Another 146: Only 15 minutes

HERE WE ARE IN THE BRAND NEW TOKYO STADIUM FOR F.C. TOKYO'S OPENING MATCH IN THE J-LEAGUE FIRST DIVISION! F.C. TOKYO IS AT HOME TO FACE JEF UNITED! WE ALREADY KNOW BOTH TEAMS' STARTING LINEUP, AND THIS IS AS GOOD A TIME AS ANY TO PRESENT SOME KEY PLAYERS!


LET'S START WITH JEF UNITED, AND THEIR 3-MEN DEFENSE LINE! AT THEIR CORE, NAKANISHI EISUKE, A MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL TEAM FOR 4 YEARS!!


ANOTHER IMPORTANT PART OF THE DEFENSE IS MILINOVIC, A SLOVENIAN DEFENDER WHO REPRESENTED HIS COUNTRY IN A MAJOR TOURNAMENT, THE EURO!


IN THE MIDFIELD, THERE IS THE ONE CURRENTLY HOLDING THE RECORD FOR THE YOUNGEST JAPANESE PROFESSIONAL PLAYER IN THE J-LEAGUE, SINCE HE DEBUTED AT 16! TWO YEARS LATER THE DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER ABE YUKI IS NOW AN IMPORTANT REGULAR FOR THE TEAM!


YOU COULD SAY HOWEVER, THAT THE HEART OF THEIR OFFENSE IS THIS GUY! EDIN MUJCIN, A BOSNIAN PLAYER WHO PLAYED FOR HIS NATIONAL TEAM BUT ALSO EARNED MANY CROATIAN NATIONAL TITLES! HE ALSO HAS THE EXPERIENCE OF THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AND UEFA CUP!


FINALLY, IN THE FRONT LINE, THERE IS THEIR ACE STRIKER, CHOI YONG SOO! THE SLOVENIAN COACH IS USING 2 OF HIS FOREIGN PLAYERS' SLOTS FOR EUROPEAN PLAYERS, BUT GIVING THE LAST TO A SOUTH KOREAN JUST SHOWS HOW MUCH HE VALUES HIM! HE PLAYED IN THE WORLD YOUTH, THE OLYMPICS, AND THE WORLD CUP!


ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU COULD SAY THAT F.C. TOKYO IS MORE OFFENSE-ORIENTED, AS MANY KEY PLAYERS ARE ON THE FRONT LINE... FIRST, THE FORWARD FUKUDA KENJI, WHO PLAYED IN THE WORLD YOUTH...


THERE'S ALSO KELLY, THEIR NEWLY ACQUIRED BRAZILIAN ATTACKING MIDFIELDER, WHO PLAYED FOR MANY PRO CLUBS IN BRAZIL, INCLUDING THE FAMOUS FLAMENGO! BUT MOST OF ALL...


... ALREADY CONSIDERED A LEGEND IN TOKYO... HE WAS ALREADY HERE EVER SINCE THE AMATEUR PERIOD OF THE CLUB, NICKNAMED THE "KING OF TOKYO", THE BRAZILIAN WHO SCORED MORE THAN 200 GOALS FOR HIS CLUB! AMARAL!!


SO, FC TOKYO'S COACH, OKUMA KIYOSHI, IS USING A 4-4-2 FORMATION, WHILE JEF UNITED'S COACH VERDENIK IS USING A 3-5-2... MISUGI JUN, HOWEVER, WHO FINALLY DECIDED TO JOIN FC TOKYO RECENTLY ISN'T IN THE STARTING ELEVEN... IS COACH OKUMA KEEPING HIM AS AN ACE UP HIS SLEEVE?


MISUGI WAS IN FACT STILL RECOVERING... PHYSICAL TRAINERS DETERMINED THAT HE COULD ONLY PLAY 15 MINUTES, OTHERWISE HIS CONDITION COULD WORSEN... BUT MISUGI HAD TO PLAY THIS MATCH TO PLEASE THE SPONSORS, SO IN PLACE OF AN ACE UP THEIR SLEEVE, FC TOKYO ACTUALLY HAD A HANDICAP...


BOTH TEAMS ARE, HOWEVER EQUALLY MATCHED... STILL, JEF UNITED'S ACE STRIKER CHOI YONG SOO IS MANAGING TO FORCIBLY GET PAST HIS MARKER...


AND THIS IS ENOUGH FOR HIM TO SHOOT... THIS IS...


HIS SIGNATURE SHOT! A POWERFUL SWERVING SHOT...!!

It isn't bending as much as mine... But it's more powerful!

BUT FC TOKYO'S KEEPER STILL MANAGES TO REPELL IT!! FC TOKYO ALMOST TOOK THE FIRST GOAL, ISN'T IT TIME TO RELEASE MISUGI? THEY NEED TO REVERSE THE FLOW BACK IN THEIR FAVOR...


AH, KELLY MANAGES TO KEEP THE BALL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD...

That guy...

He's the one who taught me the south american dribble... Because he's fast too, and is using his
speed in his dribble...

BUT HE'S QUICKLY HINDERED BY JEF UNITED'S TWO DEFENSIVE MID FIELDERS LED BY ABE YUKI!

!... That's strange...

It's true that Abe's defense is good but I thought Kelly'd be fast enough to avoid that pincer attack...

Then again, the only way out led right towards their defender Nakanishi, who was waiting in
ambush... A trap similar to what Nankatsu did against us... Did he stop because he knew there was no way out?

... So far, so good... Let's hope that the coach's tactic is going to work...