As the players walked onto the Saitama Stadium pitch on Thursday, a giant hand-painted banner was hoisted in front of thousands of Urawa Reds fans occupying the north end, depicting the Asian Champions League trophy as well as two years: 2007 and 2017.
Now Urawa is two games away from being able to add a third, after the team reached the final of the continent’s marquee club competition for the fourth time with a stunning 3-1 penalty shootout win over South Korea’s Jeonbuk Motors.
The ACL is known for intense encounters between Japanese and South Korean clubs and this was no exception, with the two teams battling over 120 minutes and two goals scored in the final few minutes of extra time to see the teams deadlocked at 2-2.