Tokyo Castle's first preseason match of the season!

　Two weeks before the start of the league, a preseason match was held with J2 Consadole Sapporo. This season, the second year for coach Hiroshi JOFUKU, aims to continue the "Moving Football" and build on the achievements, while taking on new challenges as a team and as players, with the goal of winning titles. Through the Guam and Miyazaki camps, this was a great opportunity to test the results achieved so far.

　Long-time players Nagatomo and Imano also joined the team energetically from the Miyazaki camp for the activities of the Japan national team. Although Shioda and Cabore are absent from the team, the team's condition can be said to be improving as they continue to play practice matches. Today, the lineup is as follows: GK Kantoda, DF Tokunaga, Sahara, Motonoba, Nagatomo from the right, Imano at the bottom of the midfield, Bruno QUADROS, with Hayabusa and Kajiyama on the left and right respectively, and a two-top formation with Hirayama and Kondo.

　Sapporo.D, which will be playing in J2 this season, has welcomed a new coach, Ishizaki, and aims to play pressing football by putting pressure on the opponent's ball holder from a high position, just like Kashiwa, which led until last season, based on abundant physical fitness. Although there are many injured players at the moment and they cannot approach the game with the best lineup, we should be able to see the "New Sapporo Football".

　Despite the wind, the match started at 2:02pm with a kickoff in Sapporo, with a temperature of 25.5℃.

Demonstrate a fast-paced passing soccer, take the lead with Kajiyama's goal!

　Tokyo attacks with a coordinated passing game from the start of the match. They win two right corner kicks at the beginning, with Hayu and Kajiyama taking the kicks, but they are unable to finish. In the 3rd minute, they steal the ball in their own half and quickly launch an attack, with Kondo dribbling up and forcefully shooting a mid-range shot. The first shot of the day goes over the bar. In the 8th minute, Nagatomo -> Kondo makes a move on the left side and earns a free kick outside the left area. Kajiyama takes this free kick and sends it towards the center with a ground pass, and Imano, who runs in from the right, takes a direct shot but misses the target.

　At 15 minutes, Nagatomo advanced and won a corner kick. Kajiyama's left corner kick was headed by Konno, but it went wide. At 20 minutes, a direct pass was connected and Hayashi, who had moved up the center, attempted a powerful right-footed shot from the right area, but it was saved by the goalkeeper. In the following 22 minutes, starting from Kondo's post, Kajiyama passed to Bruno in the opponent's area near the front, and Hayashi aimed for the goal from the loose ball of the defense. It was a controlled shot, but the momentum was weak and the goalkeeper caught it.

　Tokyo completely dominates the midfield. Then, in the 25th minute, Bruno QUADROS in the midfield heads the opponent goalkeeper's kick forward. Akamine in the front line wins the ball against the opponent's defender and drops it with a header. The ball rolls in front of Kajiyama, who was advancing, and he shoots. The ball grazes the right post and bounces back into the net, scoring the opening goal. Even after that, they continue their attacking play with passing football and threaten the opponent's goal, but they are unable to score an additional goal. On the contrary, they create opportunities for the opponent to counterattack, but without allowing them to take a shot. As a result, the first half ends with a shot count of 8 to 2, clearly showing Tokyo's pace.

Unable to stop Sapporo's momentum from the start of the second half, and suffered a comeback defeat

　Tokyo substitutes Suzuki and Hirayama for Kajiyama and Kondo in the second half. They are looking to score more goals. However, Sapporo starts the second half with strong pressure, quickly stealing the ball and launching fast attacks. Then, in the 47th minute, MF Danilson unleashes a left-footed long shot from about 25 meters in the center. Surprisingly, Gonda cannot move a step as he faces an eye-opening long shot. They concede an equalizer. In the 51st minute, Tokyo's Gonda sends a long feed and Hirayama heads it down, allowing Suzuki to break through. He takes the ball into the penalty area and takes a shot, but it goes wide to the right of the goal.

　59 minutes, this time a FK from Sapporo Chuo. MF Clayton as bait, MF Danielson's left foot explodes! The shot slips through the hands of Kanda and into the net, allowing the opponent to take the lead. Tokyo also wants to counterattack, but they can't pass like they did in the first half due to Sapporo's tight marking. In the 69th minute, Hayashi → Konno with a lofted through pass on the right side. Tokunaga timely advances and takes a shot from inside the right area, but it goes wide to the right of the goal. In the 75th minute, Ohata and Nakamura are substituted for Hayashi and Akamine. Nakamura takes the right SB position, Konno and Tokunaga become the central midfielders, and Kanazawa and Ohata become the left and right MF respectively, with Hirayama and Suzuki forming a two-top formation.

　Sapporo is starting to show signs of fatigue with 10 minutes remaining. Then, they have consecutive chances for a corner kick, but Otake fails to finish. In the 87th minute, Otake passes to Suzuki on the left side, who dribbles into the penalty area, but is unable to take a shot just a little bit further. In the 88th minute, Otake's through pass to Imano in the center is offside. Furthermore, in injury time, they earn three consecutive corner kicks, but still cannot take a shot. The match ends with a score of 1-2.

　【Player Comments】《Kajiyama》"It was hotter than I expected. The substitution in the first half was as planned. This season, I am playing as an attacking midfielder when we are on the offense, and returning to the side during defense. Today, I think I did fairly well in targeting the space behind after the forwards competed, and in supporting and making runs when the ball was played to the top. What I am conscious of is to get into the goal area as much as possible, even when physically exhausted. Also, when the side has the ball, I try to start moving earlier, right at the moment of entry. (How did you see the second half after Kajiyama was substituted?) I think the front line was often isolated. We were rushing too much forward, which was a problem we had last season as well. While it is clear from the outside, it is something that is hard to notice on the pitch. If I can reposition myself before the ball reaches the front line, those issues can be resolved, and it should become easier. I want to involve the attacking midfielder in the attack while calming the game down. This season, I believe there are expectations for what I can do up front. I want to focus on new challenges myself." 《Akamine》"I consciously made movements to get into the goal area easily. Today was also the end of the camp, and while there was fatigue as a team, there were parts we could do even while tired, and parts we couldn't. The issue is that passes to the front line were not coming through, and there are still areas where our common awareness and coordination are lacking. I also made many mistakes. However, as a forward, I believe it is important to patiently continue those movements. If I do that, the passes should start coming. Yohei's goal was good because of his movement. It was visible, and the run from behind was something we practiced during the camp. As we head towards the opening match, I want to correct the issues that came up today and make further adjustments. We are getting a lot of support in Tokyo, but in Okinawa, many friends and relatives came to watch, and their cheers were encouraging. Thank you very much."

　【Summary of Coach Jofuku's Press Conference ※Question and Answer Format】"(What are your thoughts on today's match?) I feel sorry for the fans who came from far away to support us and the people from Okinawa who were looking forward to this match, as it ended in a disappointing result. However, in terms of the content, it's not something to be overly pessimistic about. The way we played when the opponent pressed high, like in the first 15 minutes of the second half, is a challenge, but I don't feel that everything is negative. (In Tosu, you were working on the tactics in great detail. Could you see that intention in the first half?) Rather, we created an atmosphere where we could score 2 or 3 goals at any time. However, it was only a matter of precision in the end, and we couldn't score additional goals. That is also an achievement, but it is one of the challenges that we only scored one goal, and I think it's also a problem that we went into the second half with the feeling that we could score at any time.

　(I think the first half was quite good, but did you intentionally change the members in the second half? Was there an intention to try various combinations and use many players?) Yes, considering the time we have left and the number of practice matches, there were things we wanted to try in a well-organized setting like a preseason match, and there were also things that we needed to address in order to be ready. Including that, there may have been some negative aspects, but we identified specific challenges such as individual issues, combinations of members, and how the team operates under high pressure. It was like we were cautioned here, and I think that was good for us. We won against Kashiwa and Jeonnam Dragons in a very good way in Miyakonojo, and the first half today felt like an extension of that. I believe we achieved a lot in terms of creating an atmosphere where we can score at any time. (Is it ideal to play the same style of football in the second half with the members you had?) There were players who joined late, and some were still regaining their game sense and conditioning. We won't rush to conclusions after each match, but of course, we want them to return quickly. However, the team cannot fight with just 11 players. It is very important to raise the overall level of the team. We will take today's challenges and work on them together as a team.

　(What do we need to work on in the next two weeks leading up to the opening? Today, mentally, I think we were able to show that "we haven't accomplished anything yet" through the results. That's something to be grateful for. Even if we win in practice matches during the camp, we have to fight while capturing various flows when it becomes a serious match, and it's not enough to just say nice things. We were able to learn from that, so in the next two weeks, we want to pursue both the mental aspect and the quality of soccer that we are seeking, while also solidifying the team and preparing well.)

　[Summary of Sapporo Ishizaki's press conference] "It was a chance to play against the strong J1 team, FC Tokyo, in a preseason match. In the first half, I think the players were afraid of Tokyo and couldn't play their own soccer. In the second half, when they played with courage, it became their rhythm. The shots were also great, and two goals were scored. I think we need to play soccer like the second half from the first half. However, we are currently having a training camp in Kumamoto, and Okinawa is definitely different in temperature, it was quite hot. Nevertheless, in the second half, they fought with a lot of spirit. We still have two weeks, so I want to improve today's issues and welcome the opening match."