“Alongside Vinh Stadium and My Dinh, this marked my third V.League venue. All these stadiums, coated in their signature yellow hue, bear the marks of time. Peeling paint, spiderwebbed corners, cracked walls, and weathered fencing — signs of wear that might seem like flaws, but to me, each imperfection tells a story…..”
“The city itself is deeply steeped in football tradition. Many of Japan’s football legends—like Hidetoshi Nakata, Shinji Ono, Shinji Okazaki, Masashi Nakayama and the timeless King Kazu—hail from Shizuoka. Schools in this region have also dominated the prestigious National High School Football Championship, reinforcing the city’s status as a talent factory. As football lovers, visiting Shizuoka had always been a dream”
Just when we thought we should be the only ones not familiar with CSL, the club was comfortable admitting that they were not familiar with CSL in the first place. In 2021, they were still in Division Two, and in two years, they gained promotion to Division One and eventually to the Chinese Super League. According to the Club’s Chairman, Mr. Xu, everything developed too fast! However, Mr Xu and his team spared no effort to ensure the club was ready for the new CSL season. The club hired many new full-time staff to take on various new roles in business development, media, community engagement, dietician, and many more to meet the demands of a professionally run football club.
Apart from the extensive media coverage on Japanese football, another extremely encouraging sight was the turnout of Urawa Reds football fans watching the training session. There were easily 100 football fans, ranging from young boys to school girls and up to retiring elderly, at the mini grandstand eagerly waiting for their favourite players to say hi to them.
Since last season, more than 10 players from the Academy have progressed to the first team, and many have even went on to play in Europe and subsequently the World Cup. Interestingly, some of the futsal pitches at Redsland are actually built using the transfer fees from some of the players’ move to Europe.
Junpiter Futbol had the privilege to be in Russia for the recent FIFA World Cup 2018 for a period of eight days, although it came down to only five full days excluding flying and travelling in between Moscow and Saint Petersburg via inter-city train, Sapsan.
During our time there, we caught two matches – Russia vs Egypt and Brazil vs Costa Rica – both at the new Saint Petersburg Stadium just four days apart. Here we sum up our unique experience in Eastern Europe.
