Each team took a walk and had breakfast before heading to the ZICO Center.
An opening ceremony was held at the ZICO Center prior to the tournament.
Mr. Thiago, former Antlers manager Mr. Ze Mario, Development Manager Mr. Takashima, and A.A. Ogasawara attended the ceremony. The tournament officially opened with the singing of the Japanese and Brazilian national anthems and the raising of the flags.
【Match Report】
■Preliminary Round Group A Match 1 - Kick-off 9:00 AM
Kashima vs Sao Paulo
First Half 0-1
Second Half 3-2
Total 3-3
Goal Scorers: 44th minute Takeshi Takizawa, 57th minute Rioto Okada, 70th+3 minute Shuei Maehama
〔Members〕
GK: Kaito Sasaki
FP: Keita Imai, Eisuke Shimoda, Shuei Maehama, Shogo Ishimoto, Asahi Shima (Takeshi Takizawa), Ryunosuke Umezu (Kosei Maeda), Rioto Okada, Ryuga Matsumoto (Yasuto Kobayashi), Kenji Santos (Yu Sato), Kento Kumazawa (Sodai Kotanaki)
From the start of the match, we responded to the opponent's fast-paced passing with intense pressure and persistent defense, resulting in an evenly contested battle.
However, as misplaced passes became noticeable when trying to transition from winning the ball to attacking, in the 28th minute, a pass from defense to midfield was intercepted and moved to the left wing. A cross into the penalty area led to the opponent's forward bypassing the Kashima defender, resulting in a goal. After that, we managed to win the ball from the opponent and launch short counterattacks, creating chances, but the first half ended without scoring.
Immediately after the start of the second half, in the 44th minute, Takizawa scored a free kick into the bottom right corner of the opponent's goal, making it 1-1. We equalized. However, a goal was conceded from a scramble after a corner kick, putting us behind 1-2.
After that, the match remained evenly contested in both offense and defense. Then, in the 57th minute, Yu Sato dribbled into the penalty area, eluding the opponent's defender, and took a shot. Okada scored from the rebound, equalizing the score at 2-2.
However, in the 62nd minute, a cleared ball was picked up by the opponent, and a mid-range shot was taken. The goalkeeper parried the ball, but the rebound was tapped in, giving the opponent a 2-3 lead once more.
In added time of the second half, when the match seemed to be over, Maehama pushed in a scramble from a corner kick, equalizing the score at 3-3. Immediately after that equalizer, the final whistle blew.
■Preliminary Round Group D Match 1 - Kick-off 12:30 PM
Tsukuba vs Flamengo
First Half 0-3
Second Half 0-3
Total 0-6
〔Members〕
GK: Kazuki Kimura
FP: Takuhiro Nakajima, Kohki Takagi, Hiroki Nakamura (Satoshi Honda), Sota Takada (Haruto Ito), Ren Okawa, Seiko Otsuka (Hayato Hiruoka), Jinsei Hanawa, Haruto Hotta (Ryunosuke Ikita), Chinatsu Suzuki, Sota Sato (Fumiya Saka)
From the start, we couldn't keep up with the opponent's speed and fast-paced play. In the 10th minute, a ball was played behind the defense, and we conceded a goal.
In the 22nd minute, we conceded from a corner kick. With the score at 0-2 and a difficult situation continuing, we managed to create chances and get shots on goal with counterattacks when we won the ball and passed it to the forward.
However, in the 31st minute, we conceded a goal after being broken down by a one-two pass, and the first half ended 0-3.
During halftime, Coach Nakano gave tactical instructions.
In the second half, following the coach's instructions, we spent more time attacking the opponent's goal. We also created many chances.
Nevertheless, the opponent's transition from defense to offense was quick, and we conceded goals consecutively in the 42nd, 60th, and 65th minutes, losing with a total score of 0-6.
Despite conceding six goals, our fighting spirit, strength in duels, and attacking mindset towards the goal had improved.
■Preliminary Round Group C Match 1 - Kick-off 2:15 PM
Norte vs Internacional
First Half 1-0
Second Half 0-1
Total 1-1
Goal Scorer: 20th minute Tsubasa Yokozuka (PK)
〔Members〕
GK: Miyuu Ohashi
FP: Rintaro Seto, Ryo Morishima, Haruto Kiuchi, Kyu Ando (Ayata Ono), Raku Okano, Shuto Ito (Yota Tsujimura), Kanade Numata (Ryunosuke Gunji), Kazune Oyama (Ryusei Hatanaka), Rikuto Takeda, Tsubasa Yokozuka (Raika Tagami)
From the start, we calmly dealt with the opponent's long-ball tactics, showing stable play.
In the 20th minute, Yokozuka reacted to a ball played behind the opponent's defense and was fouled in the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick. Yokozuka calmly converted the penalty, giving us a 1-0 lead. After that, we continued to calmly deal with the opponent's long balls from the backline, mainly through our center backs, and ended the first half without conceding any clear chances.
In the second half, we continued to effectively counter the opponent's long-ball-centric attacks. We did not lose in challenges for the ball and maintained stable play.
However, in the 46th minute, a cleared ball went into front of our goal, and an opponent player scored from it, ending the match in a 1-1 draw.
After the matches, each team returned to the hotel and spent the time until dinner caring for their bodies.
Before and after dinner, each team held a meeting to review the day, confirm tomorrow's schedule and match preparations, and then went to bed.
【Tomorrow's Schedule】
9:00 AM Kashima vs Fluminense
12:30 PM Tsukuba vs Atlético Mineiro
12:30 PM Norte vs Atlético Paranaense