During the meeting, we reviewed yesterday's game using video and analyzed our opponents to confirm our tactics for the match.
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Antlers 4-1 Bucheon FC 1995 (Korea)
First Half 2-1, Second Half 2-0
Scorers: 27th minute Ryunosuke Ito, 29th minute Sora Okita, 37th minute Rintaro Umetsu, 48th minute Hikaru Iizuka]
[Squad]
GK: Taiyo Suzuki (74th minute Koki Numata)
FP: Shotaro Taniguchi (52nd minute Yuto Koide), Sora Okita, Tatsuya Kiuchi, Yuta Yamaguchi (57th minute Tomoya Miyauchi), Hikaru Shimano, Ryunosuke Ito (50th minute Ryoma Minowa), Kaiyo Yanagimachi, Kai Ishizu (60th minute Kodai Taniguchi), Rintaro Umetsu (44th minute Hikaru Miyauchi), Hikaru Iizuka (50th minute Fushin Owa)
From the start, we controlled the ball against an opponent who played defensively, and organized our defense to prevent counter-attacks. As the game progressed, we repeatedly broke through from the sides and center, even without much space in front of the opponent's goal, but couldn't score.
Just after the water break, past the 20-minute mark, a defensive error from a free kick in our own half led to the ball falling to an opposing player, who scored the opening goal. However, we didn't panic. In the 27th minute, Ito intercepted a pass from the opponent's goalkeeper to a central player, dribbled, and scored to equalize. In the 29th minute, Okita headed in a return pass from a corner kick, giving us a 2-1 lead. From then on, our movement became more active, and we gained control of both offense and defense. In the second half, the opponent's stamina dropped, and the game was completely dominated by Antlers.
In the 37th minute, Umetsu received a pass from the left side of the opponent's half, deftly beat his marker in front of goal, and scored with his left foot. After some substitutions, Iizuka, who was running down the left side, scored the fourth goal in the 48th minute from a pass from the center of the opponent's half.
The substitutions allowed all players to play, which helped them get used to the atmosphere and was a positive step towards fighting as a team. With this result, we now have two wins in the group stage.
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"Opponent Bucheon changed their formation and members from the first match, but we aimed to not lose individual battles and to move the ball calmly. However, we conceded the first goal from a set piece, something we had been careful about. This gave the opponent momentum, but I think the fact that we didn't concede consecutive goals allowed us to turn the game around in five minutes in the first half. In the second half, when the opponent's legs started to tire, the substitute players brought energy and we were able to add more goals. Tomorrow's opponent is Sporting Lisbon, and their individual player quality is very high, but we will prepare as a team to get all three points."
After lunch, Yang Yong-il, Section Chief of Sports and Recreation, and Kim Eun-kyung, Japan Relations Manager, from Seogwipo City, Jeju Island, Kashima City's sister city, visited the hotel. They brought mandarins, a specialty of Jeju Island.
Afterward, the players rested individually at the hotel. After dinner, we held a meeting to confirm tomorrow's schedule and other details.
Today's match results confirmed that both Antlers and Sporting Lisbon have advanced to the knockout stage.
However, since we are behind in goal difference, we must win to finish in first place.
1st place Sporting Lisbon Goal Difference +16
2nd place Antlers Goal Difference +4
Match 3: Sporting Lisbon (Portugal) kicks off at 17:00