Star Corps Antlers

The opponent in the Nabisco Cup Semifinal Round is last year's J-League champion, Kashima Antlers. Since the opening of the J-League in 1993, this powerhouse has consistently been in the championship race, and it is no exaggeration to say that they are now one of Japan's representative clubs. This season, however, the generational shift between young players and veterans has not aligned, resulting in a low annual ranking (J1) of 9th place (1st: 9th, 2nd: 8th), but their potential is still outstanding. In this match, six players from the Olympic representative team are absent due to the second qualifying round for the Sydney Olympics, and the ace striker Maginho is also sidelined due to injury. However, the defense line composed of full national team members Soma, Akita, and Narahashi, who participated in last year's France World Cup, boasts one of the strongest defenses in the J-League. In the midfield, former full national team player Honda plays as a defensive midfielder, alongside the key player Bismarck, a former Brazilian national team member, and forward Hasegawa, a veteran with experience in the full national team, ensuring a luxurious lineup that is among the best in the J-League. Similar to the Yokohama F.Marinos, who faced off in the Nabisco Cup Quarterfinals, it will be interesting to see how the top J2 team, Tokyo, performs against this star-studded team. The highly anticipated first match kicked off in light rain at the Kashima Soccer Stadium, which is under renovation for the 2002 World Cup.

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

From 9/25 to 10/11, Tokyo has entered an extremely tough period with 5 matches (about one match every 3 days) over a span of 16 days, combining league and cup matches. Already, J2 has 6 more league matches per year than J1, and Tokyo, which has also played more cup matches than other teams within J2, is definitely at a disadvantage in terms of "fatigue." There were concerns about the conditioning gap with J1 teams during the league break. However, once the match started, Tokyo displayed a lively performance that seemed to blow away those worries. It reminded us of the scene in the previous Nabisco Cup quarterfinal first leg (7/20), where they performed a "quick kill show" by scoring 2 goals in just 3 minutes against the "superior" F. Marinos. On this day, Tokyo approached the match with a lineup and system that could be considered a "strange tactic," just like that time. They benched their ace, Amaral, who was not in perfect condition, and changed the system from a single striker to a fresh two-top with Kaburaki and Enomoto. Enomoto made his first start. They moved the key attacking player, Almir, to a defensive midfielder position, and instead of regular stopper Komine, they used Yamao, who had only played in 2 matches of this season's Nabisco Cup quarterfinals. However, this worked out well. The speedy Kaburaki and Enomoto, right from the kickoff, fiercely chased the ball from the front line, and their momentum enabled the entire team to implement intense coordinated pressing from the front, putting strong pressure on the Antlers. Due to the slippery ground from the rain, they induced a pass mistake from the Antlers, stole the ball, and gathered it to Almir, who then distributed good passes to the front line. Up front, Kaburaki confused the opponents with his unpredictable movements, while Yukihiko on the right side and Okamoto on the left side each became a base to create chances. In the 8th and 11th minutes, Yukihiko 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.

In the 40th minute of the first half, with Enomoto unable to establish a base in the front line, ace Amaral came on, and the match returned to Tokyo's pace. The striker representing J2, undeterred by the poor condition of the pitch, stabilized the rhythm of the attack with consistent hold-up play and ball retention. Amaral was marked by Akita, a current full national team player, who responded with fierce charges, but it had no effect on Amaral that day. With a stable base established in the front line, Tokyo encouraged the attacking participation of their characteristic full-backs. In the 41st minute, Fujiyama showcased a dribbling breakthrough past five defenders from the left side of his own half to Amaral. Amaral broke through vertically and delivered a cross from a deep position, but unfortunately, it was blocked by the goalkeeper. In the following 42nd minute, Fujiyama again evaded several defenders on the left side and passed to Amaral, who quickly found the free Kaburaki on the opposite side. Kaburaki's shot went wide, but they were able to create a good attacking shape. Amaral's addition not only stabilized the rhythm of the attack but also instilled confidence in the team.

Crying over the difference in accuracy in front of the goal

Even in the second half, both teams continued to fiercely contest without giving an inch. The "superior" Antlers made almost no mistakes after entering the second half. In J2, there are often times when the opponent makes mistakes after the ball is taken away, but this team did not have that. In contrast, Tokyo, with Almir showing fierce determination in his chasing, took the ball and built the game with diverse passes. From there, they created chances through Fujiyama's effective dribbling and Kaburaki's breakthroughs, but the accuracy of the final pass was low, and although Amaral managed to force a shot, he could not shake the goal net. Conversely, although the number of attempts was fewer than Tokyo's, the Antlers persistently repeated side attacks and delivered precise crosses, creating decisive scenes. Tokyo's goalkeeper Suzuki made several fine plays to prevent danger, but finally, in the 39th minute of the second half, they were cut deep from the left side, and a ball was returned to Bismarck, resulting in the second goal conceded. After this, towards the end, Amaral took consecutive shots, showing Tokyo's determination until the end, but the goal remained distant. In the end, the match concluded as it was. As indicated by the shot count of 13-10, Tokyo outperformed the Antlers in terms of game content. Although they lost due to the difference in accuracy in front of the goal, the confidence gained from being able to compete evenly against the "superior" Antlers is significant. After this, they will face Yamagata in the J2 League four days later (in Yamagata City), and three days after that, they will have the second match against the Antlers (at Japan National Stadium). Despite the extremely tight schedule and a two-goal deficit, they have no choice but to overcome it based on the confidence gained that 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.