Urawa Reds will be looking to shed their unwanted reputation as a team of choke artists once and for all when they take on fellow heavyweights Kashima Antlers in the two-leg J. League Championship final.
The first leg takes place at Kashima on Tuesday night with the return match at Saitama Stadium on Saturday. The J. League title and a place at the Club World Cup next month is the prize that awaits the champions.
Reds, whose one and only league crown came in 2006, have let the league title slip twice from their grasp over the last several seasons, most notably in 2007, when they lost 1-0 away to already relegated Yokohama FC on the final day of the season, a result that helped hand the trophy to Antlers.