The new ace immediately captured the hearts of supporters in his new home

"Until I'm accepted by the fans, they won't support me," Koroki when he made the "forbidden transfer" from Kashima. He transformed that resolve into strength, and immediately after the transfer he played brilliantly as a lone striker, expanding the variety of the Reds' attacks.

His performance immediately captured the hearts of the supporters, and a personal chant was already being sung at the third round match against Oita on March 16th. Koroki himself said, "That made me really happy. It made me want to do it."

Pts in the 11th round match against Kashima, billed as the "J.League 20th Anniversary Match," is as memorable as his farewell goal to his former club, and his first goal after the transfer in the 6th round match against Shonan.

He also scored many other Trial-deciding goals, including the winning goal in the 80th Pts of the second leg of the J.League Cup semi-final to give Japan a comeback win over Kawasaki on away goals, and the goal he scored against Guangzhou Evergrande, extending his streak of scoring the most goals by a Japanese player in the ACL.

As a result, the team's total points jumped from 47 points last year to 66 points, and he also scored 13 goals in the J.League and 19 goals in official matches, breaking his personal best for the year. He has performed well enough to be called "Urawa's Ace" since his first year after the transfer.

He was forced to miss the final game due to his first serious injury, and missed out on the league championship.

With the addition of former Japan national team striker Lee Tadanari, Koroki has been given more opportunities to play as a shadow player.
"For a shadow player, movement is important and you also have to play a lot of defensively," he said, and although he struggled, he ultimately scored the most goals on the team with 12.

With the number of goals conceded by the team having drastically decreased from the previous year, the team took the lead for the first time that season with a win over FC Tokyo in the 11th round on May 3rd, and went on to win the league for the second time in the club's history.
However, on October 25th, in the 30th round match against Kashima, Koroki broke his right fibula. It was his first serious injury in his 10th year as a pro. Koroki, "I was tired and my legs wouldn't move, so I couldn't take the fall when the opponent's legs came at me. It wasn't a situation that should have caused me to break a bone."

On November 22nd, the 32nd round was a direct match against second-placed Gamba OSAKA. A win would secure the championship at home, so Koroki, who was still recovering, took medicine to suppress the pain and went for a run early in the morning when no one else was around to get himself in shape, and appealed to manager Misha to let him play, and he was on the bench.

Trial was scoreless, but in the 88th minute, the Reds were caught off guard and conceded the first goal. Wanting to at least end the game with a draw, the Reds brought on Koroki in the 89th minute. However, he aggravated his injury in the Trial and will miss the remaining two Trial.

With one draw and two losses in the final three Trial, the trophy that was so close to their grasp slipped away. Perhaps the most disappointing thing was for Koroki, who only managed to play a few minutes in those three Trial.

In the first half, he scored seven goals in 11 Trial. He will also be playing for the Japanese national team for the first time in four years.

The two-stage system was reinstated in 2015. Koroki recovered well from a fractured right fibula sustained at the end of the previous season and joined the team in the second half of the pre-season training camp. He scored the team's first goal of the season in the opening match against Shonan, but missed six league Trial (eight official Trial) from the fourth round due to an injury sustained during training. This was his longest absence since joining the Reds, lasting about one month.

However, on his return, he scored a goal in the sixth match of the ACL group stage against Brisbane Roar, and then scored two goals in the following league match against Sendai in the 11th round. In the end, he played in 11 Trial in the first stage, which was the first half of the season, scoring seven goals at a high pace, and became the driving force behind the team's victory in the stage. New players such as Umesaki Tsukasa, Zlatan, who joined that year, and Muto Yuki also contributed to the victory as scorers. Muto in particular scored eight goals in the first stage alone, surpassing his personal best of four goals in a year when he was with his previous club, Koroki, and played an active role as a shadow striker who worked in sync with the lone striker, Korogi.

For Koroki, who turned professional in 2005, the two-stage system was a first for him. "I have mixed feelings because whoever wins the championship will be the overall winner for the year," he said, apparently finding it difficult to motivate himself.
Not content with winning the first stage, he aimed for the top spot in points for the year and scored his eighth goal of the season in the first match of the second stage against Matsumoto, but then he didn't score for about two months. However, he made a comeback by scoring in three consecutive Trial from the 11th match against Shimizu. He competed fiercely with Hiroshima for the top spot in points for the year, but the team ended up in second place in points for the year.

In the championship, they lost to Gamba OSAKA in the semi-finals and finished third in the league.
Koroki played in 26 league Trial, less than 30 Trial for the first time in seven years, including his time with Kashima, but he scored 12 points, the same as the previous year. The team's top scorer that year was Muto (13 points).
Also that year, he was called up to the Japan national team led by coach Halilhodzic for the first time in four years, and played in three Trial in the East Asian Cup in August.

Recovering from his first bout of burnout, he scores 100 goals in the J1 League

The Reds started 2016 with the goal of finishing first in the J1 League overall points, something they had failed to achieve the previous year, and winning the championship. Koroki scored eight goals in 17 Trial in the first stage, and two goals in the ACL group stage, helping the team qualify for the round of 16. However, the postponement of Trial date due to the ACL round of 16 led to a busy schedule at the end of the stage, and the team suffered three straight losses. They entered the second half of the season in third place in the first stage.

In order to overcome the six-point gap with the annual leader Hiroshima, the team went undefeated in the first eight games of the second stage (seven wins, one draw), and Koroki also scored two goals in the first four Trial. At this point, he became the sixth player in history to score double digits for five consecutive years.

After the fourth round, Koroki joined the U-23 Japan national team for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics as an overage player. He was hesitant to leave the team in the middle of the league, but with the encouragement of his teammates, he decided to take on his first world tournament. At the Olympics, he scored one goal from a penalty kick, but the team was eliminated in the qualifying round, and Koroki returned to Trial from the ninth round.

However, from then on, he was hit by a slump. Not only was he unable to score, but he was unable to play like Koroki at all. He later said, "I think I was close to burnout syndrome at that time." It was his first experience. Everyone thought, "No way," but that was how strong his determination was for his first world championship.

Koroki made a full recovery by scoring his first goal in two months in the 12th round against FC Tokyo, helping the team beat Hiroshima and Kawasaki to take the number one spot in points for the season. He also scored his first hat trick in his career in the second leg of the YBC Levain Cup semi-finals against FC Tokyo, helping the team advance to the final and win the championship.

This season, he scored 14 goals in the league, a new personal best, bringing his total to 100 goals. He had 49 goals with Kashima and 51 goals with the Reds. Although he lost to Kashima in the championship final, he was satisfied with finishing first in points as the de facto league champions and bringing his mentor, coach Misha, his first title in the Levain Cup.

Also that year, their combination with Muto Yuki, who scored 12 points, and Lee Tadanari, who scored 10 points, was outstanding, and at some point it became popular to refer to these three players as "KLM," after the initials of their respective players.

First ACL victory and dismissal of mentor

Every season has its peaks and troughs. For Koroki, 2017 was the season in which he overcame his biggest peak since joining the Reds, but it was also the season in which he fell into a deep trough.

One of the mountains is winning the ACL. It's the second time for the Reds in 10 years, but for Koroki personally, it's the only big title he hasn't won yet. Making good use of Rafael Silva, who joined the team that year, Korogi achieved the feat of winning all seven home Trial.
He also scored a career-high 20 goals in the league, extending his consecutive double-digit goal streak to six years. He was third in the J1 league scoring rankings that year, and had an incredible pace of 12 goals in 16 Trial in the first half of the season, so if he had been able to keep up the pace in the second half, he would have been the top scorer.

Meanwhile, on July 29th, the day after the 0-2 loss to Sapporo in the 19th round of the J1 League, manager Misha was released from his contract. From the start of the season until the 8th round, the team had been leading the league with 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, but after losing to Omiya in the 9th round, the number of losses increased. Even so, the team was still in 8th place, which is higher than the middle of the table, but the club, which has experienced relegation battles several times in the past, took early action.
Korogi Koroki to the Reds' football after playing against them under coach Misha in 2012. When he transferred to the Reds the following year, he was given the role of lone striker, something he had never played before, and his own scoring improved, allowing him to become the core of the team's attack.
I felt a great sense of responsibility that my mentor, who had broadened my world, had been dismissed because of his grades.

Another downside was that despite the honor of winning the ACL, the team finished in seventh place in the league. Since 2014, the team had been fighting for the league title for three consecutive years, but had not been able to achieve it until the end. Although the team had made a good start to this season, it was the worst result since joining the Reds, which was far from satisfying.

Double-digit goals for seventh consecutive year, tying J1 record

The previous year, Koroki had been fired as a manager for the first time, but his slump continued. In the second half of the previous year, Takashi Hori, who had been promoted from coach, took over as manager, but was fired after two draws and three losses in the first five Trial of the league.
Oswaldo Oliveira, who led Kashima to three consecutive J.League titles, was named the new manager, but Tsuyoshi Otsuki, the former Reds youth manager, took over on an interim basis for three weeks until he took over. As a result, the team had three different managers, making it a difficult season for the players.

The team's goal is to qualify for the ACL. Aiming to finish third or higher in the league and win the Emperor's Cup, the team held a training camp during the break caused by the FIFA World Cup in Russia. Koroki, who knows Oliveira well, said, "I'm happy to be working with him again, but the meetings and practice are so hard that I feel complicated thinking about doing that again," while also commenting that "he may have become more mellow than he was nine years ago."

On August 1, he scored his 10th goal of the season in the 19th round against Kawasaki, tying the J1 record for the seventh consecutive year of double-digit goals. He then scored five more goals from the 27th round onwards, helping the team improve its league Pos. They eventually rose to 5th place, but were five points short of 3rd place. Coach Oliveira made the pragmatic decision to shift his main players to the Emperor's Cup, which was a back-to-back match, towards the end of the season, and led the team to victory. This was the Reds' third Emperor's Cup victory, but the first time they had won the trophy at Saitama Stadium.

Reds record double-digit goals for eighth straight year, disappointing runner-up finish in ACL

The team started with the big goal of winning the J.League and ACL double, which they missed out on in 2007, but they were unable to gain points in the league and continued to finish in the middle of the table. Then, on May 26th, after losing to Hiroshima in the 13th round of the J.League, the club fired manager Oliveira. After the start of the year, they brought back Takeshi Otsuki, who had been removed from his position as head coach, and appointed him as his successor. This was the third consecutive year that the team had changed managers in the middle of the season.

During this time, Koroki accumulated goals in both the J.League and the ACL, and on July 6th, in the 18th J.League match at home against Sendai, he scored his sixth goal of the season. This was his 92nd goal with the Reds, breaking Fukuda Masahiro's record for the most goals scored in the team's J1 league. On July 31st, in the 16th match against Kashima, he scored his 94th goal, breaking Fukuda's record for the most goals scored in the team's J.League history.

On September 1, he scored his 10th goal of the season in the 25th round against Shonan, achieving an unprecedented eighth consecutive year of double-digit goals. He added two more goals after that, bringing his total to 12 in the 2019 season. His total with the Reds now stands at 98, and his personal total now stands at 147.

He also scored eight goals in the ACL this season, extending his record as the all-time leading Japanese player to 21. In the round of 16, the team was forced into a corner after losing 1-2 to Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea in the first leg at home, but came back to win 3-0 away in the second leg. Koroki led the team to victory with two goals, marking the team's first away victory against a South Korean team in 12 years.
However, they lost to Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) in the final and missed out on a third title.
Having scored goals steadily and won all the way up until the semi-finals, it was a humiliating Koroki for Kosugi to lose both the first and second games without scoring a single goal. This disappointment became his driving force later on.

10th goal near the end of the league match! 9th consecutive year of double-digit goals

The club did not take lightly the fact that they have replaced their manager mid-season for the third consecutive year since 2017.
After the 2019 season, the club launched a new training policy, in which the club would determine its own style of football and strengthen its coaching staff and players accordingly.
A three-year plan was then drawn up. The goals for 2020 were to "instill a soccer concept," "qualify for the ACL," and "achieve a GD difference of 10 or more points in the league."
Coach Otsuki, who continued to lead the team from the previous year, conducted an unusually long training camp of four weeks before the start of the season. The team was scheduled to be suspended for the Tokyo Olympics from July this year, and 31 official Trial, including two-thirds of the league matches, were scheduled before that. This was preparation to fight well for about four months until the suspension, which included many consecutive matches.
Koroki scored his first goal of the season in the J.League opening match against Shonan. His pairing with Leonardo, who joined the team after being the top scorer in both the J3 and J2 leagues, gave the impression of a scoring spree.

However, Coach Otsuki's plan and premonition for the two-top line-up went awry. After the first match of the YBC Levain Cup and the opening match of the J-League, official matches were suspended due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. With no clear future, the team switched to self-training and society began to live a "stay-at-home" lifestyle.
After a four-and-a-half-month hiatus, the league and cup matches were rescheduled and resumed, but initially Trial were no spectators, and even after that there was a limit of 5,000 people. The Reds were unable to make the most of their "greatest weapon."

On July 8, in the second Trial after the restart, Koroki scored his second goal of the season, his 100th goal for the Reds, in an away game against Sendai. Despite the break, he scored a number of goals early on and it seemed like a good start.
However, he was injured in the Round 7 match against Yokohama FC and missed the next four Trial. After returning to Trial, he struggled to score goals, but on September 9th, in the Round 15 match against Tosu, he scored his first goal in about two months and then regained his pace. After that, he scored in three consecutive Trial, and in the 26th round, he scored his ninth goal, bringing him one step closer to scoring double digits for the ninth consecutive year.

Then, just before the final round, in the 33rd round against Kawasaki, who had won the J.League for two consecutive years, Korogi carefully converted a penalty kick in the 11th minute. With society in a state of stagnation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the team's performance not being good, Koroki 's consecutive double-digit goal record made Reds supporters a little happier.

Although his consecutive double-digit goal streak came to an end, he still managed to score J1 goals for 15 consecutive years

In 2021, Koroki 's playing time has decreased dramatically.

Ricardo Rodriguez took over as manager and many of the players were replaced. What stood out was that many of the new recruits were players who had played in J2. Regardless of the category, the players understand and want to promote the football that the club advocates and the football that Coach Rodriguez advocates. As Coach Rodriguez had led Tokushima in J2 until the previous year, he had experienced that football as an opponent, and conversely, the coach knew the characteristics of each player, which was the background for the acquisitions.

In this environment, it was a difficult season for Koroki as he struggled to make the most of his scoring ability.
He played in 20 league Trial, about half of them, but only started in three of Trial. His first and only goal of the season was a penalty kick he induced after handball in the 16th round match against Hiroshima, coming on as a substitute.
His consecutive double-digit goal streak came to an end at nine years, but he extended his consecutive J1 goal streak to 15 years.
His total number of goals in J1 now stands at 158, putting him in sole third place on the all-time scoring list, surpassing Masashi Nakayama.

After the summer, the Reds gradually improved Pos, eventually finishing in sixth place. They made it to the semi-finals of the Levain Cup, an improvement from the previous year, but fell short of the title.
However, in the Emperor's Cup, they struggled against opponents in lower categories with 1-0 losses in the first three Trial, but won and won their fourth title in three years. They also qualified to play in the ACL the following year.

In addition, Abe Yuki, who has been with the team for 14 seasons and has supported the team as captain since 2012, announced his retirement at the end of the season. With Tomoya UGAJIN and Makino Tomoaki both reaching the end of their contracts, players who built the Reds' history are leaving the team, bringing awareness of the need for a new generation.
In the midst of all this, he received an offer from Sapporo, led by manager Misha, and decided to take a one-year loan move.
On December 29th, ten days after winning the Emperor's Cup, a comment from the player himself was published along with the announcement of his transfer, and the words at the end of the message, "I'll definitely come again," were a comfort to fans and supporters who were disappointed by his transfer.

Influencing young players and winning the ACL

His loan move to Sapporo for the 2022 season was of great significance.
Not only was he able to work with Coach Misha once again, but his determination to help his team win in Sapporo remained unchanged, and he even underwent knee surgery to help the team win. Four of his five goals in Sapporo were scored after the surgery.
After that, he made a decision just as difficult as deciding on his loan move and returned to the Reds.

Upon returning, Koroki said, "I want to do things that will help the team outside of Trial." He said that he had been prepared for that role since he decided to return to the Reds. Until then, Koroki had not behaved like that much. However, now that the players who had experience fighting together are gone, it's up to the remaining player to do it.

Of course, whenever Trial, he aims to score. Under manager Maciej Skorza, he extended his consecutive J1 goal streak to 17 years in an away game against Kashiwa in Round 6. He then scored his second goal in a home game against Sapporo in Round 8.
The previous year, cheering out loud had been allowed halfway through the game, but in a stadium with no capacity restrictions, chants of "Urawa's Ace" rang out for the first time in four years.
He scored four goals in the league that year, bringing his total number of J1 goals to 167, second-highest in history.

And the ACL final. Oddly enough, their opponent was Al Hilal, who had been completely defeated in the 2019 final without scoring a single Trial. They had vowed to take revenge with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Above all, Koroki 's presence was also a mental anchor for many young players who had never played in the ACL final.

In the first leg of the final, he scored the equaliser after being conceded first, and in the second leg, he induced an own goal, with Koroki involved in both Trial as the Reds won their third ACL title.
Speaking after Trial about the fantastic atmosphere created by the fans and supporters in the second home game, he said, "I think it was the first time for the young players.I think it will be nerve-wracking to play in a nearly full stadium, but this is Urawa Reds."

However, in the league, despite aiming for the top spot for the first time in seven years, a series of losses towards the end of the season had an impact, and they finished in a disappointing fourth place.

Having decided to retire, he wants to sing the song he wants to sing at Saitama Stadium once again

My role is to influence young players. Koroki speaks out in practice, takes the lead in the effort, and does his best even in hard menus. The image of him being "unapproachable" that he had before has disappeared.

On the other hand, he also scored a goal in the fourth round against Shonan this year, extending his record to 18 consecutive years of scoring in the J1 League and 168 goals in total in the J1 League. He is 23 goals away from becoming the all-time leader in the J1 League, but his number of goals has not changed since then. As of October 30, his last appearance was on June 15, in the 18th round against Cerezo OSAKA.

The day finally came on July 31st.
To express his gratitude to his mother for giving birth to him in good health, he announced on his birthday that he would retire from active competition at the end of the season, but his attitude towards training has not changed since then.
Perhaps he is imposing his final responsibility on himself to shine on the pitch once again.

Urawa's ace, let's go, Shinzo

This is probably the most frequently heard individual chant in the last 12 years whenever Koroki is in action or when the team desperately needs a goal.

I'm sure many fans and supporters are hoping to hear this song ring out at Saitama Stadium once again.