Saitama: Urawa Red Diamonds matchwinner Rafael Silva hailed his side’s semi-final victory over Shanghai SIPG on Wednesday as “one of the best days of my career” after his 11th minute header helped the 2007 AFC Champions League winners return to the final of the continental competition.
The Brazilian’s seventh goal in the tournament, arguably his most important, ensured a 2-1 aggregate victory over Andres Villas-Boas’ Shanghai side following the 1-0 second leg win at Saitama Stadium.
And the Sao Paolo native, playing in his first AFC Champions League competition, was in no doubt of the significance of the latest edition to his tally.
“I’m sure this is one of the best days of my career,” said the 25-year-old, who joined Urawa from Alibrex Niigata ahead of the 2017 season.
“Today we could make a big step forward, and I think is completely important for us.
“Now we need to get both our feet back on the ground and just focus on the next game.”
Rafael Silva’s goal came from an expertly-taken corner by playmaker Yosuke Kashiwagi, and the midfielder has now been involved in four of his team’s last five goals in the AFC Champions League.
The grateful recipient of Kashiwagi’s latest assist credited the preparation and training instigated by coach Takafumi Hori, citing the importance of the pre-match preparation ahead of the semi-final second leg.
“Naturally during training we work on setpieces and these kind of things,” added Rafael Silva, who is now just two goals behind in the chase for 2017 AFC Champions League Top Scorer.
“It’s something we, of course, do the day before the game, and I think the situation came about exactly as we had been on working on.
“It was really effective – exactly the way we’d been practicing.”
Photos: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com