Match Review: FC Nippon vs International Lions FC

• GK Takaki NAKAMURA
• DF Katsumi Oku
• DF Yuki Ichikawa
• MD Javier Calvo
• MD Takuto Furuya
• MD Enrique Sanchez
• MD Ryuhei IKEDA
• MD Seiji TACHIBANA
• ST Takuya Hagino
• -- Jo Kagitani
• -- Seito Yachimoto

• DF Jazzmen Teo
• MD Shungo Sakamoto

Great fighting spirit

International Lions brought a fit and passionate team that run well throughout the game with great team spirit. Nippon managed to squeeze in 2 goals with Kike's superb performance, but as a team, Int Lions did better. The end result of 2-3 was fair enough and we wish the In Lions all the best moving forward.

• Hector Courqueux GK
• Raphael Froberger DF
• Charif Taieb DF
• Nordine Talhi DF
• Nicolas Beninger MD
• Julio Vasquez MD
• Hugo D'Inca MD
• Amine Cherif MD
• Ashwin Kalaichelvan ST
• Robert Eziakor ST
• Maxime Dacier ST

• Ilzan Faris DF
• Adam Xu DF
• Ulysse Postel-Vinay ST

IT S CLICKING!

Intl Lions gathered with high spirits for the last game of 2023 at Turf City! The win of the Cosmo 7-aside Tournament VS SFC in final (2-0) the week before reinforced the deep belief that this team has more to give than what the results showed so far. Adding to this the welcome of the recent two new big signings Julio & Max, everything was lined up for a good game. The team started extremely well in the first half building with calmness from the back, bringing intensity in midfield and showing themselves dangerous upfront! The efforts paid off when Nico, after some quality work on the left side, managed to find the experienced robert for a tap in. The Lions could have added a couple more but faced a solid Japanese keeper. Unfortunately, a few minutes before half time, Kike won his one-on-one vs Intl Lions left back and, with a well-known move, let himself fall on the box for a (generous?) penalty kick. A good save from Hector The Cat saw the ball coming back to kike's feet for an easy tap in. 1-1 Half Time. The chat was simple: Keep playing, keep playing, keep playing. Japanese came back in second half with extra intensity though and were the first to find the back of the net to take the lead. For a team at the bottom of the league, that could have been the end with heads dropping... Not today. Intl Lions kept pushing with good transitions especially with Nico on the left who eventually managed to score. Third goal came from the right, finding Robert for a shot just outside the box beating the Japanese keeper. The last 10 minutes saw the Intl Lions defending all around, showing grit, determination and amazing heart. Final score 3-2. A good way to end the year and the team is ready for 2024! MOM Nico showing his class for 90min straight on the left! MENTIONS - Rapha for closing kike out of the game in the entire second half - Julio as a proper box-to-box and already bringing quality and leadership to the team - Max bringing intensity in midfield and giving tempo to the game - Charif acting as a control tower in front of the defense - Ulysse for amazing heart and energy pressing on top - Hector giving us headache (we still do not know if he is better as player or keeper as he did a superb game). Thanks to Japanese team and good luck for the rest of the season. A speedy recovery to your keeper as well, hoping to see him come back soon to the games. Thanks to the Jon the ref for a well-managed game and congrats for the baby boy!