As usual, we woke up at 5 AM for the 9 AM kickoff. The match was against Sporting Clube de Portugal at the stadium within the main facility, and we won 2-0.
Before the match, there was a thunderstorm, which slightly lowered the temperature, but the humidity remained high, so it was still hot and muggy. We warmed up in these conditions, but as soon as the match started, the sky cleared, and the temperature rose, making it a tough battle.
5th-8th Place Playoff
vs Sporting Clube de Portugal
9:00 Kickoff
First Half 0-0
Second Half 2-0
Total 2-0
Goal Scorers: Noto Watanabe x2
<Starting Lineup>
GK: Aoi Terakado FP: Sora Okita, Tatsuya Kiuchi, Yonohan Namai, Kenta Nemoto, Yu Funahashi, Eito Takema, Ayumu Funazaki, Kaio Yanagimachi, Shoichi Kurimata, Noto Watanabe
Substitutes: Shotaro Taniguchi
From the start of the first half, the opponent dominated possession. They moved the ball quickly and simply.
Antlers swiftly slid their defensive line to respond, but the opponent was quick to transition from defense to offense after winning the ball, immediately pressuring us to regain possession.
In the first half, we were mostly on the defensive, spending a lot of time weathering their attacks, but thanks to good saves from our goalkeeper, we finished without conceding any goals.
In the second half, we capitalized on an early chance just one minute in. Watanabe tapped in a quick cross from Funahashi on the right side, scoring the opening goal.
The opponent also attacked with crosses from the wings, but we defended firmly without losing our marks.
As the opponent's intensity dropped and they tired, we created many chances on the counter. In the 39th minute of the second half, Okita headed a left corner kick back, and Watanabe slotted it in for an additional goal.
With excellent saves from goalkeeper Terakado, we finished the match with a clean sheet. We maintained our defensive focus until the end and played a good game.
From 3 PM, players who did not participate in the match primarily engaged in interval running, shuttle runs, and 2-on-2 training in front of the goal.
After a rest, our opponent for the August 3rd match will be Espanyol. We will play the 5th-place playoff at 4 PM kickoff.
After training, Nakagawa and Taniguchi were interviewed by a local TV station.
