France Expedition Day 4
Today also started with a morning walk.
I spent a pleasant morning moment while looking at the flowing river and group of churches in front of me.
In the morning, I moved my body at the same Oksel Academy ground as yesterday in preparation for the afternoon match.
By training in the same place for two days, they were able to get along with the academy players and we also witnessed heartwarming scenes where they ran together during downtime.
We had lunch at the same academy cafeteria as yesterday and then departed by bus for Sansu, where the tournament will be held. Before departure, we heard that the top team won against Hiroshima and took the lead, which further heightened the members' spirits.
I left my luggage at the police school dormitory, which serves as the accommodation for Sansu, and took the tournament shuttle bus to the venue.
The first opponent of the match is Grand Senonais.
This is the selected team of Sansu where the tournament is held.
Before the game, there was a comment from Coach Miyazawa, "As representatives of FC Tokyo, let's work hard and win," which raised our spirits as we approached the match.
Under the clear sky, with many spectators watching, the first match of the tournament kicks off.
The game continued to progress with a slight advantage, but we struggled to convert our chances, making it a difficult period.
In the meantime, in the 15th minute, Watanabe in the center scored a header from a free kick kicked by Miyazaki from the right side, and took the long-awaited opening goal.
19 minutes, Watanabe sent a ball from the left side to the opponent's back, and Bryan broke free and scored with a direct shot for an additional point.
We ended the first half with a score of 2-0.
In the second half, we continued to attack with the same momentum as the first half. In the 28th minute, Watanabe dribbled past the right side from a deep position and crossed the ball. Satomata in the center then scored with a powerful header, making it 3-0.
However, after scoring a goal in the 29th minute, we were caught off guard and conceded a goal. The score became 3-1.
At a point where the atmosphere was starting to turn sour, Bryan dribbled through the center from the right side at the 30th minute, evaded two opponents, and spectacularly smashed the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal, making it 4-1.
In addition, in the 35th minute just before the end, Miyagawa pushed in the loose ball from Miyazaki's right side FK, making it 5-1.
Okada, Tegawa, Tosa, and Miyagawa, who entered the game in the middle, also firmly got into the flow of the game and played well, and it was truly a victory that we won together.
After the match, Coach Miyazawa also said to the players, "It was a good game where everyone fought with their bodies and showed great spirit in both offense and defense. We will continue to face stronger teams starting tomorrow, but let's work hard to improve our performance and achieve good results."
The result of winning in the important first match was achieved through the unity of the team.
Tomorrow, we will continue to face even more challenging matches, but we will do our best to achieve good results and gain valuable experience.
