Kashiwa Reysol will play against Lanus, the Argentinean club team which won the South American club team championship, at Suruga Bank Championship 2014 CHIBA, J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup / Copa Total Sudamericana Championship Final on 6 August. Prior to the match, a press conference was held on 29 July at JFA House in Tokyo and Mr. Nelsinho, the head coach of Kashiwa Reysol stated that he wants to achieve a historical victory in the final match.

This is the 7th Suruga Bank Championship and J. League Clubs have won 4 straight championships. Kashiwa Reysol was selected to play against the winners of one of the prominent championships in South America in this Championship Final. Kashiwa Reysol were selected by winning the J. League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup last year.

Mr. Nelsinho has been coaching the team since July 2009 and the team wes promoted back up to J1 by winning J2 in 2010. From the next season, Kashiwa Reysol has won titles every year such as J. League and Emperor’s Cup in 2012. As an international match, this is the first time since December 2011 when they played as a J. League champion in FIFA Club World Cup. The team finished in 4th place in the 2011 Club World Cup and this time they are aiming to win the first international championship title.

Lanus, the team which will play against Kashiwa Reysol, got its first international victory in 1996 at the CONMEBOL Cup which is the precursor of Copa Mercosur and Copa Merconorte. Then in the first-half season of 2007-2008, the team won the domestic title. Recently, they were selected as the 2nd place in the first-half and 9th in the second-half season of domestic league in 2013-2014. For the international matches, the team was selected in the top 8 teams in the Copa Libertadores 2014 and was defeated by Bolivar with 1-2.

The number of titles won is not as many as that of Kashiwa Reysol, but Mr. Nelsinho is not optimistic saying “Lanus has grown up for these past 10 years and players have a high-level of experience”.
Kudou Masato, FW player of Kashiwa Reysol expresses his expectation to the game remembering his experience with the match against Brazilian Santos FC in FIFA Club World Cup in 2011. “At that time, I just kicked myself for not being able to do anything in the match. I gained experiences by playing as a squad player and I just want to maximise what I learned in 2011 in the match against Lanus”.

Mr. Nelsinho also showed his passion to the match by saying “We really want to get the title. This is the very important challenge for both our team and Japanese football. I expect our players to show their level of play and to have a good game with Lanus.”

Comments

NELSINHO, Head Coach of Kashiwa Reysol
This is a very important challenge not only for our team but also for Japanese Football. South American club teams also have the aim to win this Championship Final in Japan; it will be a match with the Japanese club team champion against the team which won the Copa Sudamericana. It is beneficial for players and our team to play against foreign football players from a different football culture, but as a coach of this Japanese club team, I want to lead the team to achieve a historical victory in this Suruga Bank Championship. As we do normally before matches, we analyse the opponents’ playing style to prepare well both for defense and offense. We want to make them confused with our speedy play and skills.

KUDOU Masato, FW Player of Kashiwa Reysol
We all, including the head coach, players and myself, are very exited for this Championship Final. It was a bitter memory for me that I could not do anything in the match against Santos FC in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2011. This time, I want to see what I can do by playing against a South American team. Also I want to contribute to making a wonderful championship by leading my team to win with my goal.

JFA-TV

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