Last year was one to forget for both Urawa Reds and Tomoaki Makino, but the national team defender believes 2012 will be a different story after joining the fallen Saitama giants on a season-long loan.
Urawa, Japan's best-supported team and J. League champions in 2006, began preparations for another campaign in the first division over the weekend, with everyone at the club simply happy to be there. Reds avoided relegation to J2 only on the final day of last season, with defeat in October's Nabisco Cup final rubbing salt into the wounds of a club that has been in steady decline since winning the Asian Champions League in 2007.
For Makino, 2011 was hardly a bed of roses either. The 24-year-old left Sanfrecce Hiroshima for German side Cologne in January after making the 2010 J. League team of the season, only to find that life in the Bundesliga was not what he had anticipated. Makino made just eight appearances for the Rhine club, prompting Cologne general manager — and former Urawa boss — Volker Finke to seek a solution with a 12-month loan deal with his previous employers.