Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Kuala Lumpur: Ahead of the 2017 AFC Champions League semi-final kick-off, we turned to Asian football fans to ask about their prediction, hopes and fears for their teams.
We begin with the exciting East Asia clash between Shanghai SIPG and Urawa Red Diamonds.
Taku Murakami, Urawa Red Diamonds fan
Obviously, SIPG’s strengths are their three super Brazilians (Hulk, Oscar, Elkeson).
They showed outstanding performances in the last two matches in the group stage. There are no equivalent players like them in the J.League.
The impression I got from them was so strong that I don`t remember how other players were playing in the matches, which may suggest the Brazilians could be their weak points as SIPG seem to rely on them too much. It means if the Reds can stop them, they have more chances to win.
For Urawa, all their players are key, but if I have to name some as ‘key players’ I`d recommend Shinzo Koroki, Yosuke Kashiwagi, and Yuki Abe.
https://www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/koroki_urawa_acl_ls_jpg_2.html

https://www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/yuki-abe_urawa_acl_ls_jpg.html

https://www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/oscar_shanghai-sipg-acl_ls_jpg.html

https://www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/odil-ahmedov_shanghai_acl_ls_jpg.html
