AFC Champions League Final - 3 Key Players: Urawa Red Diamonds

Published on: 16 November 2017

Kuala Lumpur: The clash between Al Hilal and Urawa Reds in the 2017 AFC Champions League final is sure to be a rollercoaster affair involving some of the best players from West and East Asia.

Urawa’s efforts have often been based on a team performance, with 13 different players having scored in their continental campaign so far.

Nevertheless, we have chosen three to watch that represent the backbone of the side.

Rafael Silva

Position: Forward

Age: 25

Nationality: Brazilian

From the players who played in the group stage up to and including the knockout stage, no one has a better minutes per goal ratio than Urawa Red Diamonds forward Rafael Silva.

With his seven goals coming from just four starts and five appearances from the bench, the 25-year-old averages a goal every 65 minutes. 

And none were more important than his header in the semi-final second leg in Saitama against Shanghai SIPG that helped The Reds into the second AFC Champions League final and first since 2007. 

Shinzo Koroki

Position: Forward

Age: 31

Nationality: Japanese

An incredibly popular player amongst the Urawa Reds faithful, Shinzo Koroki had led the line for the Saitama club this year, often plowing a lone furrow in attack in Takafumi Hori’s 4-5-1 formation.

The coach’s faith has certainly been well-placed in Koroki, though, as with the 31-year-old having hit 20 goal league so far to lead the J.League scorers’ list.

Not only has Koroki also been on target four times in Asia but he has also been bringing others into the game, ranking fifth in assists and tallying 16 chances created. 

Yosuke Kashiwagi

Position: Midfielder

Age: 29

Nationality: Japanese

Despite having made just seven starts for Urawa in their 2017 AFC Champions League campaign, Kashiwagi’s statistics make for impressive reading.

The midfielder is the overall fourth highest assist maker, whilst amongst the players who will step out in the final, Kashiwagi has created the second most chances (18), and the highest amount of passes (217) in the final third of the pitch. 

With a wand for a left foot, Kashiwagi’s technical ability and range of passing is famous throughout Japan. Curling set-pieces, whipped cross and defence-splitting passes are all amongst the Kobe-native’s repertoire.

Photos: Lagardère Sports

Source: the-afc.com

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