Fight together as a team to aim for the semifinal

The second leg of the Nabisco Cup quarterfinals will be played away against Nagoya Grampus. In the first leg on July 15, we won by 5-1. Therefore, even if we lose, as long as the goal difference is within three, we will advance to the semifinals. We can say that we are currently in an advantageous position, but Coach Jofuku said, "Nagoya will surely come to this match with a strong determination. It is also a home game, and if we take it lightly, we will suffer. We want to show a strong determination to win the semifinals and fight with a tightened focus."

　Nagoya, on the other hand, welcomes the halfway point of the league with the addition of Australian representative forward Kennedy. Not only has he already scored consecutive goals in two matches, but he has also unified the team's intentions and brought out the strengths of the surrounding players. Therefore, it will be a major point to see how we can contain the attacks targeting this forward Kennedy. As coach Jofuku says with a wry smile, "No matter how cautious we are, we cannot change Kennedy's height." We want to firmly control the sides and take care of where the early crosses come from.

　Tokyo will face the match with a fresh lineup, making significant changes to the team. In goal, Shioda, who will make his first official appearance this season, replaces Tokunaga, Yonemoto, Ishikawa, and Hirayama, with Mukuhara, Suzuki, Tanabe, and Akamine starting. Coach Jofuku said, "We have been using the same starting lineup for a while now, so the aim is to provide stimulation and increase new options, so that we can synchronize our breathing in any combination. Each player has accumulated injuries and fatigue, so there are players who need recovery."

　In this match, if Tokyo can score the first goal, they should be able to advance the game more advantageously. Although it won't be easy as Nagoya has regained their strong defensive power, they want to attack by aiming for the spaces and behind on both sides of Nagoya. It will be a match where the team's overall strength and the flow of the game are read, and tactics are tested. Let's unite and seize the semifinal round! The match started at 19:00 with Nagoya's kickoff at Nagoya Mizuho Athletics Stadium.

Trailing by one point at halftime

　The strong desire not to concede goals from both sides was evident in a cautious start. Among them, Tokyo began to create chances by connecting passes. In the 13th minute, Kajiyama, who picked up a loose ball in the center, dribbled up and passed it through to Akamine, who had drifted to the right area. He shot directly but missed the target. In the 22nd minute, there was a quick counterattack from a swift transition. Kabore sent a final pass from a dribble to the right area. Akamine ran precisely into that position and took a decisive shot, but it was blocked by the goalkeeper's excellent save...

　32 minutes, Kajiyama's side change and Mukuhara overlaps and crosses from the right. Akamine in the area heads the shot, but the timing is slightly off and it floats. In defense, they were firmly holding back Nagoya's long balls, but in the 33rd minute, Imamura and Nagoya FW Maki competed and the ball spilled to Tokyo's right side. FW Kennedy reacted quickly to the ground pass that was crossed to the center, and Maki jumped in to score... They conceded the opening goal that they didn't want to give away.

　However, Tokyo continued to play calmly without feeling down. In the 36th minute, Akamine received a through pass from Tanabe and kept the ball while carrying the defender. He then passed it to Hayashi, who made a decisive shot but it went over the goal. In stoppage time, Kabore, Suzuki, Hayashi, and Tanabe displayed great passing skills on the right side, with Hayashi trying to break through the defense. However, his pass from Tanabe was intercepted, leading to a counterattack. Although they managed to contain the counterattack, Nagoya's right back Tanaka advanced and made an early cross. However, Kennedy, the forward in the left area, failed to touch the ball and it went out of bounds. As a result, Tokyo ended the first half with a one-goal deficit.

Game over with Hirayama's goal! Securing a spot in the semifinal round

　In the second half, Nagoya aggressively launched a power play, while Tokyo took advantage of the opportunity to counterattack. In the 50th minute, Nagatomo overlapped and crossed from the left. Cabore, who was running freely in the right area, volleyed the ball but couldn't put it into the goal. In the 52nd minute, Kajiyama quickly restarted the game. Cabore caught up with a long ball sent to the right front line, skillfully turned past the opposing defender who came to mark him, and attempted a looping shot over the jumping goalkeeper, but the shot missed to the upper left.

　Tokyo replaced Cabore with Tokunaga and Ishikawa in succession, using player substitutions to launch a counterattack. However, in the 65th minute, they failed to clear Nagoya's right corner kick and allowed a header goal by DF Yoshida, conceding their second goal. Nagoya, riding the momentum, continued to launch fierce attacks. Tokyo was under pressure for a prolonged period of time, and in the 77th minute, they substituted Hirayama for Tanabe in an attempt to regain their rhythm.

　As time passed, Nagoya became more aggressive, but gradually seized opportunities on the counterattack. In the 82nd minute, Ishikawa sprinted down the right side and sent a last pass, but it was caught by the goalkeeper. Then, in the right area, a left-footed shot was deflected by a defender and resulted in a left corner kick. Then, in the 85th minute, Ishikawa picked up a loose ball that Akamine and the opposing defender contested and rushed to the right area. Hiraoka scored with a negative cross. The game ended as it was, and we lost the second game. Although we tied in terms of wins, we advanced to the semifinals by surpassing the goal difference and secured a match against Shimizu S-Pulse in September.

　【Player Comments】《Shiota》"It was my first official match in a while, and I felt both the tension and the enjoyment. I'm happy to be back, but since we lost, I think I could only do the bare minimum. We had been conceding few goals lately, so I was conscious of keeping the score down today, but we were under pressure for a long time and conceding two goals is a concern. However, even while facing power plays, I think it was good that we managed to score. (Did you receive loud cheers from the stands?) I felt grateful to be on the pitch, having been supported up to this point. I'm really happy to have returned to the field with the support of my teammates, family, and friends. I want to repay that support by delivering results from now on. (Have you been supporting each other with Gonda?) Moving forward, I want to strive for titles through high-level competition." 《Hirayama》"We lost, but we achieved our primary goal of reaching the Semifinal Round, which I think is good. Even when I was sitting on the bench, there were chances, so I wasn't too anxious. I thought that if we scored one goal, it would make things much easier... I was watching with that in mind. In preparation for the match, since Nagoya played a lot of long balls, we focused on making sure our forwards could handle that. The goal came because Nao was sharp, so I aimed to align with that. Then, the pass came just as I imagined, and it was an easy goal. (The streak of not losing has ended?) Everyone isn't too down, and we will switch gears for the next match. We have a goal of winning against Kawasaki, and we aim for the Nabisco title, so we want to win one by one toward that goal."

　[Summary of Coach Jofuku's Press Conference] "I think it was very good that we were able to achieve the result of advancing to the Semifinal Round, which is our minimum requirement, and I believe the players did their best individually. Although we lost today, I want to see the fact that we were able to conduct the match with the minimum result in mind as one achievement. However, we thought that if we scored one goal without showing any gaps in today's match, the game would be over. With that game plan, I believe the players were in a position to go for that goal and were moving well up until the final shot. However, by continuing to miss decisive chances, we were reminded that it can revive the opponent. It was not a match where we should have made the opponent feel any possibility, but if we miss that many decisive chances, it will turn into such a game, and the players must engrave that in their hearts. If we aim for the next stage in both the league and the Nabisco Cup, we should have stopped the opponent's breath much earlier. That is something we need to take as a challenge along with our achievements, and I hope we can connect it to the next stage, including the league. Today, I am glad that we were able to celebrate advancing to the Semifinal Round with the fans who came from far away."

　[Summary of the press conference by Nagoya's coach STOJKOVIC] "I think our team showed good play. We were able to win, but it was a tough game. It was really difficult because it was a game based on the result of the first match. We were able to go in aggressively and won, but it was not enough of a match. I think the loss in Tokyo (in the first match) was significant today. (In terms of game management, did we fail to attack effectively?) In the first 10 minutes, it would have been good if we could have applied pressure and scored about three goals, but the result of the first match was significant. However, we went for the third goal, and I thought we could have scored it with just a little more effort. I really believe we showed what we have today, and if we had scored the third goal, everything would have changed and various possibilities would have opened up. I am satisfied with the content of the match, and I really think the players worked hard. Tokyo is also a team that targets counterattacks well; they are a good team and it was a difficult game. Although the result was like this, we want to focus on the ACL and the league and move forward."