Urawa Seeking Reinforcements After Collapse

By: Martha | December 28th, 2007

Tsukasa Umesaki Before they manfully battled The Might AC Milan to a respectable 0-1 result in the semifinals of the Club World Cup, Japan’s Urawa Reds had turned in what has been called the worst collapse in J-League history. With four matches remaining in the season, they had a seven point lead and needed just one win the clinch their second title in a row. In those games, however, they score only once, managing just two draws and ending the season with a humiliating loss to the already relegated Yokohama FC, thus handing the title to Kashima Antlers. And, to make matters worse, Washington, who has scored 42 goals in 52 league matches over the past two seasons for the Red Diamonds, moved back to Brazil, joining Fluminense (well, either that or he’s going to the UAE).

In response to the mini-crisis, Urawa, like any good big club, are spending money. In just the the past couple of days, they’ve bought both the prolific Edmilson from Albirex Niigata and highly rated youngster Tsukasa Umesaki from Oita Trinita.

Edmilson is one of the many Brazilians plying his trade in the J-League and, while no Washington, is no slouch in the scoring department, having netted 62 goals in 116 matches since moving to Japan from Palmeiras in 2004. He’ll be expected to do at least that for his new club and has rather massive shoes to fill, if he’s going to match his countryman’s scoring rate. Umesaki, meanwhile, is just 20 years old, but already has a season as a J-League regular under his belt and is probably a bit of a coup for the Reds. He’s an attacking midfielder who’s already made his debut for the full national team and starred for Japan at the U-20 World Cup, but finding a permanent spot with the Reds will be a bit harder than securing one with Oita.

Between them, the two transfers probably cost between five and six million dollars (Umaski cost under $2 million, and Edmilson’s price is undisclosed, but he cost Niigata $2.6 million two years ago, and surely costs more now), which is nothing for the likes of Chelsea or Milan, but is quite an investment for a J-League side. If nothing else, they should show supporters that the team is serious about fixing things — second place, clearly, is never going to be good enough.