By PARAS AHMED KHAN
JEDDAH, (Saudi Arabia): Kawasaki Frontale goalkeeper Louis Yamaguchi has set his sights on securing a place in the final of the AFC Champions League Elite™ Finals Jeddah 2025 after helping the Japanese side advance to the semi-finals of the competition for the first time.
Yamaguchi and his teammates defeated Qatar’s Al Sadd SC on Sunday, last, to set up a last four encounter with Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr Club and the 26-year-old is determined his team’s involvement will not come to an end against Cristiano Ronaldo and company.
Reaching the semi-final was really something we were looking for, it’s something historical for the club,” said Yamaguchi. “We don’t want to stop here. We want to go all the way and be champions. Now we’re focused on the next game.
“Al Nassr are a really big team and they really have some top players so we have to be careful, and will not even give them one chance. We will try not to give them as many chances as they would (usually) get.
“I think it’s going to be a nice game, really excited about it and looking forward to it.”
Frontale prevailed thanks to Yasuto Wakizaka’s extra-time strike after the Japanese side had twice seen Al Sadd cancel out one-goal leads.
Erison had put Frontale ahead in the fourth minute only for Paulo Otavio to level with a shot that Yamaguchi failed to deal with five minutes later. Marcinho restored Frontale’s lead in the 21st minute, but Claudinho levelled again with 19 minutes remaining.
“It was a hard game for us,” said the former Japan youth international. “We scored first and then we got scored against a few moments after that, so mentally it was quite difficult. Even at 2-2.
“It was a difficult game but the motivation in the team was superior to the result. Our opponent always came back and came back, but the team was really motivated and we scored the third goal so that was really nice.
“Defensively we have a lot of things to look at, me firstly. The first goal was a mistake of mine and after that I changed my mind and focused on what was coming next. I forgot that mistake and kept playing the game and focusing on my best performance.”
Kawasaki were backed by around 200 travelling supporters at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium on Sunday, but that committed band of fans will be significantly outnumbered by their Al Nassr counterparts at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
Yamaguchi, however, has few concerns about playing in what is expected to be a challenging atmosphere. “We heard from our training ground when they were playing against Yokohama F. Marinos so we’re prepared for it,” he said. “We just have to keep focusing on what we have to do on the pitch and not be submerged by the crowd. We’re going to do a good job.” The semi-finals between Al Nassr Club (KSA) and Kawasaki Frontale (JPN) is an eye catching as both have prominent stars and they would turn the table any time with the flashing moves.
The sides will be meeting for the first time with Frontale having never previously played against a team from Saudi Arabia. For Al Nassr, it will opposition from Japan for the second successive match – having defeated Yokohama F. Marinos in the quarter-finals on last Saturday.
Frontale have not lost in any of their previous three matches against West Asian teams on the continental stage, drawing 0-0 twice with Islamic Republic of Iran’s Sepahan in 2007 and winning 3-2 against Qatar’s Al Sadd in this season quarter-finals.
Al Nassr will be appearing in the semi-finals for the third time since 2020. Only Saudi Pro League rivals Al Hilal SFC (4) have reached the semi-finals more often in the last five editions. Al Nassr, however, have never advanced to the final.
Having reached the semi-finals for the first time, Frontale will now be aiming to become the fifth Japanese team to reach the AFC Champions League Elite final after Urawa Red Diamonds, Gamba Osaka, Kashima Antlers and Marinos.
The teams will go into their encounter confident of scoring, with both having netted 24 times en-route to their last four showdown. Frontale, in fact, are three short of matching their best ever haul on the continent – having achieved that in 2021.
Al Nassr were lethal against Marinos, registering 13 shots on target with four settling in the back of the net. Frontale would have been proud of their own record, with three of their seven shots resulting in goals against Al Sadd SC.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s strike against Marinos on Saturday, last, took his AFC Champions League Elite tally for this season to eight, the highest for an Al Nassr player in a single edition as the Portuguese icon surpassed Abderrazak Hamdallah’s seven goals in 2020. The last time Ronaldo scored more in a continental club competition was in the 2017-2018 UEFA Champions League (15 goals).
Marcinho’s five goals for Frontale this season sees him trailing Leandro Damião (2021) and Yu Kobayashi (2017) by one for most goals scored by a player for the Japanese side in a single edition. The Brazilian will be hoping for another goal-den show on Wednesday.
Edited by Miss Sumayya Ahmad, Reporter-Sub-Editor
