Let's go! Opening match!

The J1 League finally kicks off, and Tokyo will face Niigata at home at Ajinomoto Stadium. Tokyo has been on a winning streak in the opening match since 1999 when they were in J2. There are high expectations for victory today as well. In the preseason match against Kawasaki on February 27, they lost with no goals scored, leaving some concerns. However, Coach Hara said about Danilo, "He is still not accustomed to the team and Japanese soccer," and started Miyazawa. In the midfield, where Baba and Kajiyama are absent due to injuries, Imakano is in the defensive midfield and Kurisawa and Miyazawa are in the attacking midfield. Ishikawa is on the right and Toda is on the left. The defensive line is led by Shigenobu, and they will face the familiar 4-back formation. They will adopt an attacking 4-5-1 formation compared to last season, but the biggest theme of this season is "how to score goals." They have made many attempts and increased their variations so far. Regardless of who plays, they will each demonstrate their strengths towards the same goal, score goals with an attacking style of soccer, and aim for victory.

On the other hand, it was the second consecutive opening card for Ippou Niigata. Coach Yasuharu Sorimachi said, "FC Tokyo is a team that is positioned under the Yokozuna. As the Komusubi, how far can we go?" However, although Niigata did not perform well in the 1st stage last season, finishing 14th, they made a leap forward in the 2nd stage, finishing 7th. Coach Sorimachi also seems to be preparing countermeasures, saying, "Tokyo is a team that pushes their own strengths to the forefront regardless of the opponent. Based on that, we will bring out our own strength." In February, they held a camp in Brazil and accumulated a lot of practical experience to prepare for this match.

Before the kickoff, Animal Hamaguchi made a guest appearance and performed a performance. Injecting "spirit" energy into the entire stadium, the kickoff took place at 7:04 PM amid growing expectations from the fans.

Here We Go!

At long last the 2005 J.League season began with the visit of Albirex Niigata to Ajinomoto Stadium. TOKYO had won every opening day game since the J2 days of 1999 and anticipation ran high for that to continue. Following the 1-0 defeat to Kawasaki Frontale in the pre-season friendly the previous week manager Hara had declared new Brazilian signing Danilo unused to the team and Japanese football and selected Miyazawa in his place. With Baba and Kajiyama injured Konno played as lone defensive midfielder, Miyazawa and Kurisawa played behind striker Lucas while Toda and Ishikawa filled their usual positions on the flanks. Moniwa returned from injury in an unchanged back four. The formation was an offensive 4-5-1 as manager Hara attempted to find the variation in attack that would increase the chance of scoring. TOKYO's commitment to attacking football utilizing the individual skills of the players remained as strong as ever. 
TOKYO were facing Albirex in the opening fixture for the second consecutive year. Before the game Albirex manager Sorimachi downplayed his team's chances using sumo rankings to compare the sides; Albirex finished 17th. in the First Stage in 2004 but produced a creditable Second Stage performance to finish 7th. "It doesn't matter who the opponent is," he commented, "we just concentrate on our own game. That way we can play to the best of our ability". The team had a training camp in Brazil in February and had played several friendles in preparation for the first game. 
Before kick off popular wrestler Animal Hamaguchi worked the crowd into a frenzy with a spirited motivational performance and the intensity reached a peak as the game began at just after 7pm. 

Attack aggressively with fast attacks, Ishikawa and Konno score.

　They aggressively went after the ball from the start of the game and created many chances from fast attacks. In the 1st minute, they stole the ball in their own half and Toda sprinted down the left side. Lucas headed the cross for a shot. In the 2nd minute, Ishikawa dribbled up the right side and Lucas again headed in the fast cross. In the 8th minute, Lucas headed a long ball from their own half. In the 6th minute, Ishikawa cut inside the right area and Kagawa picked up the loose ball, crossing it on the ground. Kurisawa jumped in front of the goal but missed the hit. Although none of these resulted in goals, they took control of the game by aggressively attacking from both sides, starting from Miyazawa's distribution.

　In the 11th minute, Imakano took a header shot from a right corner kick. Although he missed the target, Ishikawa intercepted the opponent's goal kick on the next play. He sprinted up towards the opponent's half, drawing a fierce arc from near the center line, and took a daring shot from the right area. The ball went into the left side net without touching anyone in the crowded goal area! Ishikawa's aggressive challenge led to the opening goal. Niigata, who had been pushed back, had their first shot of the day in the 15th minute when forward Edmilson took a shot from outside the box. In the end, this was the only shot in the first half. In the 21st minute, Miyazawa made a long side change from his own half, perfectly reaching Ishikawa on the right. Ishikawa penetrated deep into the side. Although his cross from the end line was blocked by Niigata's defenders, Imakano, who had made a run, stabbed a low shot from outside the left area into the net! They scored an additional goal from an ideal situation.

　In the 24th minute, Lucas picked up a loose ball from a left cross and took a shot. Tokyo completely dominated the ball and took the advantage. They slowed down a bit after the 30th minute, but their rhythm remained intact. In the 32nd minute, Niigata exchanged a one-two pass on the left side between DF Aono and FW Suzuki, and sent a final pass to the goal, but Doi easily caught it. In the 34th minute, Tokyo's defense line intercepted Niigata's attack, and Kurisawa ran up the space and sent a final pass to the goal. Lucas jumped in but missed it by a little. In the 38th minute, Niigata attacked again. MF Fabiño broke through on the left side. RF Uchimoto ran in for a side change to the right and crossed it back to the middle, but Doi caught it. In the 42nd minute, Toda dropped a early cross from Kaji, and Lucas, who received the ball with his back to the goal, turned around and took a shot, but it went over the bar. In the 44th minute, Niigata's Suzuki broke free from a floating pass in front of the goal, but Shigeki calmly dealt with it. Tokyo quickly switched to attack after winning the ball and overwhelmed Niigata. They went into the second half with a 2-goal lead.

TOKYO Rampant As Ishikawa, Konno Strike Early

TOKYO began the game aggressively, winning the ball and launching high speed attacks. In the first minute Toda outpaced a defender down the left and crossed towards Lucas who headed narrowly wide. In the 2nd. minute Ishikawa dribbled down the right and centred to Lucas with a similar result. Ishikawa dribbled into the area in the 6th. minute but was blocked out; Kaji pounced on the loose ball and drilled a low cross into the six yard box that Kurisawa, at full stretch, missed by a whisker. TOKYO had seized the initiative with Miyazawa distributing the ball impressively from midfield out to the flanks. 
In the 11th. minute Konno headed a corner over the bar and when Nozawa, the Albirex keeper, scuffed the goal kick out towards the right touchline Ishikawa latched onto the ball and set off for goal at full speed. With teammates and opponents racing into the area ahead of him Ishikawa shot early and low and somehow the ball evaded the mass of players in the goalmouth to nestle just inside the far post. The goal was a direct result of Ishikawa's positive approach and ample reward for his efforts. Edmilson mustered the first shot for Albirex in the 15th. minute, a long range effort that Doi held easily. It would be their only chance of the first period. In the 21st. minute Miyazawa unleashed a sublime pass out to Ishikawa on the right; Ishikawa hared to the byline and centred. The panicky Albirex defence cleared the ball only as far as Konno, just outside the area, and he lashed an unstoppable low drive past the keeper for the second goal. It was a perfect start for F.C.TOKYO. 
Lucas nearly made it three in the 24th. minute but fired a loose ball just wide of the post. TOKYO were in total command. The blistering pace began to slacken a little around the half hour mark, allowing Albirex to enjoy more posession. In the 32nd. minute defender Aono and forward Suzuki played a one two through the centre but Doi reacted sharply to smother the danger. In the 34th. minute Jean stole the ball from an Albirex forward and fed Kurisawa; Kurisawa raced into space but Lucas failed to make contact with the final ball. Albirex countered in the 38th. minute through Fabinho on the left but Doi cleanly held Kaimoto's header into the danger area. In the 42nd. minute Toda knocked Kaji's early cross down to Lucas who swiveled and volleyed just over the bar. In the 44th. minute Moniwa coolly dealt with a threatening ball lofted over the TOKYO backline into the path of Suzuki. An excellent all-round performance saw TOKYO maintain the two goal lead at half time. 

Lucas seals the deal, 6 consecutive wins in the J1 opening match!

　In the cold rain that started to fall from the end of the first half, the second half began. Kanazawa cut off Niigata's kickoff ball. They advanced through the center and Toda received the last pass and took a shot. Kurizawa followed up on the rebound from the goalkeeper, but it didn't result in a goal. After that, in the 48th minute, they took advantage of a momentary gap and allowed Honma, the midfielder, to advance into the area. In the 58th minute, Ueno, the forward, jumped into the goal area from a right free kick. Although there were moments where Niigata allowed Kanazawa to attack by throwing in long balls and picking up loose balls, the defense calmly dealt with it.

　It was the next play. In the 59th minute, starting from Doi, a quick attack was launched and a long pass was made to Ishikawa. Ishikawa, who received the ball in the right area, skillfully maneuvered between three opposing defenders and initiated a challenge, almost losing the ball while falling down. However, Lucas, who followed up on the loose ball, scored a goal! With the tenacity of Ishikawa and the combination of Lucas, they scored the third goal. Leaving Niigata feeling down, in the 62nd minute, Lucas picked up an easy clearance in the opponent's half and penetrated into the left area. He evaded the opposing defender and unleashed a powerful shot from an impossible angle, piercing the top right corner of the net to score the fourth goal.

　After that, Niigata, who had no choice but to attack, brought in new signing MF Lima in the 65th minute. In the 73rd minute, Lima broke free from a lofted pass into the area and entered a shooting position, but Jahn closed him down and the ball went over the bar. In the 70th minute, DF Kaimoto shot from a right corner kick. Suzuki Shin followed up on the loose ball in front of the goal, but his shot was not well-measured. In the 78th minute, DF Kaimoto Yuki received his second yellow card and was sent off. In the 11 vs 10 situation, in the 82nd minute, Danilo replaced Ishikawa, who had been working hard throughout the match, and in the 87th minute, Miura replaced Miyazawa. After that, both teams continued to attack each other, resulting in a fast-paced and action-packed match with many shooting opportunities, but neither team allowed a goal. Throughout the 90 minutes, Tokyo created chances with aggressive ball recovery and fast attacks, showing a variety of scoring patterns such as side attacks and individual skills from Lucas. Defensively, Mobata and Jahn held off Niigata's attacks with their physical defending, leading to a dominant victory. In the J1 League, which has switched to a single-stage format this season, they got off to a great start.

　【Player Comments】《Miyazawa》"It's difficult to give a score, but personally I would rate it around 70-75. It was good that I was able to create chances from the side change, but scoring goals and getting more involved with the ball in the second half are areas for improvement. I want to pick up more loose balls and calm the game down."《Ishikawa》"I tried to be proactive from the start of the home opener. I was careful about the speed of my movement because there were a lot of side changes from Miyazawa. The momentum of the first shot for the lead was weak and not as expected, but I think it's important to shoot there."《Lucas》"(My) second goal was of course aimed towards the goal, but it might not be the best place to aim for it to go in (laughs). Today's game was honestly a good game, but it's a long season. I want to level up even more."

　[Summary of Manager Hara's Press Conference] "It's great that we were able to continue our winning streak in the opening match. We had been assessing Danilo until last week's preseason match, but we decided that it would take a little more time. Miyazawa has been in great form, so we made that one change. The strength we have is our speed, which is simple. Many people are saying that 'Imano is the key defensive midfielder this season,' but we are thinking about how we can utilize players like Ishikawa, Toda, Suzuki Nori, and Kobayashi, who can compete on the wings. Today, I think we were able to get on a rhythm by going forward without fear and using passes from Miyazawa and Kurisawa to involve Ishikawa and Toda. We talked about wanting to score two goals in one match, so it's a happy miscalculation that we scored four goals (laughs). However, even if we win the opening match, what comes after is important. We want to continue our simple yet fast-paced attacking style or break through from the sides. (Did the rhythm drop in the second half because we pushed too hard in the first half?) It's not possible to maintain a fast pace all the time. In the second half, Niigata started to play direct and quickly put the ball in against our press, coming to pick up loose balls. It can't be helped that the ball was put in, but we want to compete well in picking up those loose balls and focus on fast attacking. How we respond when the opponent kicks a long ball is a challenge. We want to be flexible and adapt while also incorporating a slightly deeper defensive approach. Last season, our away record was not good, so we want to prepare well for the Hiroshima match."

　[Summary of Niigata Coach's Press Conference] "We received a lot of support from Niigata, but I feel responsible for the disappointing result. I told the players to stay positive after the game, whether we lose 0-1 or 0-2, the points are zero. We need to prepare for the next game. The next game will come even if we sleep, so we need to think about what to do next. We have to set goals and move forward. The game played into Tokyo's strengths. We could have predicted that, but Tokyo took the lead and we couldn't catch up. Coach Hara jumped ahead of us (laughs), and there was nothing good about it. However, it was a game with a clear purpose, so we will focus on that and fix the mistakes. We fell into Tokyo's continuous pressing, going after their ball and their players. But Tokyo should have been motivated by the booing they received in the preseason match a week ago. We should also take the booing we received today positively and bring the team to play aggressively like Tokyo did today."

Lucas Strikes To Seal Victory

The heavy rain that began falling at the end of the first half continued into the second but the miserable weather failed to cool TOKYO's ardor. Kanazawa interecepted a loose pass straight from the kick off and found Toda; the Albirex keeper failed to hold his powerful strike and Kurisawa nearly bundled the ball over the line. The visitors threatened more than in the first half with long balls out of defence aimed towards the strikers but the TOKYO defence maintained concentration and smothered the danger. 
Doi cleanly held a free kick in the 58th. minute and found Ishikawa with a sharp kick out to the wing. Ishikawa dribbled between three defenders and into the area; as he fell under pressure he managed to prod the ball into the path of Lucas who dispatched it past Nozawa for the third goal. Ishikawa's persistance and Lucas' sweet strike had earned the vital third goal. Albirex visibly wilted and Lucas hammered the final nail into their coffin barely three minutes later, pouncing on a poor clearance to burst past a defender and crash a shot into the roof of the net from a seemingly impossible angle. 
Albirex sent on Anderson Lima in the 65th. minute and their best chance of the half fell to the new signing in 73rd. minute as he ran onto a pass floated over the TOKYO defence. Jean flung himself forward and succeeded in forcing Anderson to shoot over the bar. Albirex briefly threatened from a corner in the 70th. minute but a thoroughly miserable evening for the visitors was completed when Kojiro Kaimoto was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for a pointless foul on Ishikawa. 
Ishikawa made way for Danilo in the 82nd. minute and Miura replaced Miyazawa in the 87th. Both sides attacked until the final whistle blew on a comprehensive 4-0 win for F.C.TOKYO. It had been a deeply satisfying performance: aggressively winning the ball right across the field, decisively attacking at high speed and using the flanks to deliver top quality crosses, coupled with Lucas' individual skill. Moniwa and Jean gave towering performances, totally dominating central defence. All in all, the best possible start to the season. 


Players' comments:
Miyazawa
"It's difficult to grade your own performance but I'd give myself 70-75 today. We used the wings well but my shooting and contribution in the second half weren't as good. I need to win more loose balls and be a little more composed".

Ishikawa
"It was the first game and we were at home so we wanted to be as positive as possible from the start. Miyazawa played a lot of balls out to the wing so I had to pay attention to my speed and timing in making runs. The shot for the first goal was weak and not what I had intended but the most important thing is to shoot when there is a chance, I think".

Lucas
"For the second goal of course I was aiming to score but I didn't think it would go in. Today was a good performance but it's a long season; I want to improve my game as much as possible".


F.C.TOKYO manager Hara 
"TOKYO have won the first game of the season for many years now and we really wanted to continue that run. I watched Danilo closely in the friendly last week and decided it was better to give him a little more time. Miyazawa has been in very good form recently and that was the only change I made. Our strengths lie in our speed and straightforward play. Many people have questioned the formation with Konno as sole defensive midfielder but with Toda, Ishikawa, Norio Suzuki and Kobayashi all able to play in wide positions we have been considering it. The players pushed forward without fear today and the quality of passes from Miyazawa and Kurisawa to Toda and Ishikawa allowed them to use their speed and we found our rhythm. I said I expected the team to score two goals a game so four today is a real bonus. Just winning the first game is the most important thing. That was the best possible start for us today: we aim to perfect our style of direct, fast football using the wings to pull opponents apart. The pace fell in the second half but it's impossible to maintain that intensity for the full 90 minutes. Also, Albirex began playing the long ball more, bypassing the midfield, looking to pick up knock downs and loose balls. We have to learn to deal with that tactic and adapt our play accordingly. The next game is away to Sanfrecce Hiroshima, where we don't have a particularly good record, so we'll be looking to prepare thoroughly for that". 

Albirex manager Sorimachi
"Many fans came down from Niigata and I feel a strong responsibility for the poor result. After the game I told the players that even if we lose 1-0 or 2-0 we still get no points. We really allowed TOKYO to play to their strengths today and although we had anticipated that we couldn't do anything about it. There wasn't anything positive to take from this performance. Still, TOKYO were booed after last week's pre-season match so hopefully the booing we received today will serve to inspire the team the way it obviously did for TOKYO. We have to work hard on our weak points and play as aggressively as our opponents did in the next match".