Today is the third day of the expedition, and finally the first day of the tournament. The long-awaited international competition begins.
Opening ceremony on the main court with stands in the morning. There was also a performance by the drum corps. The stands were filled with students from the Guangzhou Evergrande Football School.

Gathering photo at the opening ceremony venue

The 1st Round is against the local Guangzhou Evergrande Football School team. However, the first team is currently on a trip to Spain.
Therefore, the opponent will be the third team. We cannot afford to lose.

The pre-game meeting was conducted carefully.	Finally, to the first match pitch

The team dominated the ball overwhelmingly against an opponent where the difference in skills was evident, but there was stiffness observed throughout the team, possibly due to the tension of the first match.
Furthermore, the poor condition of the field seemed to be a concern, resulting in an overly cautious game play, with many sideways and backward passes, and a lack of decisive opportunities.
The opponent scored directly from a free kick while we were busy.

"The issue with this team," Coach Okuhara pointed out from the first day of the expedition, "is the way we play immediately after conceding a goal."
The team has not been able to recover from there and has not achieved good results in the Kanto League so far.
Now, I became anxious about whether I could make a comeback from here, but on this day, I quickly caught up to the tie score from the corner kick.
Has one challenge been overcome?
FC Tokyo continued to attack, but Guangzhou Evergrande's intense defense and physicality in front of the goal prevented them from scoring, resulting in a 1-1 draw at halftime.

Guangzhou Evergrande, whose legs started to slow down near the end of the first half, regained their composure once at halftime against FC Tokyo.
From the start of the second half, it became a one-sided development by FC Tokyo, and in the 9th minute of the second half, player Kobayashi scored a goal from the persistence in front of the goal!
Finally, at the 23rd minute, Yu KOBAYASHI succeeded in taking the lead. Once again, from a similar position as the one in the first half, he scored a direct free kick, making it 3-1.
After that, player Shiraishi continued to score and the game ended with a score of 5-1.
Guangzhou Evergrande had many players cramping up, and they were unable to create any chances in the second half.
For FC Tokyo, it was a second half where they wanted to score 2 or 3 more goals considering the goal difference in the future.

The game ended with a score of 5-1, and it was a match that clearly showed both the strengths and weaknesses of this team.
The attacking unit in particular has a very high level of ability, so I hope they take more responsibility and attack more actively, and I expect them to be able to do more. It was a game that made me expect that.

1v1 battles on the side	After the game, players communicate with each other

This tournament is divided into two groups with 8 teams, and the top 2 teams from each group advance to the final tournament. Tomorrow's opponent is Shandong Luneng Football School.
This prestigious institution has produced over 30 players who have represented the Chinese national team, including more than 140 representative players when combined with various age groups. They have also won the national tournament nearly 50 times, establishing themselves as a powerhouse in player development.
I think the level is considerably higher than today's opponent, but I want to win at all costs for the sake of advancing to the next round by firmly organizing today's challenges and responses.