Your thoughts on the match?
It’s as you saw. We were simply defeated.

Did you expect them to press you so fiercely from the front?
If they saw the Yokohama FC match, we knew there was a good chance that they would try to play in the same way. The starting lineups were a bit different from usual and we were aware of that possibility.

Did you feel the pressure from them a bit more than you expected?
In the end, I think we defeated ourselves. Their weak point is not being broken down from possession; rather, it’s when teams get in behind them. I think we had chances to do that and I think we clearly didn’t do it enough. Compared to them, I think we created fewer plays that would lead directly to a goal and we just couldn’t score.

How did you feel when the match was 0-0 -- up until they scored from the penalty spot?
We knew that they would have more of the ball than us. In the midst of that, it was all about how long we could hold the score to 0-0. Our game plan was to make runs behind their defense but when we lost the coin toss, they chose to have us play downwind and I think that helped them to doubly exploit their home advantage.

Leading up to the penalty kick, you seemed to allow Koki Ogawa to get free a little too easily.
We did badly to allow the through-pass and they also were passing the ball well in midfield, which made it hard for us to slow them down. It was because we were one step behind in those areas that he got free. From there, I think he just beat us with individual skill.

It was your first time to be behind in these playoffs. How did that affect the team overall?
It didn’t change our approach. Whether we scored or they scored, we still had to do our jobs for the full 90 minutes. I didn’t feel it made a big difference.

What sort of gap did you feel today between yourselves and the J1 sides?
I did feel a greater pressure in front of goal. They would have put the ball into dangerous areas, whether we made mistakes or not, and made the off the ball movements they needed to get goals. They also had a fluidity that was better than most J2 sides. We still haven’t learned how to get enough numbers in front of goal and I think we don’t have enough players who can put the ball in dangerous areas.

Do you feel that you accomplished playing your game but still lost to the better team?
There are many ways to look at it. In some ways, they didn’t allow us to do what we wanted, while on their end, I think they had more ideas and individual skill in attack. We somehow managed to hang on and keep the score at 0-0 for a period, but it was difficult to do that for the entire 90 minutes. It’s true that we conceded from set pieces, but I think they did enough to create those chances and they were good at holding us in check. I think that was the reason for today’s result.

Your thoughts on the match?
It’s disappointing, but I personally believe that we were good enough to be competing at this stage. It feels like we were lacking just that little extra to take the next step forward.

This was your first time to be behind in these playoffs.
With the long periods of pressure we endured, there were a lot of close calls but we managed to hold firm. Then we had just a small lapse in concentration and a bad judgment call from myself that gave them a penalty. Soccer is a sport where mistakes happen and when they do, it’s a matter of what you can do as a team after that. We were lacking in the quality necessary to overcome that situation against a strong team like them. They had both the quality and the confidence to see our week points and take advantage.

What happened on the second goal from the free kick?
I don’t know if it was intentional, but they seemed to be trying to use the wall to obstruct my vision. The ball was hidden from view until the last moment and they had left and right footed kickers on each side of it, so there was some strategy there. I knew the ball was hit by the right-footed player, but I couldn’t see it moving until the last moment, so I thought maybe it had deflected off the wall. They were better than me in predicting the next move. When the ball finally did emerge, it was on my side, so I feel it was just that error in estimating that did me in.

Can you tell us what you thought about the gap between yourselves and the J1 teams?
I just touched on it a bit, but I really do think we were good enough to be here and I think we had enough to evade their pressure. However, what separated them from J2 teams was that when we struggled with our buildup in the final third, they didn’t mass the chance to exploit that and in fact, it gave them a boost in their momentum. I think the J1 teams are able to sustain that pattern more than those in J2. In the 42 matches and two playoff matches we played against J2 teams, we would make mistakes but even then, we were able to adjust and express our superiority. Today, however, I felt a difference in the quality of the way they pressed. In the future, I think we will try to be conscious of that standard and uphold it in our daily training.

Did you feel a gap between yourselves and your J1 opponents in today’s match?
We were somewhat lucky in the Omiya and Yokohama FC matches and it’s not like we were completely dominant. For that reason, I figured that today’s match would be an intense one and as expected, Iwata had a lot of players with high individual skill or who were strong or fast, athletically. I’m sure those watching the match noticed as much, but I still feel like we could have done more. We could have had more players participate actively in the buildup and the players at the back could have helped those in midfield more. Instead of constantly trying to play simple passes to the nearest player, we could also have tried to play long balls or aimed for the space behind their back line. It comes down to how many of our players are able to see those openings.

Even with their aggressive pressing, you showed intent to pass the ball from the back to front.
That is truly something that we always try for. Had we tried to escape by punting it up the pitch, we would lose the style that we had spent all this time developing and I think we would be left with people what questioning what the Verdy identity is really about. However, even as we’ve worked on that identity over the past two years, there is still the importance of breaking down a high press by playing an initial direct ball or something else that will allow the midfielders to face forward with the ball. I think that there is a gap within the squad between players who understand those finer points and those who don’t. I think our ability to do that or not do that had an effect on today’s match. I hope that all the players will remember this disappointing experience, including those who did not play, and that we can use it to take the next step forward as a club.

Do you feel that you weren’t able to express Lotina’s ideal brand of soccer on the pitch today?
Of course, I feel that in part, but their pressing was stronger than we imagined and our midfield players suffered. We were able to accomplish a small part of what we try to do but we were on the back foot and I think the difference in experience level showed. With that said, I don’t want to put it all down to that. We have to figure out how to deal with that kind of pressure and if we analyze it, I think there are adjustments that can be made.

You were made to run a lot in defense in the first half and that seemed to sap the team’s attacking power in the second.
They were quick in tracking back and they were able to defend one v one like most J1 teams do. We try to get around with that combination play by two or more. something Yuhei (Sato) has a particularly good feel for. We needed just one more player who could hold the ball up front, but today, Doug(las) was marked pretty thoroughly. Ryohei Hayashi was able to get forward in the first half and earn fouls or hold it up, but we just didn’t have enough avenues to continue that.

Does today’s difficult experience give you a stronger urge to breakthrough in to J1?
I personally have experience playing in J1 and my desire to get back to that stage is strong. However, I feel that I’m lacking in some of my abilities and as a team, I think we have to be aware of the need to make up for each other’s weaknesses and play together if we want to break down our opponents.

After the match, you made a gesture of putting your hands together in front of the supporters.
I was brought up in the youth system of this club and am aware of its history. I kept thinking about the faces of our sponsors and old alumni. Before the match, I see a lot of reactions on social networking and I felt really bad to have let them down. This ended up being our result for the year as a whole, but I feel that we could have done more in this match or at least have played a bit more attractive football. Those are the two things I regret most. I had family and close friends who support me in the main stand today, while in the back stand or behind the goal, there were many supporters, each of whom has their own story. In front of all the people who came and all who could not, we faced the challenge of having to win today, but I do regret that we didn’t accomplish more.

Your thoughts on the match?
It’s too soon right now for me to think clearly. Just in terms of today, I think they were the better team.

Did you expect them to press you so hard from the front?
We did expect it, but we didn’t imagine it would be as strong as it was. In response to their high press, we made a lot more mistakes. We survived when they were pushing us back, but it’s undeniable that the goal we conceded in the first half made things really difficult.

Do you feel some amount of progress from having survived at 0-0 for so long in the first half?
In both our previous matches in the playoff, we were able to restart in the second half at 0-0, but by giving up a goal, we allowed them to relax and that made things even more difficult for us.

You weren’t able to get behind their defense often in the first half.
There are many reasons for that, but one is that if we had passed the ball with more poise in response to their pressure, I think things would have been different. Even when we were pinned back, if we had managed to keep them from scoring, we thought we would have a chance to push back in the second half. We weren’t able to accomplish that.

In the second half, you were able to get behind them off some good feeds from Yong-jick Lee. Did you want to do more of that in the first half, as well?
Yes. With that said, it was an away match on a new pitch for us, one that felt different, and we really struggled to evade their pressure.

Can you tell us about any gap in quality you felt between yourselves and the J1 side, today?
We were under a lot of pressure going into the match and though all our opponents up to now were J2 teams, today we faced a team from J1. We could feel their high level of individual quality and it put us on the back foot.

To bridge that gap, do you think each player in the squad needs to improve their individual ability?
That’s a given. We have to make sure that our experience today lives on in the future. The disappointment really is heavy.

You struggled against their pressure.
I think it was both that we were tight and that their pressure was a lot stronger than we imagined. I think the fact that we couldn’t play to our strengths can be seen as a strength of theirs. With that said, I wish we could have played a bit more like we usually do. Ultimately, they were just better than us.

As in the match against Yokohama FC, it was a difficult game for the holding midfielders.
Even compared to the match against Yokohama FC, their pressing was fast and they kept a high line that prevented us from playing the way we like. They were one level above us.

Even though you were under threat up until conceding the penalty, you were still able to play with poise up to that point.
Even after conceding, we didn’t change the way we play, but in the first half, we weren’t able to do much. In the second half, they backed off now that they had a goal and we grew a bit more accustomed to the pace, but it also felt like we were playing into their hands.

You’d had a chance to play against a J1 team in the Emperor’s Cup but what was the gap in quality like today against Iwata?
Of course, the gap in individual quality was there but more than that, it was the fact that they were strong enough to prevent us from playing our style. When I tried to chase them down and win the ball, I could sense a level of detail in the way they adjusted position that was above our own. They also played with a lot more intensity than the team we faced in the Emperor’s Cup and I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to impose our strong points more.

How did it feel after the final whistle?
I just felt a bigger gap than I expected. More than disappointment, I felt like we have to do more. Today, there were a lot of people who expected big things from us and I’m sad to have let them down.

Do you feel that a bitter experience like today will help you in the future?
Of course, I think this was a good experience, but I can’t write it off that easily. A lot of people had high expectations and supported us going into the match, so just citing it as an experience doesn’t feel appropriate.

You struggled against the strong opposition press.
It was something we expected, but in the first half, I think we did let it get to us. That feels like a bit of a waste.

Was their intensity stronger than you imagined?
They also had their future on the line and I think that showed in the way they played from the front. In response, I think we should have showed more confidence and accepted that we would have to play more long balls in the first half. I regret that we weren’t able to build a rhythm.

Do you feel like you played into their hands in the first half?
I think they scouted the way we play. They really made it difficult for us. In that sense, I do think we played into their hands.

You were made to run a lot in defense in the first half and that seemed to sap the team’s attacking power in the second.
In the first half, we seemed to lose the courage to go forward and were sapped of a lot of our intensity. However, in the second half, we were able to build from the back and play a bit of Verdy football. We just lacked that one extra push. I’m sure that if we had managed to end the first half 0-0, they would have come out even stronger in the second, but either way, the goal in the first half still was all she wrote.

This was your first time to fall behind in these playoffs. What effect do you think it had on the team as a whole?
Even after conceding the first goal, we talked to each other about going out and getting two goals and managed to pick ourselves up for the second half. We were able to discuss some areas in detail.