Sydney FC’s visit to Saitama in the Asian Champions League this May looms as a red letter day for the A-League side and travelling Covites.

Playing at the 63,000 capacity World Cup 2002 Saitama Stadium, Urawa Red Diamonds are likely to give Sydney the sternest of examinations in a white hot atmosphere courtesy of some of the most fanatical fans in the J-League.

“We are not like Tokyo or Yokohama,” tells one Urawa fan on the club website. “The football team gives us this identity. This is why fans come from all over Saitama, not just Urawa.”

An example of the club’s fans’ fanaticism came in 2004 when over 800 Reds fans flew to Manchester for a pre-season exhibition match at Old Trafford against United (it was a wasted journey though, the match was called off due to a freak
electrical storm).

After clinching the J-League title with a 3-2 win over rivals Gamba Osaka, the Reds did the double in 2006 with a 1-0 Emperor’s Cup win over the same side. Yuichiro Nagai, the former Karlsruhre man, scored the decisive goal for Urawa.

Standout talents include Brazilian-raised and current J-League Most Valuable Player Marcus Tulio Tanaka and former Blue Samurai talisman and PSV star Shinji Ono, who returned in 2006 for a second stint with the club.

But star man Alex, a Brazilian-born Japanese international who played at both World Cup 2002 and 2006, has been picked up by Austrian Bundesliga side Salzburg on a 12-month loan with a view to a permanent move.

Additionally, the Reds go into 2007 without popular German coach Guido Buchwald; the former club player returned to Germany after three successful seasons. Holger Osieck has taken over.

Nevertheless, Urawa Red Diamonds is one of the early favourites for the 2007 ACL, even though in its current format it’s a tournament J-League sides have surprisingly never won or even reached the final.

Reds General Manager Shuzo Nakamura says the club is well prepared to face the Australians as well as Shanghai Shenhua, who qualified as China’s Super League runner-up after Shandong Luneng’s double, and Indonesian champions Persik Kediri. “We sent our staff to the Champions League 2006 matches along with Gamba Osaka since we knew we would participate… so we have prepared for this tournament for one year.”

But it’s the fans in their thousands who will be like a twelfth man when the side walks out at the impressive Saitama stadium. “Welcome to Red Hell” read one Diamonds fan’s banner at a recent match.

Sydney FC have been warned.