Saturday 18 November will see the first leg of the AFC Champions League (ACL) final between Urawa Red Diamonds and Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia. With one day before the final, both teams held an official training session, followed by a press conference at King Fahd International Stadium.

Coaches' and Players' Comments

HORI Takafumi, Coach (Urawa Red Diamonds)
I am honoured to play against Al-Hilal, which is the most popular and the strongest team in Saudi Arabia. For the ACL final, I was informed that many Saudi Arabian staff and the Foreign Ministry of Japan gave us tremendous support to fly us here. We would like to show our appreciation by performing well in tomorrow’s game. I also heard that more than 200 fans and supporters will come from Japan to encourage us. We would like to perform hard for them and display our competitive spirit as well. I hope that we can build up positive momentum for the coming second leg back at home. We expect a very tough match, but I have confidence in our strength as well. I used to think Middle Eastern teams have strong physicality, which is their one of the major advantages when they play against the Eastern Asian side. However, our opponents also play systematically as well as having players with excellent individual skills. I need to lead the team bearing in mind those aspects as well.

ENDO Wataru (Urawa Red Diamonds)
I am very pleased to be in the final, but we can only say that we’ve achieved something after winning the championship. I expect a difficult game as well. We are looking to give our best performance and grab a win in this away encounter tomorrow. I know that Al-Hilal play systematically, but we also need to pay close attention and defend well against the Syrian international forward and their wingers as well.

Ramón Díaz, Coach (Al-Hilal)
Tomorrow’s game will be crucial. We’ve been practicing hard until today and now are ready to play. The final is not any ordinal match and will always be a tough one. We watched several games that Urawa Red Diamonds played, and they have a typical Japanese playing style, but at a very high standard as well. We must try hard to take the initiative in this game at home. We believe at Al-Hilal that controlling the ball and keeping possession are vital. I further think that it’s easier to maintain possession with only one forward player. If we succeed in keeping possession, then we will be able to take control of tomorrow’s game. We need to have strong mentality and some luck as well. We must keep our focus and grab this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. All the players have been performing with positive attitude and, as a result, have achieved good results so far. I know Urawa Red Diamonds are performing brilliantly, but we will do our best by considering the home game as a part of 180-minute match.

Osama Hawsawi (Al-Hilal)
All the players understand that tomorrow’s match is vital and we have prepared well for it. Tomorrow’s game is 90 minutes long, but I believe that we are better off thinking it as a part of 180-minute match. I hope that many will come to show us their strong support for the team.

Tournament Period：24 January 2017 (Tue.) ～ 25 November 2017 (Sat.)

Final 1st Leg
18 November 2017 (Sat.) Kick-ff TBC
Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia) vs Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan)

Final 2nd Leg
25 November 2017 (Sat.) Kick-ff TBC
Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan) vs Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia)

For Tournament Information