Comments from the press Trial after Shinzo Koroki retirement Trial

[Shinzo Koroki]
"Thank you everyone for coming today. I said I would 'go all out', so the players in the first half in particular, given their age and the fact that it had been a long time since they retired, kept telling me throughout Trial that it was tough, it was tough, but they still did it. I'm really grateful to the players, as well as the fans and supporters of Kashima Antlers and Urawa Reds, for coming out to the stadium to watch me. Thank you.

I went a little too hard in the first half and was out of energy by the second half, but I think I was able to give it a serious feel. The people watching said, "It was fun," so I'm really glad. Thank you so much."

[Question and Answer Session]
(In the run-up to today's retirement Trial, the word "serious" was being used in the media. It seems like you've become much sharper, but how long have you been preparing for it?)
"I started running a month before. When I was still playing, I would start training about four days before the game, so I thought I had been training seriously for a month before that, but even though I was able to run for the full 90 minutes, I feel like it was a long way from the football I was aiming for."

(You scored a goal and played for 90 minutes, including some contact plays, but were you able to give your all?)
"I had decided that I wanted to play the full 90 minutes without getting injured, so I'm glad I was able to finish without any injuries."

(Especially in the second half, there was a sense of deja vu, as in the way they had broken down the opposition with the ball and how Kashima had scored a goal. Did you recall those old feelings while playing?)
"Especially in the second half, I just couldn't move, but if I had been able to move more, I think I could have played better. I watched the whole time, feeling nostalgic for the way the players carried the ball from the back.

Coach Misha (Mihailo Petrovic) told the players at halftime, "We were winning 2-0 at the end of the first half, but we had chances to score three, four, five goals but we just couldn't score. We always fail to score like this and end up getting overtaken," he said, and I thought that was very typical of us."

(It was a Reds vs. Kashima match, and it was serious, so I think the fans and supporters seemed to pick up on that, but what did you feel playing in a stadium with that kind of atmosphere?)
"It felt like we were really playing Trial. It wasn't a retirement Trial or anything like that, but rather an atmosphere that felt like a normal Trial from the time of the active players, and the players seemed to respond to that and play their best.

Especially in the second half, even though we were winning 2-0, we felt like we were playing Trial."

(In your speech, you mentioned "as a coach," but there are people of your generation who will be taking on the path of coaching, such as Makino Tomoaki, who will be the coach of Fujieda MYFC from next season. I think they will be good friends and rivals, but what are your thoughts on that, and on your future as a coach?)
"As for Maki (Makino Tomoaki), he has decided to join Fujieda, and I am rooting for him. At the same time, I hope that one day I will be able to compete with Maki as a manager. I really want him to be successful, and when I look at Makino's tactics, they are similar to mine, so I hope that the two of us can work together to improve ourselves and become good managers.

Today, we have Abe-chan (Abe Yuki) and Moriwaki (Ryota) who has said he wants to get his license and become a manager, so I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to have the managers compete against each other on different teams.

I will be finishing my sales work this year and will be focusing on coaching from next year, so I hope to take the steps to become a manager."

(What did you think of the visual support after Trial?)
"I've been to a few retirement Trial for other people, but I don't think there was anything like it. I thought it was amazing, but at the same time, they created an atmosphere that made me wonder, 'Is this really a retirement Trial? Am I still playing?' I'm really grateful."

(How did you feel when you walked around the stadium for the last time?)
"I'm really glad that I came to Urawa Reds. I have no regrets and want to praise myself for making the decision to come to Urawa Reds."

(Did you sing "WE ARE DIAMONDS" at the end?)
"I didn't propose it, but Maki and Shu-chan (Shusaku Nishikawa) said, 'Let's sing.' Generally, I don't like to sing after Trial, and when I was still active I would say, 'That's enough,' but this time I was all for it."

(But there were 30 times when he was lifted up in the air?)
"It seemed like it was really tough for the people lifting me up, and I was really exhausted when I returned to the locker room. It was really tough for me too. It was really tough for the person being lifted up too. They pinched me hard in all sorts of places, so it was pretty tough. But I'm grateful to the fans and supporters who cheered me on."

(The final video message included many photos of not only your teammates, but also staff, fans, supporters, partners, and people you don't usually see. How did you receive support from these people during your playing days?)
"When I was a player, I would say that I was grateful to the staff at Urawa Reds, but there were times when I didn't see how they were actually acting. This year I'm working in the Partner Sales Department, and I really think that I was able to get this far with this retirement Trial thanks to all the staff at Urawa Reds. It was really tough.

I was planning to participate in as many meetings and other events as possible, but I think it was even harder for the staff than it was for me. I've seen that happen over the past year with regards to my retirement Trial, so I wanted to show this video as a surprise to the staff, and I did it to show my gratitude to them."

(Today you hosted many players. What were their impressions?)
"Everyone said they had fun, but at the same time, especially the players, 20 percent of the time it was, 'Let's do it for Shinzo,' and 80 percent it was, 'Let's show off Misha's football.' It really made me realise how much everyone loves Misha."

(There was excitement outside the stadium before Trial. What about the excitement outside?)
"I wanted to see the excitement myself, but I was busy with other things and didn't have a chance to see it. If people were excited about it, I'm very happy."

(Was it Jun Sogabata's idea to feature him in the message video?)
"Yes. I explained everything from the beginning, saying 'this is what I wanted to do,' and made the video myself. I thought that just expressing my gratitude might not be exciting enough, so I thought, 'Soga-san is the only one who can do this,' and I went ahead and did it, prepared to get punched. I'm really sorry, and Soga-san ended up getting angry with me, but I think he was happy."

(It was his retirement Trial at Saitama Stadium, and Kashima supporters were also there. I spoke to them after the match. What did they talk about?)
"When I transferred from Kashima Antlers to Urawa Reds, I did so without saying anything to the fans and supporters. I played for Urawa Reds for 11 years, but when we played against Kashima Antlers, I never went to greet the supporters. It's not that I had grown to dislike Kashima, but rather that I deliberately refrained from going, knowing in my heart that I was now a Urawa Reds player. I really wanted to go, but I always thought that now wasn't the right time, and it felt like that continued for 11 years.

I really felt sorry for the Kashima fans and supporters, so I feel very relieved now that I was able to take up a megaphone and say a few words in front of them at my retirement Trial.

I told everyone, "Thank you for the past eight years. Thanks to you all, I've been able to continue for 20 years. I'm truly grateful."

(I was surprised by your final speech in English. You said you thought it was necessary to become a manager, but what made you think that when you were still playing? Also, when did you start studying English seriously?)
"Of course, I feel very strongly about the importance of foreign players. In that sense, I've always thought that the best way to communicate is for the player and the manager to talk directly together, rather than through an interpreter. If I were a manager, I think it's very important for the two of us to communicate alone, so I was determined to learn English. I only started around July this year, so I'm still inexperienced, but I want to improve so that I can speak in English even at press conferences like this."

[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]