After being knocked out of the playoffs Emiko Spector returned home to Japan for some training and other events that she had planned. One of the events that had been arranged was a charity football match between Hakuren Sapporo and Umbrella FC. The event was organised by ex players Emiko Spector and Etsuko Rune. 

Sapporo Team Sheet:

When coming out of the tunnel Etsuko and Emiko both shook each others hands and had a smile on there face as they lined up to the middle of the field for the national anthem. They knew this match was more for fun than anything else so both teams went out to play for fun for the first time in years. At the halfway line the referees stood waiting for both captains to walk over for the coin flip to decide who will get to have first half kick off. 

The referee faces Etsuko and asks "Heads or Tails". Etsuko replies "Heads". The coin is flipped and it lands on heads so Sapporo get ready for kick off. 

Etsuko passes the ball back to Izotz who quickly moves the ball over to Ran. Ran stops for a moment and starts to think about different passing lanes. While she is doing this Umbrella's Becky Müller starts to charge towards the ball which doesn't leave Ran much choice but to pass the ball onto Taisuke who runs up the pitch with the ball to make sure there is some space between him and the keeper.  Taisuke passes the ball into the center of the field to Etsuko who is in free space. The ball lands at Etsuko's feet but as soon as she's about to turn her sister on Umbrella sweeps the ball from under her legs and passes it to Torres.

Torres passes the ball up to Cherry who moves with the ball to outside of the penalty box. She takes a shot at 8 Minutes into the game the first registered for the match but Rentaro is having none of it and pushes the ball away to Takumi on the flanks. Takumi sees that Müller is staring into the sky look at anything other than the pitch, He exploits this and runs right past her and up to Manto. Manto begins to press into Takumi but he notices that Izotz is starting to move into free space so does a through pass which breaks up the defence as Izotz gets towards it with lightning speed. It is now just Emiko and Izotz, Izotz's shoots the ball and Emiko dives towards it catching it with her hand. It is deflected but Izotz's fires the rebound again and Emiko tries to dive towards it again but it is too late! The goal is in back of the bet before she has even got off the ground. 

1-0 Yuki Izotz (12 Minutes)

Takehiko is ready for the kick off and he kicks it all the way back to Emiko. This is a style of play that used to work for Umbrella back when they played together. They'd dictate play from the back and go forward as a unit. Emiko passes the ball to Manto who moves it onto Torres. Torres is met by Etsuko and tries to tackle the ball off of Etsuko but the attempt fails and Torres flips it over her as she slides under the ball. Torres moves on the ball to Cherry who quickly passes it to Rachel who passes it up to Soliel. Hakuren's defence move back deep to stop Takehiko becoming open and then a passing play begins to try and break through. Soliel passes it to Cherry who passes it to Rachel, who goes onto passing it to Torres. Manto sees this as an opportunity to strike finding an open channel through the Left side of the Defensive block and bursts up with speed. Torres notices Manto making her move and passes the ball directly to her feet. Manto slips through Ran and Shou who collide with each other and she's then one on one with the keeper. Manto shoots the ball top right and as Rentaro is jumping to catch the ball he just misses with his hand but his hand collides with the post. Manto has scored the game tying goal but Rentaro is down on the ground hurt. The game is stopped to allow a substitution. 

1-1 Manto Rune (36 Minutes - Rentaro Retaro OFF - Akihiko Genda ON)

Genda has taken his place between the sticks and Izotz is ready for kick off. The game at this point is nearly halfway done and the players are tired so they result in doing passing plays to run down the clock. A chance for Hakuren is snuffed out by Etsuko at the 44 minute mark but nothing more comes of it and the ref shows 3 minutes added on for injury time and finally blows the whistle to signal half time.

1-1 (HALF TIME)

In the dressing room there is a fun atmosphere going on as after all this isn't a game that really matters as it is just for fun. Both teams are worried for Rentaro who looks like he may have broken his hand while making that save. Half-Time doesn't last very long due to the nature of the match and they quickly start up the second half.

The kick-off is started by Takehiko and he passes back to Manto on the wing. Not much movement is happening by the Hakuren so she decided to look at the situation in front of her and holds onto the ball for a short time. She passes the ball onto Torres who is open and in a space that can lead many different choices in passing plays. Torres receives the ball and moves up slowly with the ball, clearly something is not right with her. She passes the ball onto Soliel on the wing but it is ruled off side. A substitution for Umbrella is made. 

1-1 (57 Minutes - KATE TORRES OFF -  WAKANA KONO ON)

Genda takes the free kick and passes it up to his defender Ran. Ran moves the ball across to Taisuke who continues to run up the flank with some speed trying to emulate what Manto did earlier. Taisuke is met by a roaming Alice who takes the ball off of him and passes it back to Emiko. She holds the ball and decided to pass it onto Manto. Manto moves the ball on as quick as possible and gets it to the feet of Rachel. She runs towards the box seeing that space is open due to the oppositions defence being out of position. She shoots just from outside of the box and the ball slips right passed Genda and hits the woodwork and in! Hakuren have to do something so they decided to make there last 2 substitution.

1-2 Rachel Twist (76th Minute - YUKI IZOTZ & RAN TASHIRO OFF - YUKI ITO & YOSHIMA BAN ON)

 Ito steps up for the kick off and passes the ball back to Etsuko. Etsuko moves with the ball and dribbles by Rachel and Cherry on her way to the Box. She passes the ball onward to Izotz who slips passed Alice and now has a clear shot on Etsuko. He shots..... HE.... MISSES off the crossbar.... SO CLOSE but no cigar. Emiko celebrates this but too quickly as Etsuko catches the rebounded ball with her head and shoots it in for it to become a tied a game again!

2-2 Emiko Rune (80th Minute)

After this goal nothing happens till the 90th minute where Manto gets a chance on Genda but it is pushed out and that time is used to make some substitutions by Umbrella before ET.

2-2 FULL TIME (TAKEHIKO YUKIMURA & KAZE KUZE OFF - REI TSUJI & TAMA NEKO ON)

Ito starts with the ball in extra time and passes the ball back to Etsuko who tries the same play as earlier but is met by Tama and is stopped dead in her tracks. Tama then passes the ball up to Müller who runs into the box and takes a shot on Genda but he's not having any of it and pushes it away easily. The ball is loose and is captured by Yoshima and they pass it up to Etsuko who is making a run for the other end. She receives the ball and passes it onto Ito how whips it in the back of the net! Hakuren are ahead in EXTRA TIME!

3-2 Yuki Ito (100th Minute ET1)

Now Umbrella have a mountain to climb and with only 20 minutes left within the game at the moment. Rei moves the ball back to Cherry and passes back to Patch who passes onto Neko. Umbrella just decided to play down the clock and this has to be an odd strategy seeing as they're currently behind.

3-2 (END OF ET1)

This is the starting of the 2nd half of extra time. Umbrella MUST score to take it into Shootouts! Rei passes the ball back to Rachel again and moves the ball back to Emiko to try and control the game again. Emiko pass the ball to Alice how moves it onto Wakana  who moves it onto Müller. She then runs it into the box and crosses it across to Soliel who shoots it towards the keeper. Genda gets his gloves on the ball and the ball goes out for a corner. Emiko runs up the field for this corner, this is a last ditch effort for a goal. Soliel crosses the ball into the box and Emiko uses her big frame to jump for the ball and heads it into the back of the net! She runs down towards the fans and celebrates!

3-3 Emiko Spector (120th Minute ET2)

The game is tied and the kick off happens and the whistle goes! It is going into penalties!

Emiko is in the net for the first shot... Etsuko is on the other end. She winds up the shot! Emiko dives but it goes in! Etsuko SCORES (GOAL 1-0)

Genda is in the net and Rei steps up for the shot. Rei scores! (1-1 GOAL)

Emiko moves back in and gets ready. Ito comes to take the shot and it is stopped by EMIKO! (1-1 SAVE)

Genda is back in and Soliel is up for a shot. Umbrella could go up if this goes in... Soliel moves in and Genda misses it! (2-1 GOAL)

Emiko back in and she's against Taisuke. He moves quickly and puts it in the back of the net. (2-2 GOAL)

Genda is back in net and Manto is going against him... She moves towards the ball slowly but she hits the post and it is kept out (2-2 MISS)

Emiko is back in and she's ready to stop this... Hyakki steps up and it is in back of the net! (3-2 GOAL)

Genda is back in and he is waiting for the move by Müller... She moves in and it bounces off the post.... BUT IT GOES IN! (3-3 GOAL)

Emiko is back in the net and she's waiting for Yoshima to take the shot. She moves and shots it wide! (3-3 MISS)

Genda now has to stop this for the game to continue if it goes in then it is over! Emiko steps up for the shot but this confuses everyone! Why is she in for this... hopefully it pays off... She take the shot. It bounces off the post and hits Genda's leg and bounces in.... Umbrella have WON! (4-3 GOAL)

Emiko runs back to her teammates to celebrate and then get joined by Hakuren for the final goodbye to the fans. Today's match raised ¥274110 for Tsunami repairs in the area. Emiko and Etsuko want to do more matches like this in the future to continue to help the community they came from. 

This picture was taken at the end of the match!

This is my first MEDIA POST