Kuroki: Al-Hilal will be Urawa's toughest rival ever.

IT football news department (club news):

According to the IT Football news website, Kuroki notes that Al-Hilal will be Urawa's toughest opponent.

Saitama: Shinzo Kuroki may not have any role in Urawa Red Diamonds' promotion to the 2022 AFC Champions League final. The experienced striker says Al-Hilal's opponents are the biggest obstacle for this Japanese club to become the champion of Asia.

After spending nine years in Urawa, playing in two continental finals and winning one game, Kuroki moved to Hokkaido Consadol Sapporo for the 2022 season.

He did not appear in his country's club until the fourth final of the Asian Champions League.

The 36-year-old player returned to Saitama before the 2023 season.

He played in the third final of 2017 with two games against Riyadh team which were held on April 29 and May 6.

Koroki noted: I was not here last year, so I cannot talk about the details of the AFC Champions League. But it seems that the team had a good chance to reach the finals.

Kuroki is competent to talk about the characteristics of Al-Hilal. Along with veteran goalkeeper Shosaku Nishikawa, he is one of only two remaining Urawa players who appeared in the 2017 and 2019 finals. Both of them were rivals of the Saudi professional league team.
In 2017, Urawa drew 1-1 in the first leg in Riyadh. Rafael Silva's shot won 0-1 at Saitama Stadium and the team won the continental championship for the second time.

Two years later, Kuroki helped Urawa return to the finals in the knockout round. Al-Hilal took their revenge and won 0-1 in the Saudi capital and then won 2-0 in Japan.

Koroki: Stronger-than-ever Al Hilal will be Urawa's toughest test

:(itfootball news department (club news

According to itfootball news site, Kuroki says that Al Hilal will be Urawa's toughest rival

Saitama: Shinzo Koroki may have played no part in Urawa Red Diamonds' run to the AFC Champions League™ 2022 final but the veteran striker is under no illusion that opponents Al Hilal SFC provide the biggest obstacle yet in the Japanese club's bid to become three- time Asian champions

Having spent nine years at Urawa, playing in two continental finals and winning one of them, Koroki was loaned out to Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo for the 2022 campaign and thus missed his parent club's march to a fourth AFC Champions League finale.

But the 36-year-old returned to Saitama ahead of the 2023 season and, with the two-legged showpiece event against the Riyadh giants to take place on April 29 and May 6, he is set to appear in his third final since 2017

I wasn't here last year so I cannot really talk about the details of the AFC Champions League campaign but it seems like the team had some good luck reaching the final, noted Koroki

I know both at Kashima Antlers and Urawa Reds that even just qualifying for this tournament is not easy, so I don't want the young players to think it's easy to get to the final

Al Hilal will be 10 times more difficult than any team we have played in the competition so far but this will be good for our players and, of course, I hope we can win and celebrate together

If anyone is qualified to talk about the qualities of Al Hilal it's Koroki, who, along with long-serving Shusaku Nishikawa, is one of two Urawa players in both the 2017 and 2019 finals, both of which were against the Saudi Pro League side

In 2017, Urawa played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Riyadh before a late Rafael Silva strike at Saitama Stadium sealed a 1-0 victory in the return meeting as the League side were crowned continental champions for the second time to add to the title they won a decade earlier

Two years later, after Koroki had been in scintillating form in the knockout rounds to help Urawa back to the final, Al Hilal gained their revenge, winning 1-0 in the Saudi capital before running out 2-0 winners in Japan as the League side. were well beaten

In both finals, we played away first, and, when we drew 1-1 in 2017, we came back home with an advantage and that's why we could win this final, said Koroki

But, honestly, when we lost 1-0 away from home in 2019, I didn't think it was a bad result because we just needed to score one to draw level and 2-0 would make us champions. We played aggressively but then we lost our balance and conceded. After that, we could not win

I haven't spoken with the other players about those finals because, right now, we're concentrating on the League but, of course, when the time comes, the players will talk to our teammates about the course

(source: .the-afc.com)