Kawasaki Frontale fell just short in its Asian Champions League Elite final against Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli in Jeddah on Saturday night, but Shigetoshi Hasebe’s side can still take plenty of solace from its performance in the competition.
A 2-0 defeat against a squad worth an estimated $200 million playing in front of almost 60,000 of its own fans at its home stadium is nothing to be ashamed of, and to say the odds were stacked against Frontale is something of an understatement.
As with so many recent developments in global soccer, the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) new centralized format for its showpiece club competition was heavily influenced by the flexing of Saudi Arabian financial muscle.
Hosting games from the quarterfinals onward in Jeddah offered a trio of clubs backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) increased chances of success, and behind the scenes the hope must surely have been that Al-Hilal, the fervently-supported and most successful side in Asian club competition, would square off against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in the final.
Things started promisingly towards that end as Al-Hilal battered Gwangju of South Korea 7-0 and Al-Nassr cruised past Yokohama F. Marinos 4-1 in the quarterfinals, but the script was torn up in the semifinals as Al-Ahli — the third PIF club — beat Al-Hilal 3-1 and Frontale claimed a famous 3-2 victory over Ronaldo and company.
Ahead of the final, Hasebe dismissed the notion that money would decide the outcome of the game.
“Of course budgets are important in our world,” the 54-year-old said. “However, you don’t have money with you when you are playing. You don’t play with your wallet or your card.
“For the players, the most important thing is what they can do on the pitch.”
While a noble premise — and one Frontale backed up by sending Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, and Jhon Duran packing in the semifinals — the financial disparity between Frontale and Al-Ahli proved impossible to ignore, with the latter’s starting 11 packed with nine players signed from some of Europe’s biggest leagues.
That wasn’t all the J. League representative was up against. As well as needing to travel to the Middle East for the decisive games, Frontale also had a day less than Al-Ahli to prepare for the final, and had played 30 minutes more than its opponent after going to extra-time in its quarterfinal against Al-Sadd.
Such a tight turnaround in conjunction with home advantage for Al-Ahli meant that, while talk in the Frontale camp pregame was of course about bringing the trophy home, to an extent Hasebe’s side was playing with house money heading into the final — its first ever, having never previously progressed beyond the last eight.
Meanwhile, star-studded Al-Ahli came into the game on a 17-match unbeaten streak in Asian competition — winning 13 of them — and held Frontale at arm’s length throughout at its King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
Against opposition that ruthless you have to be perfect, and ultimately Kawasaki wasn’t.
While the first goal from Galeno was a phenomenal strike, Frontale was too slow to close the Brazilian down when he received possession just outside the penalty area, inviting him to shoot.
Seven minutes later, Frontale switched off again when briefly down to 10 men as Sota Miura received treatment, allowing an overload into the box and former Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessie an easy header.
From that point on the result never looked in doubt, with Al-Ahli’s wealth of talent — including a trio of European Champions League winners in Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez, and Edouard Mendy — knowing how to see out the win.
Despite the defeat there are still positives for Frontale to take from their time in Saudi Arabia, and the wins over Al-Sadd and Al-Nassr offer plenty for Hasebe to build upon.
The tournament also produced another trio of standout performances from 20-year-old center back Kota Takai, who has composure beyond his years and doesn’t seem fazed by anything.
This was evidenced in his bold decision to wear a designer crocodile leather coat reportedly worth almost ¥1 million when receiving the J. League's Best Young Player award last season — and Takai collected some impressive scalps in Jeddah as well.
The Kawasaki youth product further bolstered his burgeoning reputation in the quarterfinal against Al-Sadd by forming part of the defense that prevented reigning AFC Player of the Year Akram Afif from scoring. That group then kept Ronaldo and Duran off the scoresheet in the semifinal and didn’t give an inch against Al-Ahli’s Ivan Toney either.
Takai has already played twice for Japan — making his first start in the recent World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia — and with European clubs circling, it’s surely only a matter of time before he is playing against the best in the world every week.
Frontale may not be able to benefit from Takai’s quality for much longer, but Hasebe’s reign has only just begun.
Since taking over from Toru Oniki at the start of the season the new boss, has already instilled greater defensive awareness in the team — perhaps the only thing they lacked under Oniki, whose attacking style delivered every domestic title in eight trophy-laden years at Todoroki Stadium.
Hasebe brings a more balanced approach, and while dismissed in some quarters as too conservative, it is one that has produced results wherever he has worked.
After steering second division also-rans Mito Hollyhock to the brink of the promotion playoffs with the second best defense behind champion Kashiwa Reysol in 2019, Hasebe moved to Avispa Fukuoka in 2020 and instantly led them to promotion to the top flight as J2 runners-up — this time with the best rearguard in the second tier.
He then set about establishing the yo-yo club as a fixture in the top flight, peaking in 2023 when delivering a club-best seventh-placed finish in J1 and a first piece of silverware by defeating Urawa Reds 2-1 in the Levain Cup final.
Those achievements saw him installed as Oniki’s successor at Frontale, where he has started solidly in the league and has now guided the club to the verge of continental glory — the one stage his predecessor was unable to conquer.
Once Frontale has shaken off the disappointment of Saturday’s final it should realize it also gained a lot over the past week and that the club’s future under Hasebe looks bright.
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