The Suruga Bank Championship 2014 CHIBA will be held on 6 August. At the press conference held on 5 at Hitachi Kashiwa Soccer Stadium, Kashiwa Reysol coach Nelsinho, whose team will play against the Copa Total Sudamericana champion Lanus (Argentina), expressed his expectation towards his players to re-perform the win they just had in last weekend’s J.League match.

Reysol, who obtained the qualification for the championship after winning the J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup last year, will face the South American champion as aiming for the first-ever international title for Reysol and five consecutive championships for Japanese teams.

Coach Nelsinho said “I feel responsible for winning this all-or-nothing battle for the title. We need to show what we showed or more than what we showed in the match against Frontale in terms of how we start the match and how we motivate ourselves.” The match the Brazilian coach feels confident in was the J1’s contest on 2 August. Reysol halted its 4-game losing streak easing 4-1 against Frontale, a superior team in the table. That was a satisfying match for Reysol. “We finally played our football after a while” said Nelsinho.
He expressed his expectation, saying “each player on our team is capable of determining what they should do in both the offensive and defensive end. I expect they will be confident and keep making such plays while my team and each individual player show some creativity.”

Lanus, whose offense Nelsinho describes as “similar to Frontale’s”, landed on Japan at the end of July, considering the time and climate differences. Under the former Argentine international and Boca Juniors MF Guillermo Barros Schelotto, players have adjusted their condition at a ground in Chiba.
As the team includes players such as ex-Paraguay international MF Victor Ayala, ex-Argentine internationals MF Leandro Somoza and GK Agustin Marchesin, the Lanus’s coach shows his confidence, saying that “all players here are ready for the match.”

“The Suguga Bank Championship title means a lot for us. As professionals, we need to win the match at any cost,” added his strong motivation for the title.

Meanwhile Nelsinho said “Reysol have plenty of experiences that we’ve got until now,” mentioning the experiences in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2011, where the J.League champion sealed the fourth place, and the AFC Champions League. “We’ve faced different types of teams and achieved a high level of performance. My players have a strong confidence in themselves. I believe they will do their jobs even in a tough situation in the tomorrow’s match”, Nelsinho said of his trust in the team.

The match will start at 7 p.m. on Wednesday 6 at Hitachi Kashiwa Soccer Stadium in Kashiwa.

Comments

Nelsinho, Kashiwa Reysol Head Coach
I see tomorrow’s match is very important for some reasons. I want my players to gain experiences in the match against South America’s Argentina and make use of them for their future. I also feel responsible for keeping winning all-or-nothing battles for title matches. Lanus is a highly-experienced team. They have a high level of skills in the midfield and an ability to complete attacks from full-backs. The movement between forwards and players coming inside back and forth looks like Frontale’s. We need to look close at such points and move on to our precise attacks with careful judgments when we get back the ball.

Hidekazu Otani, Kashiwa Reysol MF
We are all highly motivated and obviously know the match is important with a title at stake. Showing the result of winning the match as Japan’s representative is what matters most, so I will prepare for it. We hadn’t won league matches for long, but in Saturday’s match against Frontale, we could show plays Reysol was aiming for. We will solidly continue what we did so that we can fairly compete against the experienced, strong Argentine team. We will prepare for the match to continuously show our ability. Once we get onto the pitch, we need to figure out the opponent’s characteristics time to time and show what we have to show in those particular moments. I believe such flexibility will be the most important. 

Guillermo BARROS SCHELOTT, Lanus Head Coach 
I have high hopes for the game tomorrow. We arrived in Japan earlier this time. This is because we need time to get used to the climate and time difference and that is the amount of time required for making an adjustment. Reysol’s style resembles that of Brazilian club for holding three back systems with placing two offensive players in side backs. Leandro seems to me the key player but I think we have to watch out the side players in mid-field as well. We are going to play as we closely watch out every player of the other side.

Maximiliano VELAZQUEZ, Lanus DF
Participating in the international championship, this is very important game for us for and we are quite motivated for this game. As it was only two days ago when we get enough sleep to recover physical strength, I am sure we are hundred percent ready to play the match tomorrow. I know this is going to be a tough game but we definitely want to win the game. It is crucial to keep our concentration all through 90 minutes. Reysol is very good at set play and that is something we need to take care in addition to three FW players and side backs. Most importantly, it is important to play our own style of football. I am sure we can manage to win the game only if we can play that way.

SURUGA Bank Championship 2014 Chiba
J.LEAGUE YAMAZAKI NABISCO CUP / COPA TOTAL SUDAMERICANA

Wednesday 6 August 2014 kick-off at 19:00 (schedule)
Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium

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