URAWA RED DIAMONDS

Talk on Together 2009  

“Urawa Reds Talk on Together 2009” was held at the main hall of Saitama Kaikan from 7 pm on 2nd March. As many as 808 fans and supporters attended this event.

In the 1st part, President Mitsunori Fujiguchi and Team Director Katsuyoshi Shinto went up to the stage and talked about “The club’s vision and direction”. This talk was led by Mr. Jun Seio of Official Match Day Program. When President Fujiguchi mentioned about “the year of change”, Mr. Seio cut in and asked “Is there any possibility that you will change the direction in the middle of the year”? TD Shinto ensured that it would not happen. He then explained about the excellent preparation currently being carried out under the direction of Team Manager Volker Finke and assured, “With such hard work involved, we will have good results. Even though we have some difficulties, we will definitely not change our direction”. President Fujiguchi said, “We want to change football which involves a lot of movements of people and ball together with the supporters. In order to do so, please give us your continued warm support and help create a great atmosphere at the stadium”. The supporters present gave him a big round of applause.

The 1st part took about 40 minutes and the 2nd part started following a 10 minute break.

In the 2nd part, Team Manager Finke made his appearance for an interview. When he went up to the stage together with Coach Masaki Morass, they were welcomed with a tremendous applause. The Team Manager Finke showed his surprise on his face at the amount of interest by the people.

The interview was led by football journalist Mr. Yoshiyuki Osumi. His questions ranged from how Team Manager Finke is trying to achieve different combination plays within the team to how he feels about Japanese culture. When he was asked about his favorite Japanese food, he replied, “I cannot resist eating tempura if it is served me”. The place was filled with laughter by Team Manger Finke’s humor.

When the question came to the number of Satellite team games, Team Manager Finke disclosed, “Before signing the contract, I asked them to arrange for an additional 20 games besides the Satellite league games”. In return, the audiences gave him the loudest applause of the day.

Team Manager Finke looked relaxed and talked cheerfully. The 2nd part exceeded the scheduled time by about 15 minutes.

The content of “Urawa Reds Talk on Together 2009” will be up shortly on the “Reds Voice” in the official website.