Urawa Reds defender Tomoaki Makino hailed his team's composure and resilience after holding off star-studded Shanghai SIPG to book its place in the Asian Champions League final on Wednesday night.
Rafael Silva scored in the 12th minute to give Urawa a 1-0 win over Shanghai in the semifinal second leg at Saitama Stadium, sending the club through to its first ACL final since 2007 with a 2-1 aggregate win.
Wealthy Shanghai began the game with Brazil internationals Hulk and Oscar in its expensively assembled lineup, but Makino and his Urawa teammates kept them on a tight leash to set up a final showdown with Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal.