how J2 top team Tokyo will fare against this team full of stars. The first match to watch out for was played in light rain at Kashima Soccer Stadium, which is currently undergoing renovations for the 2002 World Cup.

Is it another reproduction of the "Instant Kill Show"!?

From 9/25 to 10/11, Tokyo entered a grueling period of 16 days with 5 games (approximately one game every 3 days) in total between the league and cup matches. J2 already has 6 more league games than J1 per year, and within J2, Tokyo has played more cup matches than other teams, putting them at a clear disadvantage in terms of "fatigue". There were concerns about the difference in conditioning between Tokyo and J1 teams during the league break. However, once the game started, Tokyo showed a light and agile movement that blew away those worries. In the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Nabisco Cup (7/20), Tokyo faced "superior" F. Marinos and performed a "quick kill show" with 2 goals in the first 3 minutes. On this day as well, Tokyo approached the game with a "bold strategy" using the same lineup and system. Ace Amaral, who was not in top condition, was placed on the bench and the system was changed from a lone striker to a fresh two-top with Kagami and Enomoto. Enomoto made his first start. Key player Almir was moved to a defensive midfielder position and regular player Komine was replaced by Yamao, who had only played in 2 quarterfinal matches of the Nabisco Cup this season. However, this worked. Speedy Kagami and Enomoto relentlessly chased after the ball from the front line as soon as the game started, and their momentum led to a fierce and coordinated press from the front line, putting intense pressure on Antlers. Due to the slippery ground from the rain, Tokyo was able to induce passing errors from Antlers, and once they won the ball, they would pass it to Almir, who would then distribute it to the front line with good passes. Kagami would disrupt the opponents with his unpredictable movements, while Yukihiro on the right side and Okamoto on the left side created chances from their respective bases. In the 8th and 11th minutes, Yukihiro had consecutive opportunities in front of the goal, but his shots narrowly missed. Until the 15th minute of the first half, Tokyo completely dominated the game and overwhelmed the "champion Antlers".

The Strength of Antlers

While Tokyo had multiple goal-scoring opportunities, their finishing accuracy was low and they missed one after another, gradually awakening the Antlers. As Enomoto's movement decreased, Tokyo's checking from the front weakened, and the Antlers started circulating the ball through Bismarck and Abe in the midfield. Antlers' key fullbacks, Soma and Narahashi, reacted to this and began repeatedly overlapping at the right timing. With Hasegawa and Suzuki waiting in front of the goal with height, Tokyo started to struggle as they were broken down from the sides and numerous accurate crosses were delivered. And in the 26th minute, the balance was finally broken. Bismarck took a free kick from the left, and Suzuki, who received it on the right side, skillfully evaded the Tokyo defenders and delivered a sharp cross to the center, which was headed in by Kumagaya for the opening goal.

Antlers, who are riding on this momentum, continued to aggressively attack from both sides with their full-backs joining the attack. However, Tokyo also responded with a solid defense, led by Sandro and Yamao in the center-back position. They successfully repelled Antlers' sharp attacks.

With Amaral's entry, it's back to a seesaw battle.

At the 40th minute of the first half, when Enomoto, who couldn't establish a base on the front line, was replaced by ace Amaral, the game returned to Tokyo's pace. The striker, who represents J2, calmly controlled the ball and maintained a stable post-play and ball possession, restoring the rhythm of the attack. Akita, an active full national team member, marked Amaral and responded with intense charges, but it had no effect on Amaral that day. With a stable base on the front line, Tokyo encouraged the attacking participation of their trademark side backs. In the 41st minute, Fujiyama showed off a dribble breakthrough, passing to Amaral from the left side of their own field. Amaral made a vertical run and sent a cross from a deep position, but unfortunately it was blocked by the goalkeeper. In the following 42nd minute, Fujiyama passed to Amaral after dribbling past several players on the left side, and then quickly passed to Kagami, who was free on the opposite side. Kagami's shot missed, but they were able to create a good attacking opportunity. Amaral's addition not only restored the rhythm of the attack, but also gave confidence to the team.

Crying over the difference in accuracy in front of the goal

Even in the second half, the intense battle continues without either team giving an inch. The "superior" Antlers become almost mistake-free in the second half. In J2, there are often many instances where the opponent makes a mistake after losing the ball, which helps us, but this team didn't have that. On the other hand, Tokyo, when Almir aggressively chased and stole the ball, constructed the game with a variety of passes. From here, Fujiyama's effective dribbling and Kaburagi's breakthrough create chances, but the accuracy of the final pass is low, and Amaral somehow takes the shot forcefully but cannot shake the goal net. Conversely, although the number of times is fewer than Tokyo, the Antlers repeatedly carry out side attacks and deliver accurate centering to create decisive scenes. Tokyo's GK Suzuki prevented several pinches with super fine plays, but finally in the 39th minute of the second half, the ball was cut deeply from the (left) side and crossed to the center, and Bismarck scored the second goal. After this, Tokyo showed its determination until the end, with Amaral shooting consecutively, but the goal was far away. In the end, the game ended like this. As the shot count of 13-10 tells, Tokyo surpassed the Antlers in terms of game content. Although we lost due to the difference in accuracy in front of the goal, we have the confidence to play on par with the "superior" Antlers. After this, we will play against Yamagata in the J2 League (Yamagata City) four days later, and three days after that, we will have the second match against the Antlers (Japan National Stadium). In addition to the extremely tight schedule, we are also two points behind, but we have no choice but to overcome it based on the confidence we gained on this day.

<Coach Okuma's Comment>

The content was good. If we had scored during the chances in the first half, the result might have been different, but ultimately, the reason for the loss was that we were inferior to the opponent in terms of the accuracy of crosses in front of the goal, the accuracy of dribbling, and the decision-making between passing and dribbling. Amaral was substituted in the middle of the game because he had some tightness in his hamstring and we didn't want to push him too hard. Also, Enomoto was in good form and we wanted to give him the experience of playing on a big stage, so we started him.

In the future, I want to focus on the match against Yamagata four days from now. I will think about the second match against Kashima after the Yamagata match is over.