Today is the final round of the tournament on the 9th day.
The players were mindful of how they spent their morning in order to achieve victory on the stage they reached after accumulating one battle after another over a long period of 9 days.
Although it was forecasted to rain, somehow the weather held up until the last minute.
Check the condition of the lawn at the Center Stadium, which is the stage for the Final Round, during a walk.
The players who have been fighting on the rough ground in the qualifying rounds so far seemed to have an atmosphere where they no longer cared about minor pitch condition problems.
The match will kick off at 15:00.
The opponent is Guangzhou Evergrande, the host of the tournament.
A selected team that has gathered players of higher quality than Guangzhou Evergrande, who competed in the qualifying league.
Furthermore, other players and coaches who are currently studying at the Guangzhou Football School also came as supporters, creating an AWAY atmosphere that put pressure on the players.
The Tokyo team has been in possession of the ball and taking the initiative since the beginning of the match.
By the 7th match of the team's formation, the strengths of Fukagawa and Musashi blend together, approaching Guangzhou Evergrande's goal.
However, in the 37th minute just before the end of the first half, they took advantage of a momentary gap and carried the ball to the goal.
This was hit to the DF and went over the head of the GK and sucked into the goal.
The first half ended with a score of 0-1.
I felt that the players' anxiety increased even more with the cheers for Guangzhou's goal in the venue.
However, in the second half, there was a different feeling overflowing from the players compared to before, "We absolutely have to win this game."
In the second half, Tokyo takes the initiative of the game and attacks.
In the midfield, move the ball, boldly cut in from the sides multiple times, and deliver crosses and shots.
Still, this is an away game in China. We are not allowed to fight easily due to repeated delays and time wasting throughout the venue.
57 minutes, Kosuke, who had created several chances, sent a cross from the side that was directly sucked into the goal, resulting in an equalizer.
Tokyo continued to attack, but couldn't score any additional points and the second half ended. The match went into a penalty shootout.
In penalty kicks, each kicker puts their heart into the kick to score a goal, and it was the opponent's 7th player who faced it.
GK Takahashi made a game-deciding save. He was able to win the championship by winning the penalty shootout.
Tomorrow is the day of return.
In today's meeting, Coach Okuhara said, "The most important thing is to use this experience to fight in future matches as FC Tokyo."
Once we return to our home country, activities for each team will resume. We want to make the most of the progress we have made so far.
