Urawa Red Diamonds are Asian champions. (Photo by Hiroki Watanabe/Getty Images)
The Urawa Komaba Stadium in Japan was the venue for the very last game of the AFC Women’s Club Championship: the final of the 2023 edition of the tournament.
The reason the match took place so long after the turn of the year was that the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had initially decided to cancel it having held the group stage since this tournament was only intended to be a pilot for the AFC Women’s Champions League, which is set to have its first season in 2024/25. However, following backlash from supporters of both finalists as well as organizers, they decided to go ahead with the match after all.
Saitama had recently seen a continental final, the 2022 AFC Men’s Champions League to be exact. That was over a year ago, but Urawa Red Diamonds still hold that title as the competition has switched from a year-round to a cross-year format, with the 2023/24 final yet to be played. So, in their very first continental final, Urawa Reds Ladies had the chance to make their club the only one in Asian football history so far to simultaneously hold the continental cup title in men’s and women’s competitions.
Their opponents, Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels, would be no pushovers, though. They have won each of the last 11 WK League titles and were on course for a 12th. Urawa Reds also are the defending champions of the Japanese league besides being runaway leaders in the current season, making this an epic match-up between the two strongest teams in two of Asia’s strongest leagues. Indeed, this was the perfect teaser for the Women’s Champions League.
The hosts had the bigger share of possession right from the off, but they did not settle too well initially. The Red Angels’ solid low block in front of their back five made chance creation difficult, while their selective press also posed some problems to their opposition’s build-up play.
Despite spending most of the first 15 minutes defending, it was the visitors who drew first blood after pouncing upon a sloppy pass at the back. The ball broke for Lee So-Hee at the edge of the box, and she drilled her finish past the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner.
Urawa Reds continued to apply attacking pressure after this early setback and soon enough found their rhythm. Once their slick passing play and positional interchanges started to click, they knew they would be very difficult to keep out. That is exactly how things transpired as they scored twice in quick succession before the half-hour mark.
First, this season’s WE League top scorer Kiko Seike latched on to a delicate lifted ball in behind the defense and thumped her finish home from a relatively tight angle, pulling her side level.
Soon thereafter, the Reds’ second-best goal-getter in the league, Mei Shimada scored from a set-piece situation, flipping the scoreline on its head.
The hosts remained in control from then on until the final whistle, seeing out as comfortable a one-goal win as they could hope for. The Red Angels did try to change some things tactically in the second half in a bid to cause some problems, but they barely even troubled the goalkeeper and ultimately had to resign to defeat.
Urawa Red Diamonds should rightfully celebrate this achievement now, and in just over a week’s time, they may well be throwing yet another party as they will have the chance to wrap up this season’s league title next weekend. Meanwhile, Incheon Hyundai Steel have about two-thirds of their domestic season left, so their schedule looks quite busy for the next few months.
Both Japan and South Korea have submitted entries to the AFC Women’s Champions League, so Urawa Reds and Incheon Hyundai Steel could well meet again soon in the inaugural edition of the new competition.
