This was a great match spoiled by the team’s quick and utter collapse following the ejection of Bruno Quadros 13 minutes into the second half. Though Tokyo managed to control the flow of the game for most of the first half and into the second, going down to 10 men proved to be the catalyst as Kawasaki took over and FCT quickly became demoralized. It was painful to watch, quite frankly. Definitely a case where one decision by the referee can affect the entire game, and nobody likes to see that. Had Bruno not gotten a stupid red card (I didn’t even bother to check the video; Matsu over at TRSN had no problem with it so it was probably deserved.
On the plus side, the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra live before the game was pretty rad, so there’s that.
It’s Clasico time! FC Tokyo and Kawasaki Frontale will take on each other in the 15th edition of the Tamagawa Clasico and the last J.League match before the national team break. This rivalry, more or less a low-level derby, came as a resulty of the Tamagawa River that separates Western Tokyo and Kanagawa. The front offices of both teams work together to promote the Clasico, which has provided several entertaining matches. In the last two years, the team that has won the first leg has gone on to win the second; Kawasaki took the series in ’07 and Tokyo dominated in ’08. With J.League Division 1 set to return to play at the end of June, a win would put either team in contention going into the next part of the season.
Though off to a shaky start this year, Tokyo looks to be regaining its form and several players who have been out with injuries recently (Cabore, Tokunaga, Ishikawa, and Kajiyama) appear to be healthy and are in the running to make the roster tomorrow. Tokyo’s lineup has also been bolstered by the long-awaited appearance of Hokuto Nakamura, who capped his J1 return with a goal against Yokohama F. Marinos last Saturday night.
The Matchup
Kawasaki has one of the most potent offenses in the league; to say that Gonda will be challenged is an understatement. The question is not if he will have to make a big save, but when. Defense will be helped by Tokunaga’s return; Konno has done quite well in the backfield and it will be interesting to see if Jofuku keeps him there.
Offensively, though goals still aren’t coming as frequently as anyone will like, the offense seems like it could come together with Hirayama redoubling his efforts and Nakamura making a big splash onto the scene. Whether Ishikawa and Kajiyama will have an impact on their return is to be seen, but Cabore back in front will certainly be welcome.
On the weather front, rain predicted for tomorrow. Yuck.
Predictions
The last couple Clasicos at Ajinomoto have been high-scoring affairs, however I fear that if the same happens tomorrow it will not be in Tokyo’s favor. The team is capable of winning a 1-0 or 2-1 match, but unless the offense suddenly finds its mojo Tokyo can’t win in a shootout. The rain predicted to fall tomorrow could be in Tokyo’s favor as it becomes a game of attrition.
Errata
The team announced today that in response to the flu threat, normal on-field pre-game activities involving the fans will not take place. These include the group of kids that give the players high-fives as they come onto the field for practice, the fans carrying the Fair Play flag, and the children that hold the players’ hands as they come onfield during the official introductions. The Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra concert, however, is still on and will hopefully be fantastic.
The game was on some satellite channel so we couldn’t watch it, but as the team is waiting for several players to return from injury (Cabore, Tokunaga, Ishikawa, Kajiyama, to be precise) this game was a perfect excuse to get some of the younger players more playing time – partciularly Soutan Tanabe and Kenta Mukuhara. While a true exorcism of the JEF demon may have to wait until a league game, this win boosts FCT to 2nd in Group B and in position to advance to the next round.
To start off today’s news post (because the Chiba-FCT game is on some obscure satellite channel and I can’t watch it), Kajiyama’s out for 1-2 weeks after taking a knock to the shin. It appears that wunderkind Soutan Tanabe is taking his place in the lineup tonight. That should be interesting.
Now, for the scarier bit: as the H1N1 flu strain spread across Japan (as of this writing 230-something cases in three prefectures, plus the four travellers stopped at Narita Airport), professional sports teams are struggling to protect fans while not giving up the unique homefield advantage that Japanese cheering squads offer.
FC Tokyo has, for its part, announced that fan service at Kodaira Ground is suspended for the forseeable future as of today (May 20th). In the past, players stop by the “fan area” following practice to take photos, sign autographs, and shake hands from the loyal supporters who come to watch. Fans will still be allowed to attend open practices, however players will go straight to the locker room instead of passing by the fan area.
FC Tokyo is far from the only soccer team to take measures to prevent flu transmission. Before last Saturday’s match, the mayor of Yokohama appeared to promote a triathalon of some sort as well as to encourage people to wear masks and wash their hands and not flood hospitals with phone calls. J2 squad Roasso Kumamoto is suspending pre-game fan events (including autograph sessions). Also while these are Kyoto fans the pic is too lulzy to pass up on:
On the baseball side of things, the Hanshin Tigers have stopped selling “jet balloons” (long, thin balloons traditionally launched en masse during the 7th inning stretch) and discouraged fans from releasing them at games. Similar steps have been taken by the Orix Buffaloes, Yakult Swallows, and Softbank Hawks.
With a cool breeze blowing in from the bay, the weather was perfect at Nissan Stadium as FC Tokyo traveled to take on Yokohama F. Marinos in a Saturday-night clash.
With Cabore and Ishikawa out with injury, Jofuku opted to put Akamine up front with FC Tokyo’s resident monk, the newly-skinheaded Sota Hirayama. At midfield were regulars Kajiyama and Hanyu along with Yonemoto and Suzuki, and on defense was another slight switch; Nagatomo started on the right side instead of his usual left while Bruno and Konno held ground in the center.
Hirayama seemed intent to prove his seemingly newfound devotion to higher play, racing to the ball and fighting for several headers in the first half. Both teams struggled to find their rhythm but it seemed that Tokyo had something resembling offensive control for most of the first half. While Gonda had no problem with the few shots that did come his way, he somewhat disconcertingly seemed a bit unsure of himself when it came to clearing, at times taking several seconds longer to consider where to punt the ball than anyone behind the goal was comfortable with.
The second half started with a Tokyo attack stifled by dodging officiating – with the line judge pointing adamantly towards the corner indicating that Tokyo deserved a corner kick, the referee ignored the protest of the players as he urged Marinos goalkeeper Hiroki Ikura to take the goal kick, stifling Tokyo’s momentum.
5 minutes into the second half, Jofuku made the call everyone was anticipating as he substituted Hokuto Nakamura for an injured Yohei Kajiyama. Following a longer than expected recovery from an injury, this was Nakamura’s first appearance in an FC Tokyo uniform as well as his first J.League game in roughly two and a half years (when Avispa Fukuoka lost the 2006 promotion/division series to Vissel Kobe). Both the fans and the team (particularly Nakamura’s former teammate Hirayama) seemed to gain a second wind as Tokyo again pressed on with the attack.
10 minutes later, a Tokyo corner kick set the stage for the most dramatic score all season. The ball sailed over the heads of three players and seemingly landed at the feet of Hirayama in the penalty box, who somehow got it to Nakamura, who blasted in a shot from the top of the box that kissed the left post and went in for the score. Matsu over at the Rising Sun claims that Hirayama, in a rare display of teamwork, passed the ball to Nakamura as opposed to taking a shot for himself and missing wide like he always does. Perhaps I’m underestimating the average pro player’s level of self-awareness in that sort of situation, but I’m not entirely convinced that Hirayama’s actions were anything but reflex and nerves. In any case, he did have the self-awareness necessary to Get The Hell Out Of The Waywhen Nakamura took his shot, and that’s good enough for me.
But don’t take my word for it, here’s the instant replay:
Tokyo continued to press the attack for the next 20 minutes or so, including a couple great chances that were thwarted either by solid goalkeeping by Iwata or hesitancy by the Tokyo strikers, particularly Hanyu on one agonizing sequence.
Late in the match, FCT seemed to tire and Yokohama countered one last time, culminating in a superb display of reflexes by Gonda. From then on it was all about clock-killing and Tokyo eventually took a win and three points, ending the weekend in 9th place.
Quotes
“My old high school teammate (MF 17) Shingo Hyogo is on F. Marinos, so there was certainly a feeling of not wanting to lose. I came into the game as a somewhat forward position so I definitely wanted to score. I’m very happy that I got the goal and I’m incredibly pleased that we won due to my goal. From now on my target is to be able to play from the beginning of the match.” ~ Hokuto Nakamura
“We haven’t been playing winning football in the last few matches so both the players and myself considered today’s game a must-win and that’s how they comported themselves on the pitch. Through the first 10 games we gave up the most goals in J.League, through the next 10 games I want us to give up the fewest. To accomplish that won’t just take improving our defense, but also extending our posession time and finishing our attack.
“Thanks to Nakamura’s shot we were able to take home three points and as a team we’re certainly thankful for that, but if you look at his ability we’d like to see him get a 2nd goal as well. His defense and his physical strength still need improvement so I don’t want him to feel satisfied yet.” ~ Hiroshi Jofuku
May 16th 2009, 7PM Kickoff at Nissan Stadium (Yokohama, Kanagawa)
J1 Competition Record: Yokohama FM 6 wins, 5 draws, FC Tokyo 7 wins
Preview
Due to unavoidable circumstances over the last couple weekends, today’s match will be the first for me in about a month. While I’m not exactly the most optimistic given how our season has gone so far, that’s why the play the game and there’s still opportunity for Tokyo to come back and make a strong effort this season.
Unfortunately, we’ll be without two of our greatest assets: prolific goalscorer Naohiro Ishikawa is out with injury, as is striker Cabore. This will undoubtedly weaken our already-decimated offense, which just hasn’t played with the confidence it carried all last season. As a result, Akamine, Hirayama, and Kondo will have to step it up on offense… which they haven’t done so well with all season.
Jofuku is attempting to tweak positions even further by starting Nagatomo on the right side, with yet-to-suit-up Nakamura having displayed great poise as a left SB in practice. Hokuto will join the team lineup for the first time tonight, likely coming off the bench.
FCT has announced that starting FW Cabore has injured a ligament in his left knee, and will be out for one to two weeks. He has already missed the last two matches of the Golden Week Sprint dealing with the injury. Hopefully, he will return in time for the last league match before the mid-season break, but he may rest the knee until the break and the Nabisco Cup matches played during the break.
also, Sunday's Emperors Cup 2nd Round match will be between the winner of Komazawa University and Verdy Youth. The latter would be fun, no?September 1, 2010 2:19
1-1 was your final, incidentally. Apparently away goals don't count in the Cup so Tokyo only has to win at Shimizu next Wednesday.September 1, 2010 2:19
Nagatomo selected to Goal.com's Serie A Team of the Week: http://bit.ly/claJgXAugust 31, 2010 8:56
And 0-0 is your final! A well-deserved point for Cesena and a good start to Nagatomo's Italian career. To bed with me! 夜通し組お疲れ様でした！おやすみなさいwAugust 28, 2010 8:40
Aishiteru-Tokyo.com was launched in April of 2008 when dokool decided to troll the Rising Sun Forums and was instead invited by other English-language J.League bloggers to start his own.
About the Writers
dokool lives in Tokyo, Japan, where he spends his nights at punk shows and his weekends at FCT matches (and more punk shows. He can be found at most home games (and reasonably accessible away games) in the LA12 cheering section, often snapping away with his DSLR.
Lantis, a friend of dokool's from the New England otaku scene, joined the site in early 2009 as an assistant writer (maintenance posts, compiling news from official sources, setting up templates, and poking dokool with a sharp stick until he writes his match reports).
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