SPONSORS ARE NOT NECESSARILY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT SOCCER... AND YET TEAMS MUST PLEASE THEM IN ORDER TO GATHER FUNDS...
VICTORIES... CHARISMATIC PLAYERS... DRAMA... ANYTHING THAT CAN MAKE THEIR BRAND SHINE...
SOME COACHES INGENIOUSLY TAKE THESE FACTORS INTO ACCOUNT... SINCE THE MORE FUNDS THEY HAVE, THE STRONGER THE TEAM CAN BECOME... FC TOKYO'S COACH OKUMA DECIDED TO LET JEF UNITED SET THE PACE FOR MOST OF THE MATCH...
OF COURSE, IF FC TOKYO'S PLAYERS SAW A CHANCE, THEY COULD ATTACK, BUT SHOULDN'T OVERDO IT...
... IN ORDER TO LET JEF UNITED'S DEFENDERS TO BE ACCUSTOMED WITH SOMEWHAT EASY TO DEFEND ATTACK PATTERNS... THE PLAN WAS TO SWITCH GEARS ONCE MISUGI WOULD GET IN... JEF UNITED, ACCUSTOMED TO FC TOKYO'S SLOW RHYTHM, WOULD THEN BE AN EASY PREY FOR A SUDDEN SWIFT ATTACK BY FC TOKYO'S OFFENSE, WHO ARE PRESERVING THEIR STAMINA SO FAR...
WITH THIS, IT'D SEEM "VICTORY" WOULD BE ATTAINED WITH THE ENTRY OF THE "CHARISMATIC" MISUGI... A "DRAMATIC" ENDING FOR JEF UNITED WHO SET THE PACE FOR MOST OF THE MATCH...
HIGH BALL FOR AMARAL...!! BUT NAKANISHI IS THE FIRST ON THE BALL, NICE DEFENSE!
COUNTER FROM JEF UNITED, IT'S A CENTRAL BREAKTHROUGH FROM MUJCIN, BUT ONE OF FC TOKYO'S DEFENDERS IS MAKING IT ON TIME TO DEVIATE THE BALL! THERE IS A HIGH PRESSURE ON FC TOKYO'S DEFENSE, WILL THEY BE ABLE TO HOLD ON FOR THE WHOLE MATCH?
TO BE FAIR THOUGH, EVER SINCE THEIR GOAL KEEPER DOI YOICHI BECAME A REGULAR, HIS POSITIONNING AND JUDGEMENT IMPROVED GREATLY! YOU CAN FEEL THE IMPROVED SENSE OF STABILITY HE'S GIVING TO THE TEAM! AND YET...
... WOULDN'T IT BE EVEN BETTER COMBINED WITH MISUGI'S YOUNG NOBLE DEFENSE? WOULDN'T THE DEFENSE BE LESS PRESSURED?
OR WOULDN'T HIS TECHNIQUE BE USEFUL IN OFFENSE, GIVING FC TOKYO'S THE EDGE THEY'RE LACKING RIGHT NOW? IT'S STRANGE THAT COACH OKUMA ISN'T USING HIS CURRENT MAIN WEAPON, THE GOLDEN AGE'S YOUNG NOBLE!
THAT KIND OF PRESSURE WOULD USUALLY AFFECT MOST YOUNG PLAYER'S PERFORMANCE... SOME WOULD EVEN CRUMBLE UNDER IT... BUT IT WOULDN'T BE A FACTOR TO MISUGI, ALREADY IMMUNE TO THE "FEAR" INDUCED BY TSUBASA'S FIELD SHAPING, HE WAS ALSO IMMUNE TO THE FEAR INDUCED BY PRESSURE...
IT WAS, OF COURSE, A QUALITY THAT OKUMA NOTICED, WHICH MADE HIM GO WITH THAT PLAN... JEF UNITED'S COACH VERDENIK COULDN'T KNOW THAT ABOUT MISUGI YET, HOWEVER... AND OKUMA WAS COUNTING ON THAT SO HIS TACTIC WOULDN'T BE DISCOVERED...
THE FIRST HALF IS ALMOST OVER...!! THE REFEREE IS LOOKING AT HIS WATCH BUT... JEF UNITED HAS A CHANCE TO LAUNCH ONE LAST ATTACK!
AH, BUT WHAT THIS, THE MIDFIELDER MUTO SHINICHI IS INTERCEPTING A PASS THAT WAS AIMED TOWARDS MUJCIN? HE'S IMMEDIATELY SENDING A LONG PASS AFTERWARDS...
WAS IT PLANNED? DID MUJCIN LURE FC TOKYO'S DEFENDERS SO MUTO COULD SEND HIS LONG PASS?
THIS IS FOR JEF UNITED'S OTHER FORWARD, OSHIBA! FC TOKYO'S DEFENDERS ARE LATE TO MARK HIM, SURPRISED BY THIS UNUSUAL ATTACK!! AND...
BUT IT ISN'T GOING IN!! NICE SAVE FROM THE KEEPER DOI... AND WITH THIS, THE FIRST HALF IS OVER!
TOO BAD FOR JEF UNITED'S OTHER FORWARD OSHIBA... BUT IT WAS A NICE ATTACK FROM HIM AND MUTO! FC TOKYO MUST BE CAUTIOUS OF EVERYONE... NOT ONLY THE KEY PLAYERS! DANGER CAN COME FROM ANYONE IN THIS TEAM...