|
November 14, 2007A Tip of the Hat to Those Proud Few. . . those unwavering, unyielding soldiers of the Saitama Red Army who stood on the terraces long into the dark, November evening, and roared their passionate loyalty with pride. "We Are Reds!" they declared, as if nothing else in the world could possibly mean as much. "We Are Reds! We Are Reds! We Are Reds!" A defiant, and even furious declaration of their abiding love for something that -- over the years -- has slowly grown into something far more than just a football team. It was a night to remember. A night when history was made. A night that sent shivers of awe down the spine of any true football fan. A night that will live in this writer's memory for all time. But that was a very long time ago. So long ago, in fact, that many of the mainstream sports writers in this country act as if it never happened. That was the year that a J.League team booked a berth in FIFA's first-ever World Club Championship. Naturally, we are talking about Jubilo Iwata. It was 1999, and Jubilo conquered all comers in Asia, thanks to the blazing boots of Masashi "Gon" Nakayama, and the looming defensive presence of Adilson Diaz Batista. Reading the leading sports newspapers, this morning, you would have difficulty believing that such a thing really happened -- and a mere eight years ago at that. Headlines about how the Urawa Reds were about to make an "unprecedented" step, and win an ACL title "for the first time ever". Well, considering that the ACL has only been around for half a decade, that may not be much of a surprise. . . . but we digress. On that late November evening, in 1999, Masahiro Fukuda raced through the evening chill and headed home a goal in extra time to give his team the victory . . . and then screamed in fury at the teammates who came to congratulate him, since he knew that the goal had come an agonizing ten minutes too late to prevent Urawa from being relegated to the J2. As this realization hit, and tears of dismay began to well in their eyes, the players turned toward the crowd . . . and were greeted with a thundering roar of undimmed pride and unfailing loyalty. Even as the shame of relegation fell on their shoulders, the Saitama Red Army took up the cheer that has echoed through stadiums from one end of Japan to the other. "We Are Reds! We Are Reds!" The simple beauty of this declaration of loyalty was simply breathtaking. Today, just a few weeks short of eigh years since that historic evening, another crowd gathered in Urawa, at a gleaming new stadium -- an edifice that did not even exist in 1999 -- and once again the thundering voices roared their battle cry into the night. The joy and excitement of a championship team has swelled the size of the Saitama Red Army with thousands of new, fresh-faced recruits, and though it was a Wednesday evening in the middle of a busy work week, over 60,000 packed Saitama Stadium to watch their team battle for an Asian title. Perhaps it is unfair to belittle their loyalty, just because they are new converts. But we cannot avoid the sense that the greatest joy on this particular evening went to those aging loyalists . . . . the ones who carried their pride on their red-clad sleeves throughout the lean years. In less than a decade, these fans have watched their team claw their way back from the lowest of depths, and then advance through the years to the very pinnacle of Asian football success. Sure enough, the aging icons of yesteryear emerged to bask in this long-awaited success. The golden-goal hero from 1999, Masahiro Fukuda, stood on the sidelines as a colour announcer for Asahi Television, while two other relics of that season -- Shinji Ono and Nobuhisa Yamada -- were forced to watch their teammates from luxury box seats, due to injuries. The contest itself, suspenseful and enthralling though it was, somehow seemed to be a shadow play, filtered and reflected through the long lens of history. For those newcomers who have discovered the Reds (or any other J.League team) just recently, no doubt the spectacle was enthralling in its wown right. But for those who can still recall the lean years, every moment and every play seemed to echo down the coridoors of time, as if the seeds of hope planted in the cold November soil, eight long years ago, and watered by the tears and sweat of Urawa players and fans down through the years, were at last sprouting into bright-red blossoms of triumphal joy. At last, the moment arrived, and as play in the second leg of the 2007 ACL championship series began, the shadows of history faded for a moment in the glare of the spotlights, and the heat of football action. After 20 minutes of nervous feints and exchanges, Yuichiro Nagai broke into the clear on the right sideline, and Robson Ponte fed the ball through for him to chase towards the edge of the box. Two steps into the area, Nagai unleashed his shot, and it rocketed over the keeper's head, glancing off his glove and into the roof of the net. A roar of exultation shook the stadium to its foundations, and the match announcers struggled to be heard above the din. It was the sound of 60,000 Reds fans burying their years of frustration, and welcoming in a new era. Of course, anyone who has followed the J.League this season would know by now that the Reds were not about to make things easy for themselves. Rather than pressing home their advantage, the team sank back in a defensive posture, leaving Ponte, Nagai and Washington to the lonely task of creating offence while the other eight members of the team remained resolutely in their own half. For all the team's successes, this season, it is hard to avoid the sense that the Reds would be even more dominant -- and certainly more fun to watch -- if they would throw Holger Osieck's apallingly conservative coaching philosophy right out the window. Sure enough, the "strategy" seemed to give Sepahan all the encouragement they could possibly ask for, and by the early stages of the second half the Reds had been pinned back deep in their own end, with only the desparately heroic work of Marcus Tulio Tanaka and Keisuke Tsuboi staving off disaster, time after nerve-wracking time. But as the clock moved toward the 75 minute mark, Urawa seemed to discover their reserves of energy and determination, and following a foul on Washington about 35 yards out from goal, they at last pushed some players forward to contest first the free kick, and then a subsequent corner. Sepahan cleared the ball from their box following the corner kick, but Makoto Hasebe managed to snatch it up and make another slashing move towards the left edge of the box. As the defence collapsed towards him, Hasebe centered the ball for Washington, who chested it down as Nagai surged forward towards the penalty spot. Nagai hit the ball low and hard towards the right corner, and though the keeper managed to bat it away with a desperate dive, Yuki Abe was waiting at the right post to head the rebound home. This time the uproar set off seismic sensors all over the Kanto region, and the din continued almost incesssantly for the remaining 20 minutes of the contest. As time ran down, the ghosts of Urawa Past once again drifted out of the mists. The last two remnants of that 1999 team -- Hideki Uchidate and Masayuki Okano -- were called off the bench and offered the chance to savour the long-awaited taste of victory. And of course, as the players backslapped and joked with one another in front of the ACL trophy, the bold roar of pride and loyalty began to echo through the night once again. As it did amidst the tears and frustration. As it did night after night, all along the tough road back to competitiveness. As it has all through this triumphant and joyful season. "We Are Reds! We Are Reds! We Are Reds!" A week from now . . . or perhaps in only a few days . . . the bitter rivalries and fierce competitiveness of J.League play will re-emerge. The fans of Kashima, and Osaka, and Shimizu, and Yokohama, and all the other J.League towns and cities across Japan will sneer and jeer as they always do. Dismissive talk about "bandwagon jumpers" and "schoolgirl fans" will again fill the football chat sites, and complaints about the ugly anti-football that the Reds are introducing to the J.League will blare from partisan writers up and down the country. But tonight . . . . for at least this one satisfying moment of nostalgic remembrance and joyous victory . . . the rivalries have lost their meaning. For at least this one night, we all can share in the triumphant celebration. Tonight, We Are ALL Reds.
| |
J1 (Division 1) Information Match Results Standings Schedule History J1 Teams Venues Hall of Fame J2 (Division 2) Information Match Results Standings Schedule History J2 Teams Venues 
National TeamRecent News History Schedule U-20 & U-23 Teams 
Overseas PlayersInformation Shunsuke Nakamura Mitsuo Ogasawara Daisuke Matsui Naohiro Takahara Junichi Inamoto Koji Nakata Masashi Oguro Others  Information Match Results Standings Schedule JFL Teams Regional Leagues Information Hokkaido League Tohoku League Hokushinetsu Lg. Shikoku League Tokai League Kansai League Chugoku League Shikoku League Kyushu League  |
2