Cup Journey: Kawasaki Striker vs Kobe Victory Ship
On February 17th, a cup match will be played between Kawasaki Frontale and Kobe Victory. Immediately following that, on the third day, Kawasaki will once again embark on a journey to host Shandong Taishan. With three matches in a row, Kawasaki head coach Oniki faces an unprecedented challenge. These two tough matches will undoubtedly be a huge physical drain on the team. In contrast, Shandong Taishan had a full week's rest, which allowed them to fully recover. The tactical arrangements for the away games are secondary, but the results of the "devil's training" may be visible at this time.
Shandong Taishan only need a small victory, can shake hands with the opponent in two rounds of regular time to achieve the set goal. Choi Kang-hee's ace in the hole is finally on the verge of being unveiled. Bi Jinhao missed the last round of matches due to injury, and he will make his comeback in the second round. Newcomers Peng Xinli and Gao Junyi had mediocre debuts, but the pressure is on Bi Jinhao to hold up Choi's confidence. If he performs poorly, the pressure on Choi Kang-hee will increase and may even affect his coaching career.
Shandong Taishan was unlucky in the first round of the tournament, as the backline players were in low form and lacked a tacit understanding with each other. The excellent play of the opponent's goalkeeper added insult to injury. Nonetheless, the scenes shown in the first round of matches gave the players more confidence. The key moments that have not yet been seen in players such as Bijinho, Xie Wenneng, Delgado, etc. are expected to be the deciding factor in the next round of matches. Choi Kang-hee is not conservative in his away tactics and sticks to the attacking route. He needs to focus on set-pieces and opponent's passes in an effort to contain half of his opponent's offensive dominance, while Shandong Taishan will have to capitalize on their mistakes and take advantage of the situation.
