NEWS
Comments from Shinzo Koroki 's press conference announcing his retirement
On the 31st, Shinzo Koroki, who turned 38 on the same day, held a press conference at Saitama Stadium and announced that he would be retiring at the end of this season. In response to questions from the media, he spoke about his reasons for retirement, his career as a player, and his feelings towards the fans and supporters who have supported and cheered him on so passionately up until now.
"Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend my retirement press conference today. I have decided to retire this year. I have had an active career of 20 years, but I believe I have only been able to get to this point thanks to the support of many people. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone at Kashima Antlers Antlers, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, and Urawa Reds. Thank you so much.
I intend to answer all of your questions today. I don't like stuffy press conferences, so I want to make it a lively one. Thank you for your cooperation."
[Question-and-answer session]
(20 seasons as a professional, 11 with Urawa Reds, during which he scored 168 goals, the second highest in J1 League history, nine consecutive years of double-digit goals, the highest in J1 history, 18 consecutive years of goals, and the most goals scored by a Japanese player in the AFC Champions League (ACL), with a total of 27 goals. What do you think about these numbers?)
"I think it's all thanks to you all."
(What are the reasons and background for your decision to retire, and what led to today's announcement?)
"To be honest, I felt that I couldn't make the team win on my own. As for why I chose this day, there are still four months left in this season, but today is my birthday. This day is a special day for me too, but I think that today is the day I need to thank my mother the most, and that it is the day I should thank my mother.
I believe the biggest reason I've been able to continue playing this far is because my mother gave birth to me with a healthy body. This is a special day for me, but I also think it's a special day for my mother because she gave birth to me, so I chose today as a day to express my gratitude to her by holding a retirement press conference, which is a special day for both of us.
Although it overlapped with the Newcastle United match, I am really grateful to everyone involved for accepting my selfish request. Thank you very much."
(You've broken many records so far, but what have you been able to do consistently since the start of your professional career?)
"I can say with confidence that I've been able to work so hard up to this point thanks to the people who support me. Of course, that includes my teammates, but also my parents, family, and many others. Among them, I'm especially grateful to the fans and supporters who wear my uniform and cheer me on. I stepped onto the pitch with the feeling that I had to score goals for them too. I believe that it's this feeling that has allowed me to get to this point."
(The number 30 has become an important number for Urawa Reds. What kind of player do you want to be the Urawa Reds forward who will wear the number 30 from now on?)
"I've been with the Reds for 11 years. I knew that the Reds' ace number is No. 9, the number that Masahiro Fukuda wore, and I've been working hard with the sole desire to somehow change that number from No. 9 to No. 30. I fell far short, but I'm happy to have surpassed Fukuda's record. I don't intend to hand it over to a junior player, and I think it would be best if each player remembers that their number is Urawa's ace number, but I think it would be best if Naoki Maeda, the player I love the most, wore it."
(What do you mean when you say you can no longer lead your team to victory on your own?)
"Technically, there hasn't been much change, but physically, soccer lasts 90 minutes, and when I thought about how much I could do for the team if I was in the starting lineup, I honestly felt that I wouldn't be able to last that long. Of course, the fans and supporters, everyone who comes to the stadium, have paid to come and watch. To be honest, I don't have confidence that I'm playing in a way that deserves that. But as long as they come to watch, we have to impress them with our play, and I've always felt frustrated that I can't live up to that expectation. So maybe that's why I came to this decision."
(I think you were a hated figure for Urawa Reds fans and supporters during your time with Kashima Antlers, but it's rare that you've become such a beloved player since coming to the Reds. There's a famous anecdote about you treating fans and supporters to beef bowls at a beef bowl restaurant. What do you think about the relationship between fans and supporters?)
"It wasn't just the gyudon restaurant that I treated them to, I paid for every restaurant we went to, but for some reason that's the only one that's been brought up (laughs).
Supporters really support the players more than you think. In particular, the fans and supporters of Urawa Reds are truly wonderful people who support us with all their might no matter what the situation is, and always support us even when we play poorly. That's why the players have to work harder, and I think that the most important thing is to give a present to the fans and supporters as a title. Of course, there may be arguments with the supporters, but I think that's very important for the team, and I think that's because we're both working hard, so I don't think young players these days have many opportunities to talk to the supporters, but I think that kind of interaction with the supporters is very important, so I want young players to interact with the supporters in more places. I don't think it's okay to have arguments. I was the same. I fought and expressed my opinions, and said I want them to do this, I want them to do that. That's how we developed a deep bond, so I think it would be good to provide more opportunities for young players to interact like that.
You've scored a lot of goals, but which one is the most memorable?
"It's difficult. Of course, there's my first goal with Kashima Antlers. And the first goal I scored after moving to Consadole. And the first goal I scored after coming to Urawa Reds. All of them were very precious goals to me. It might be difficult to choose just one, sorry."
(What do you think is the best thing about joining Urawa Reds?)
"I've been a member of three teams over the last 20 years. All of them were great teams, so I can't say which one is the best, but Urawa Reds is a really rewarding team, and more than anything, it has a huge number of fans and supporters. When I came to Urawa Reds from Kashima, I was told that the supporters wouldn't accept me so easily, and that I wouldn't get support, so I came with the feeling that I had to somehow capture their feelings and their hearts and get them to accept me. I don't know if they accepted me, but I still remember how happy I was when I was able to start my own chant. I'm really happy to have come to such a tough team, and to have scored so many goals there. I'm really glad that I came to this big club."
(While you've made history with the Reds, is there anything you regret not having been able to accomplish?)
"Looking back at my 20-year career, I think there were many seasons that were really frustrating. I'm very happy that I was able to win three consecutive championships with Kashima, and that I was able to win the ACL twice after coming to Urawa. However, when we won a title, the joy was only for that day, and it was the kind of joy that you forget after a day or two. However, I still regret the day we lost in the ACL final in 2019 after coming to the Reds, and the same goes for when we lost to Kashima in the championship. I only have really frustrating memories. We had many chances to win the J.League. The only title I haven't won with Urawa Reds, the one that we couldn't win at the very last moment, is the J.League title. Not winning it is the only thing I regret now."
(What should Urawa Reds be like in the future? Please give us a message for the future.)
"I am well aware of how difficult it is to win a title, but I believe Urawa Reds should always be a team that wins titles. I believe that Urawa Reds Reds should always participate in the J.League, Emperor's Cup, YBC Levain Cup, and ACL. It's easy to say, but winning a title is very difficult. It's not something you can win just by having good players. If the team itself doesn't work together as one, it's not that easy to win a title. If the front office, players, coaching staff, medical staff, and everyone else works together as one, I believe we can be a strong team."
What is your vision after retirement?
"I would like to support Urawa Reds behind the scenes."
What is an important event that you will never forget during your active career?
"I think it's different for each person, but I think it's very important to be able to think, 'I want to work hard for this person.' For me, that was Misha (Mihailo Petrovic, former Urawa Reds, current manager of Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo). When I was with Misha, I was thinking, 'I want to win the title for this person,' 'I want to fight with all my might in every game for this person, get three points, and make it a good team.' I think it's very important to meet people like that, and if you do it for someone else, I think you will grow a lot as a person, so I think that kind of encounter is very important."
You've scored a lot of goals and have been praised as a versatile player, but what do you think has been your weapon of choice in the professional world?
"When I look back now at the type of player I was, I honestly feel that there was nothing that I specialized in or that I stood out in any particular way. But when I think about what made me different from others, it was that I had a strong desire to achieve something with this team. I have come this far with the idea that even if I don't perform well, it's fine as long as the team wins, even if I have to sacrifice myself. I don't know whether that is good or bad for a forward, but I think that I have come this far by sticking to this personality and this playing style, so although I don't know the right answer, I think that I am glad that I have this personality and playing style."
(How do you think the Reds could improve if things continue like this?)
"That's a difficult question, a really difficult question. Can I ask a different question? (laughs)"
(Did you tell Coach Misha about your retirement? If so, what did he say to you? And what did you learn from him?)
"I told Misha through our interpreter, Daisuke Sugiura, and he said, 'I see. Thank you for all your hard work.' When I left Sapporo to return to the Reds, I said, 'I'm coming back prepared to retire,' so I don't think it was that surprising to him.
I also want to become a manager someday. Misha was loved by everyone, and his philosophy was, "If you are on the offensive, you will not be attacked. If you compare it to boxing, if you keep throwing jabs, the opponent will not come out and you will be on the defensive. So keep on attacking." He was the type of manager who did exactly what I wanted to do if I became a manager.
Misha's football is really beautiful, and I think it's football that fascinates the viewers. I want to play that kind of football, and when I become a coach, I want to instill what I've learned from Misha into young players, and play beautiful football like Misha."
(How did your family react when you told them you were retiring? What were some of your teammates' memorable words when you told them?)
"I told my wife and children first. My wife is somewhat indifferent to soccer, so she was like, 'Thank you for your hard work'... That's how I felt. My daughter is now in the fourth grade of elementary school, and she cried and asked me, 'Are you quitting?' She told me, 'Be like (Shohei) Ohtani,' (laughs), but I told her, 'That's absolutely impossible, but I did my best as a dad, so I'm sorry,' and she understood. My son is only one year old and doesn't understand anything, so I just told him, 'I'm quitting.' She accepted me completely, and as for my wife, she supported me for such a long time, so I have nothing but gratitude.
My teammates didn't hide my intention to retire because that's the kind of personality I am. I told them early on that I was retiring this year, so they weren't that surprised, and I think I probably told some of the people here that I was retiring this year. That's how proud I was, and I was prepared to retire, so I didn't intend to hide it and I played with confidence. They just said, 'Oh, I knew,' and didn't say anything."
(Do you have ambitions to manage the Reds one day?)
"I have nothing but ambition. I want to become the manager of Urawa Reds and win the J.League title that I was unable to win."
(You've said that you're happy to sacrifice yourself if it means the team wins, but what led you to that style of play?)
"I think the biggest factor was the huge presence of Atsushi Yanagisawa, who I played alongside closely. Although I didn't receive direct instruction from him, we played together at Kashima for two years. Yana (Atsushi Yanagisawa) also had a style of play that relied on making good use of his teammates and those around him, rather than trying to break through on his own. Yana would say, 'Even if you're blocked near the near post when a cross is delivered, if you can score in the open space at the far post, it will be a strength for the team.' I've heard that when you move, it opens up somewhere, and if a teammate can use that space well, then you've done your job properly.
As a young person who only wanted results, I didn't feel that strongly about it at the time, but as time went on and I thought about what kind of forward I should be, what Yana-san said really suited me, and around the time I left Kashima for the Reds, I thought, "I want to live my life with that kind of playing style." So, I found Atsushi Yanagisawa's play very helpful, and I'm really grateful to him."
(You have the second highest number of goals scored in the history of the J.League, but I don't think you can score by yourself. What did you pay attention to in building relationships with your teammates in order to draw passes from them and score in good positions?)
"Of course, I think trust is very important, but what I consider most important is the individual's habits. Each person has their own habits when it comes to timing and timing when they will pass the ball one step later. I think it is very important to determine that timing and make the first move. I think that being able to change my playing style depending on the person is what has allowed me to get to this point."
(A message from Shinzo Koroki who turned professional at age 18, to Shinzo Koroki who decided to retire at age 38)
"After graduating from high school, I went to Kashima Antlers. I received offers from several teams. I agonized over whether to join, as there was a senior player named Masuda Chikashi who was also at Kashima, and I kept wondering if I really wanted to play in the same position as someone a year older than me and on the same team. But Kashima was really strong at the time, and I would be able to practice with such great players as Ogasawara Mitsuo, Motoyama Masashi, Sogabata Jun, and Nakata Koji, and although I wanted to play in a match right away, I thought that I would grow as a person by playing with such people, so I chose Kashima. Looking back now, I'm glad that my first choice was Kashima Antlers.
That's why, if there's one thing I could tell my 18-year-old self, it would be, "I'm glad I chose Kashima Antlers." If I hadn't done that, I don't think I would have met Urawa Reds, so I want to tell myself, "You made a really good choice."
(You only scored one goal in 2021, but how do you look back on this year?)
"In the end, I may have only scored one goal, but it was also a year in which I was able to learn many different things from the players who were there. My days were worth more than scoring goals. The results may not have been satisfactory, but I gained more than that."
(There are many rivals to become the manager of Urawa Reds, when do you think it will happen?)
"What do you think, Hori-Satoshi Horinouchi Masashi)? (laughs) But I think you need a lot of experience to become a manager, and I'm more of an intuitive type, so I'm taking it as a gamble, thinking that my managerial career might end soon, or that I might stay on forever. Even if I want to do it soon, I can't do it without the team, so first I'll work hard from the ground up and do my best to become Urawa Reds' manager as soon as possible."
(Even though some coaches told you to lower your body fat percentage, you stuck to your own style. How do you analyze that part of your personality?)
Are you talking about Coach Halilhodzic (Vahid Halilhodzic, former coach of the Japan national team)? (Laughs) I always thought, 'If you're so concerned about body fat, don't call me up' (Laughs). I don't think lowering my body fat percentage will enable me to perform well, but maybe if I do lower it, I'll perform better. I don't know, but I've always wanted to be like this.
I would like to lose weight if it were easy. I've been trying my best but it's not going to be easy, and I've been criticized a lot about my body fat percentage, but I think the reason they still call me is because I've achieved some results. I think it's very important to stick to your beliefs, so rather than worrying about body fat, I've been working hard with the sole focus on getting results."
(I think many of the players went overseas. Did any of them want to go overseas?)
"I received offers from overseas, but the truth is that I just never felt the desire to take on the challenge of going overseas. Looking back now, I really regret it. Half of me feels that I could have done better, and the other half feels that maybe I wouldn't have been able to get this far because I didn't go."
(To all fans and supporters)
"The power of our fans and supporters is greater than you think. Our players want to do their best for these people. You can complain about a bad game, but we really want you to support our players. We are working hard for the team, for our fans and supporters, for ourselves, and for our families. The same goes for our current young players. I hope that the day will come when we can win another title at Saitama Stadium and rejoice together with our fans and supporters.
There are still four months left in the year, and 14 games left. If we can win 14 games in a row, I think we still have a chance to win the championship. We will do our best and not give up on that. I ask all the fans and supporters to cheer us on even more enthusiastically than before."
[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]
"Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend my retirement press conference today. I have decided to retire this year. I have had an active career of 20 years, but I believe I have only been able to get to this point thanks to the support of many people. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone at Kashima Antlers Antlers, Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, and Urawa Reds. Thank you so much.
I intend to answer all of your questions today. I don't like stuffy press conferences, so I want to make it a lively one. Thank you for your cooperation."
[Question-and-answer session]
(20 seasons as a professional, 11 with Urawa Reds, during which he scored 168 goals, the second highest in J1 League history, nine consecutive years of double-digit goals, the highest in J1 history, 18 consecutive years of goals, and the most goals scored by a Japanese player in the AFC Champions League (ACL), with a total of 27 goals. What do you think about these numbers?)
"I think it's all thanks to you all."
(What are the reasons and background for your decision to retire, and what led to today's announcement?)
"To be honest, I felt that I couldn't make the team win on my own. As for why I chose this day, there are still four months left in this season, but today is my birthday. This day is a special day for me too, but I think that today is the day I need to thank my mother the most, and that it is the day I should thank my mother.
I believe the biggest reason I've been able to continue playing this far is because my mother gave birth to me with a healthy body. This is a special day for me, but I also think it's a special day for my mother because she gave birth to me, so I chose today as a day to express my gratitude to her by holding a retirement press conference, which is a special day for both of us.
Although it overlapped with the Newcastle United match, I am really grateful to everyone involved for accepting my selfish request. Thank you very much."
(You've broken many records so far, but what have you been able to do consistently since the start of your professional career?)
"I can say with confidence that I've been able to work so hard up to this point thanks to the people who support me. Of course, that includes my teammates, but also my parents, family, and many others. Among them, I'm especially grateful to the fans and supporters who wear my uniform and cheer me on. I stepped onto the pitch with the feeling that I had to score goals for them too. I believe that it's this feeling that has allowed me to get to this point."
(The number 30 has become an important number for Urawa Reds. What kind of player do you want to be the Urawa Reds forward who will wear the number 30 from now on?)
"I've been with the Reds for 11 years. I knew that the Reds' ace number is No. 9, the number that Masahiro Fukuda wore, and I've been working hard with the sole desire to somehow change that number from No. 9 to No. 30. I fell far short, but I'm happy to have surpassed Fukuda's record. I don't intend to hand it over to a junior player, and I think it would be best if each player remembers that their number is Urawa's ace number, but I think it would be best if Naoki Maeda, the player I love the most, wore it."
(What do you mean when you say you can no longer lead your team to victory on your own?)
"Technically, there hasn't been much change, but physically, soccer lasts 90 minutes, and when I thought about how much I could do for the team if I was in the starting lineup, I honestly felt that I wouldn't be able to last that long. Of course, the fans and supporters, everyone who comes to the stadium, have paid to come and watch. To be honest, I don't have confidence that I'm playing in a way that deserves that. But as long as they come to watch, we have to impress them with our play, and I've always felt frustrated that I can't live up to that expectation. So maybe that's why I came to this decision."
(I think you were a hated figure for Urawa Reds fans and supporters during your time with Kashima Antlers, but it's rare that you've become such a beloved player since coming to the Reds. There's a famous anecdote about you treating fans and supporters to beef bowls at a beef bowl restaurant. What do you think about the relationship between fans and supporters?)
"It wasn't just the gyudon restaurant that I treated them to, I paid for every restaurant we went to, but for some reason that's the only one that's been brought up (laughs).
Supporters really support the players more than you think. In particular, the fans and supporters of Urawa Reds are truly wonderful people who support us with all their might no matter what the situation is, and always support us even when we play poorly. That's why the players have to work harder, and I think that the most important thing is to give a present to the fans and supporters as a title. Of course, there may be arguments with the supporters, but I think that's very important for the team, and I think that's because we're both working hard, so I don't think young players these days have many opportunities to talk to the supporters, but I think that kind of interaction with the supporters is very important, so I want young players to interact with the supporters in more places. I don't think it's okay to have arguments. I was the same. I fought and expressed my opinions, and said I want them to do this, I want them to do that. That's how we developed a deep bond, so I think it would be good to provide more opportunities for young players to interact like that.
You've scored a lot of goals, but which one is the most memorable?
"It's difficult. Of course, there's my first goal with Kashima Antlers. And the first goal I scored after moving to Consadole. And the first goal I scored after coming to Urawa Reds. All of them were very precious goals to me. It might be difficult to choose just one, sorry."
(What do you think is the best thing about joining Urawa Reds?)
"I've been a member of three teams over the last 20 years. All of them were great teams, so I can't say which one is the best, but Urawa Reds is a really rewarding team, and more than anything, it has a huge number of fans and supporters. When I came to Urawa Reds from Kashima, I was told that the supporters wouldn't accept me so easily, and that I wouldn't get support, so I came with the feeling that I had to somehow capture their feelings and their hearts and get them to accept me. I don't know if they accepted me, but I still remember how happy I was when I was able to start my own chant. I'm really happy to have come to such a tough team, and to have scored so many goals there. I'm really glad that I came to this big club."
(While you've made history with the Reds, is there anything you regret not having been able to accomplish?)
"Looking back at my 20-year career, I think there were many seasons that were really frustrating. I'm very happy that I was able to win three consecutive championships with Kashima, and that I was able to win the ACL twice after coming to Urawa. However, when we won a title, the joy was only for that day, and it was the kind of joy that you forget after a day or two. However, I still regret the day we lost in the ACL final in 2019 after coming to the Reds, and the same goes for when we lost to Kashima in the championship. I only have really frustrating memories. We had many chances to win the J.League. The only title I haven't won with Urawa Reds, the one that we couldn't win at the very last moment, is the J.League title. Not winning it is the only thing I regret now."
(What should Urawa Reds be like in the future? Please give us a message for the future.)
"I am well aware of how difficult it is to win a title, but I believe Urawa Reds should always be a team that wins titles. I believe that Urawa Reds Reds should always participate in the J.League, Emperor's Cup, YBC Levain Cup, and ACL. It's easy to say, but winning a title is very difficult. It's not something you can win just by having good players. If the team itself doesn't work together as one, it's not that easy to win a title. If the front office, players, coaching staff, medical staff, and everyone else works together as one, I believe we can be a strong team."
What is your vision after retirement?
"I would like to support Urawa Reds behind the scenes."
What is an important event that you will never forget during your active career?
"I think it's different for each person, but I think it's very important to be able to think, 'I want to work hard for this person.' For me, that was Misha (Mihailo Petrovic, former Urawa Reds, current manager of Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo). When I was with Misha, I was thinking, 'I want to win the title for this person,' 'I want to fight with all my might in every game for this person, get three points, and make it a good team.' I think it's very important to meet people like that, and if you do it for someone else, I think you will grow a lot as a person, so I think that kind of encounter is very important."
You've scored a lot of goals and have been praised as a versatile player, but what do you think has been your weapon of choice in the professional world?
"When I look back now at the type of player I was, I honestly feel that there was nothing that I specialized in or that I stood out in any particular way. But when I think about what made me different from others, it was that I had a strong desire to achieve something with this team. I have come this far with the idea that even if I don't perform well, it's fine as long as the team wins, even if I have to sacrifice myself. I don't know whether that is good or bad for a forward, but I think that I have come this far by sticking to this personality and this playing style, so although I don't know the right answer, I think that I am glad that I have this personality and playing style."
(How do you think the Reds could improve if things continue like this?)
"That's a difficult question, a really difficult question. Can I ask a different question? (laughs)"
(Did you tell Coach Misha about your retirement? If so, what did he say to you? And what did you learn from him?)
"I told Misha through our interpreter, Daisuke Sugiura, and he said, 'I see. Thank you for all your hard work.' When I left Sapporo to return to the Reds, I said, 'I'm coming back prepared to retire,' so I don't think it was that surprising to him.
I also want to become a manager someday. Misha was loved by everyone, and his philosophy was, "If you are on the offensive, you will not be attacked. If you compare it to boxing, if you keep throwing jabs, the opponent will not come out and you will be on the defensive. So keep on attacking." He was the type of manager who did exactly what I wanted to do if I became a manager.
Misha's football is really beautiful, and I think it's football that fascinates the viewers. I want to play that kind of football, and when I become a coach, I want to instill what I've learned from Misha into young players, and play beautiful football like Misha."
(How did your family react when you told them you were retiring? What were some of your teammates' memorable words when you told them?)
"I told my wife and children first. My wife is somewhat indifferent to soccer, so she was like, 'Thank you for your hard work'... That's how I felt. My daughter is now in the fourth grade of elementary school, and she cried and asked me, 'Are you quitting?' She told me, 'Be like (Shohei) Ohtani,' (laughs), but I told her, 'That's absolutely impossible, but I did my best as a dad, so I'm sorry,' and she understood. My son is only one year old and doesn't understand anything, so I just told him, 'I'm quitting.' She accepted me completely, and as for my wife, she supported me for such a long time, so I have nothing but gratitude.
My teammates didn't hide my intention to retire because that's the kind of personality I am. I told them early on that I was retiring this year, so they weren't that surprised, and I think I probably told some of the people here that I was retiring this year. That's how proud I was, and I was prepared to retire, so I didn't intend to hide it and I played with confidence. They just said, 'Oh, I knew,' and didn't say anything."
(Do you have ambitions to manage the Reds one day?)
"I have nothing but ambition. I want to become the manager of Urawa Reds and win the J.League title that I was unable to win."
(You've said that you're happy to sacrifice yourself if it means the team wins, but what led you to that style of play?)
"I think the biggest factor was the huge presence of Atsushi Yanagisawa, who I played alongside closely. Although I didn't receive direct instruction from him, we played together at Kashima for two years. Yana (Atsushi Yanagisawa) also had a style of play that relied on making good use of his teammates and those around him, rather than trying to break through on his own. Yana would say, 'Even if you're blocked near the near post when a cross is delivered, if you can score in the open space at the far post, it will be a strength for the team.' I've heard that when you move, it opens up somewhere, and if a teammate can use that space well, then you've done your job properly.
As a young person who only wanted results, I didn't feel that strongly about it at the time, but as time went on and I thought about what kind of forward I should be, what Yana-san said really suited me, and around the time I left Kashima for the Reds, I thought, "I want to live my life with that kind of playing style." So, I found Atsushi Yanagisawa's play very helpful, and I'm really grateful to him."
(You have the second highest number of goals scored in the history of the J.League, but I don't think you can score by yourself. What did you pay attention to in building relationships with your teammates in order to draw passes from them and score in good positions?)
"Of course, I think trust is very important, but what I consider most important is the individual's habits. Each person has their own habits when it comes to timing and timing when they will pass the ball one step later. I think it is very important to determine that timing and make the first move. I think that being able to change my playing style depending on the person is what has allowed me to get to this point."
(A message from Shinzo Koroki who turned professional at age 18, to Shinzo Koroki who decided to retire at age 38)
"After graduating from high school, I went to Kashima Antlers. I received offers from several teams. I agonized over whether to join, as there was a senior player named Masuda Chikashi who was also at Kashima, and I kept wondering if I really wanted to play in the same position as someone a year older than me and on the same team. But Kashima was really strong at the time, and I would be able to practice with such great players as Ogasawara Mitsuo, Motoyama Masashi, Sogabata Jun, and Nakata Koji, and although I wanted to play in a match right away, I thought that I would grow as a person by playing with such people, so I chose Kashima. Looking back now, I'm glad that my first choice was Kashima Antlers.
That's why, if there's one thing I could tell my 18-year-old self, it would be, "I'm glad I chose Kashima Antlers." If I hadn't done that, I don't think I would have met Urawa Reds, so I want to tell myself, "You made a really good choice."
(You only scored one goal in 2021, but how do you look back on this year?)
"In the end, I may have only scored one goal, but it was also a year in which I was able to learn many different things from the players who were there. My days were worth more than scoring goals. The results may not have been satisfactory, but I gained more than that."
(There are many rivals to become the manager of Urawa Reds, when do you think it will happen?)
"What do you think, Hori-Satoshi Horinouchi Masashi)? (laughs) But I think you need a lot of experience to become a manager, and I'm more of an intuitive type, so I'm taking it as a gamble, thinking that my managerial career might end soon, or that I might stay on forever. Even if I want to do it soon, I can't do it without the team, so first I'll work hard from the ground up and do my best to become Urawa Reds' manager as soon as possible."
(Even though some coaches told you to lower your body fat percentage, you stuck to your own style. How do you analyze that part of your personality?)
Are you talking about Coach Halilhodzic (Vahid Halilhodzic, former coach of the Japan national team)? (Laughs) I always thought, 'If you're so concerned about body fat, don't call me up' (Laughs). I don't think lowering my body fat percentage will enable me to perform well, but maybe if I do lower it, I'll perform better. I don't know, but I've always wanted to be like this.
I would like to lose weight if it were easy. I've been trying my best but it's not going to be easy, and I've been criticized a lot about my body fat percentage, but I think the reason they still call me is because I've achieved some results. I think it's very important to stick to your beliefs, so rather than worrying about body fat, I've been working hard with the sole focus on getting results."
(I think many of the players went overseas. Did any of them want to go overseas?)
"I received offers from overseas, but the truth is that I just never felt the desire to take on the challenge of going overseas. Looking back now, I really regret it. Half of me feels that I could have done better, and the other half feels that maybe I wouldn't have been able to get this far because I didn't go."
(To all fans and supporters)
"The power of our fans and supporters is greater than you think. Our players want to do their best for these people. You can complain about a bad game, but we really want you to support our players. We are working hard for the team, for our fans and supporters, for ourselves, and for our families. The same goes for our current young players. I hope that the day will come when we can win another title at Saitama Stadium and rejoice together with our fans and supporters.
There are still four months left in the year, and 14 games left. If we can win 14 games in a row, I think we still have a chance to win the championship. We will do our best and not give up on that. I ask all the fans and supporters to cheer us on even more enthusiastically than before."
[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]
