Urawa Reds lifted the Asian Champions League trophy for the first time in a decade on Saturday — then breathed a sigh of relief that they had not let their fans down again.
"For the past few years, the supporters have created this great atmosphere for us but we haven't been able to repay them by winning in front of them," said Urawa goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa, after his team had beaten Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal 1-0 in the second leg of the ACL final at Saitama Stadium to capture the title 2-1 on aggregate.
"We were determined not to make the fans go through that again."