A crucial match to seek revenge in the league and maintain the top spot.

The 4th round of the Nabisco Cup qualifying league was played away against Cerezo Osaka. In the previous league match against Omiya, we suffered a 0-1 defeat due to missed chances from set plays. As we have two consecutive away matches, we will approach this match by fielding fresh players. Kaga and Ota will be the fullbacks, Hasegawa and Yonemoto will form the double pivot in midfield, Kono and Mita will be the left and right midfielders, and Watanabe and Lee will form the forward line.

C Osaka, who is facing them, is currently in 4th place with 4 points in the Nabisco qualifying group. Despite playing consecutive matches, they have faced them without making significant changes to the team so far, but they have not won any of the 3 official matches and are currently on a 2-game losing streak. However, they have never completely collapsed, and all the matches they lost were by a one-point difference. Just like the previous league match against Tokyo, it can be said that the outcome will be determined by a close battle. They are in a similar situation as Tokyo, but they should also seize the opportunity to rise up at home.

Ishikawa, who returned from injury and joined the team from this round, said, "The current team has skill and versatility, which is reliable. However, if that reliability does not lead to results, we need to add fear to that reliability and continue to challenge. We may need a fighting attitude that can be entrusted to the people watching, and continue to fight." It seems that it will be a fight where you cannot let your guard down until the end, but without fearing mistakes, we want to express an attitude of "going to steal the ball" and "attacking to the end" on the pitch and lead to victory.

The match started with C Osaka's kickoff at 19:05 at Osaka Nagai Stadium.

Although they dominated the ball, they were unable to create any decisive chances and went into halftime with a scoreless draw.

Tokyo dominates the ball from the start. In the 4th minute, Li takes the team's first shot, but it goes wide. In the 10th minute, Li -> Kaga sprints down the right side from a counterattack. From there, they aim for the opposite side and send a pass, but Mita tries to run in and is touched just before, escaping to a corner kick. However, in a situation where the opponent creates a block and attacks from there, they are unable to make a vertical pass and cannot switch.

On the contrary, there are increasing scenes where we are countered after making mistakes. Furthermore, the opponent aims for a shallow defensive line and uses long balls extensively, attacking until the goal area, but we defend well, mainly with Shioda. In the 37th minute, Mita dribbles forward after Li, who broke through to the left area, dropped Hasegawa's long pass. From here, when a cross is made, Watanabe, who ran into the area near the center, directly shoots a middle shot without much momentum, which goes straight to the front of the goalkeeper.

In the 41st minute, Yonemoto stole the ball in the midfield and spread it to the left side. Mita dribbled around the middle and aimed for a shot with his right foot, but it went wide. In the 43rd minute, from a pass in the midfield, Kono broke through the defense with Yonemoto's long pass, but couldn't bring it to a shot due to losing balance. Tokyo took control and dominated the ball throughout the match, but couldn't create any scoring opportunities. The first half ended with both teams scoreless.

After catching up once, they allowed another goal and suffered their first defeat in the qualifying league.

From the experience of playing in the league, there were instructions to be careful about how we start the second half in stoppage time, but we ended up conceding the first goal. In the 55th minute, we tried to cut off the opponent's attack and connect from the defensive line, but they took the ball away and put in an early cross from the left side. FW Edino and Morishige competed for the ball in front of the goal, and the loose ball was decisively scored by FW Kakitani. Tokyo, who wants to counterattack, substitutes Higashi for Kono in the 58th minute.

Then in the 61st minute, it expanded from the center's Yonemoto to the right side's Kaga. When an early cross was put in from here, Li in the center headed it into the goal. They immediately caught up to the tie. Furthermore, in the 63rd minute, Watanabe jumped in with his head from Mita's exquisite cross from the left side, but he couldn't hit it. It seemed that the flow had completely begun to tilt towards Tokyo, but in the 69th minute, they were quickly connected to C Osaka, and MF Simplício, who packed the loose ball, allowed them to score a middle again.

Substitute Ishikawa for Mita immediately. Tokyo wanted to regain the momentum, but they were on the defensive against C Osaka's strong attack. In the 75th minute, Osaka's forward Kakitani broke through Tokyo's defense and faced Shioda one-on-one. Shioda bravely rushed forward and shot at the empty goal, but Takahashi, who had come to cover, cleared the ball. The defense held on and prevented any additional goals. In the final minutes, the opponent had a player sent off and continued to push forward, but they were unable to score. The match ended as it was, resulting in Tokyo's first loss in the qualifying league.

[Player Comments]
《Lee》"The goal was just a matter of adjusting because I received a good ball from Kaga-san. There was a scene in the first half where it was stopped by the goalkeeper, so I was able to calmly aim. However, it was the same in the Marinos match, I also had a chance to score the second goal. I think not being able to score two goals there is affecting the outcome of the game. It is necessary to continue scoring goals and I have no choice but to believe in myself and keep going."

Today I played as an attacking midfielder, but I adjusted my positioning based on the reflection from the Omiya match and tried to participate in passing as much as possible. I want to improve on those movements even more. As for the flow of the game, it takes a long time to take the lead, and we are conceding goals at times when we shouldn't. It becomes tough if we concede a second goal there. It's not that C Osaka played well...rather, it became a disappointing game where we ended up giving away points... However, we have the strength as a team, and I believe that we can always catch a wave with some kind of trigger."


"When I was playing as a defensive midfielder today, I was trying to make plays that the side midfielders would expect. I was also considering making runs behind the defense, but maybe I lacked plays that would create opportunities in the center a little more. (There was also a scene where I went up and took a shot inside) C Osaka was setting up a block, so they didn't follow my movements when I went inside. That's why I aimed carefully and took the shot... but I could only shoot with my right foot."

The way the blocks were made was good, but we didn't have any opportunities to pass. We need to discuss and demand more movement from the front line. In the league match, C Osaka gradually increased the pace in the second half. In that sense, we had a similar game. We needed to be able to decide when we were dominating in the first half and not let the opponent do certain things. For example, it was necessary to create blocks and defend against counters... I think."

[Coach's Press Conference Summary]
《Coach Popovic》"What happened here and the result were different from what we had hoped for, and I can't accept it now. Looking back at the first half, we had the initiative and were progressing the game, but we lacked accuracy in finishing. Whether it was the final pass or the shot."

It is important to prepare well for the next game. It is important to analyze and reflect on the parts that led to such results and improve in the next game. To seize one opportunity, it is necessary to obtain results. I think that by obtaining results, we will be able to fight with more confidence, so I would like to consider that aspect."

"Tokyo is a very well-coached team led by a great leader, so it's always a close game. Today was also such a game. It was good that we were able to achieve victory, but to be honest, it was a game that we could have finished with more ease. There were many opportunities to score additional goals. However, I think today's game was one that we were destined to win."

(We have been playing the Nabisco Cup with a full squad until now, but what is our enthusiasm for this tournament? It means that the importance is the same in any tournament. Furthermore, we are approaching this tournament with this lineup with the aim of increasing the team's completeness by playing games with the same members.)