Opposition focus: Urawa Red Diamonds
FIFA Club World Cup
— Jun 21st 2025We get to know the Japanese side, who lost in their opening group game against River Plate
After the draw against C.F. Monterrey, Inter are preparing for their second match in Group E of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025. The Nerazzurri will take on Urawa Red Diamonds, the Japanese side who were defeated 3-1 by River Plate in their opening match. The match is scheduled for Saturday 21 June at 12:00 (local time, 21:00 CEST). Let's get to know our opponents.
THE MATCH AGAINST RIVER PLATE
Urawa Red Diamonds were defeated in their opening match by River Plate. The match took place at Lumen Field, Seattle, where the Nerazzurri's match will take place. The match was marked by River Plate's good start, who were aggressive from the start. The Reds lined up with a 4-2-3-1 formation and played defensively, trying to shut down all of the central spaces against the Argentine side. River Plate found space out wide and went ahead in the 12th minute thanks to a header from Colidio. In the second half, an error from the Norwegian defender Hoibraten allowed River Plate to double their lead in the 48th minute through Driussi. The Japanese side didn't give up and used their pace to create problems. Maciej Skorza's side won a penalty in the 58th minute after Acuna fouled Kaneko, which was then converted by Matsuo. Meza's goal late on made it 3-1.
RIVER PLATE 3-1 URAWA
Scorers: 12' Colidio (R), 48' Driussi (R), 59' pen. Matsuo (U), 73' Meza (R) RIVER PLATE (4-3-3): Armani; Montiel, Martinez Quarta, Pezzella, Acuña (89' Casco); Fernández (46' Galoppo), Pérez (46' Meza), Castaño; Mastantuono, Driussi (51' Borja), Colidio (75' Martinez). Coach. Gallardo. URAWA RED DIAMONDS (4-2-3-1): Nishikawa; Naganuma (81' Odiwara), Danilo Boza, Hoibraten, Ishihara; Yasui (81' Matsumoto), Gustafson (87' Haraguchi); Kaneko (71' Sekine), Matheus Savio (71' Santana), Watanabe; Matsuo. Coach. Skorza. Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER) Booked: 24' Pérez (R), 34' Gustafson (U), 58' Acuña (R), 60' Pezzella (R), 87' Watanabe (U), 92' Galoppo (R)
THE SEASON FOR THE URAWA RED DIAMONDS
The side from Saitama qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup thanks to their AFC Champions League 2022 win, when they won the double final in May 2023 against Al Hilal (1-1 and 1-0). The Urawa Red Diamonds have been Japanese Champions on five occasions, but have won the J1 League just once (in 2006). They have won the AFC Champions League three times, a Japanese record. They've participated in the old version of the Club World Cup three times, with their most recent appearance coming in the 2023/24 season when they were beaten by Manchester City in the semi-final. In the land of the rising sun, the league is played from February to December: in the current season, the Urawa Red Diamonds are currently third with 34 points after 21 matches. They are currently six points behind the Kashima Antlers, who have two games in hand. In the 2024 edition of the league, won by Vissel Kobe, the Urawa Red Diamonds came 13th with 48 points (12 wins, 12 draws and 14 losses). After the continental win against Al Hilal, the Japanese side played in the AFC Champions League 2023/24, where they were eliminated in the group stage: in that edition they finished second in their group alongside Pohang Steelers (South Korea), Hà Nội (Vietnam) and Wuhan San Zhen (China), failing to qualify as one of the best second-place teams.
COACH AND PLAYERS
Since September 2024, the Coach has been Maciej Skorza. The Coach arrived in Japan in 2023, the year in which he guided the Urawa Red Diamonds to their first AFC Champions League win. His coaching career began in 2004 and saw him manage in Poland, Saudi Arabia and Japan, winning four Polish Championships (two with Wisła Kraków and two with Lech Poznan), three Polish Cups (one with Dyskobolia and two with Legia Warsaw) and a Polish Super Cup (Lech Poznan).
At the moment, the side's top scorer is the playmaker Ryoma Watanabe, who has six goals in 17 appearances. The Brazilian forward Thiago, has been important. He was the top scorer during the 2023/24 season, when he scored 13 goals in 38 matches.
SQUAD
Goalkeepers: 1 Shusaku Nishikawa, 16 Ayumi Niekawa, 31 Shun Yoshida, 44 Alex Keita Malcolm
Defenders: 3 Danilo Boza, 4 Hirokazu Ishihara, 5 Marius Hoibraten, 26 Takuya Ogiwara, 28 Kenta Nemoto, 35 Rikito Inoue, 45 Yoshitaka Tanaka
Midfielders: 6 Taishi Matsumoto, 8 Matheus Savio, 9 Genki Haraguchi, 10 Shoya Nakajima, 11 Samuel Gustafson, 13 Ryoma Watanabe, 14 Takahiro Sekine, 21 Tomoaki Okubo, 22 Kai Shibato, 24 Yusuke Matsuo, 25 Kaito Yasui, 39 Jumpei Hayakawa, 46 Takeshi Wada, 77 Takuro Kaneko, 88 Yoichi Naganuma
Forwards: 7 Hiroki Abe, 12 Thiago Santana, 17 Hiro Komori, 18 Toshiki Takahashi, 27 Toshizaku Teruuchi, 41 Rio Nitta
THE PREVIOUS MEETING IN 2004
There's been just one meeting between Inter and the Urawa Red Diamonds, when the Nerazzurri went on tour in Japan in 2004 to take part in the Saitama City Cup, a friendly tournament which takes place in the city of Saitama. On that occasion, the Nerazzurri took part with some of the squad, as some of the squad was also involved in a summer tournament in Italy with Inter, Juventus and AC Milan.
Fernando Orsi coached the side, as Roberto Mancini stayed with the other team in Italy.
Saitama (Japan), 27 July 2004, Final Urawa Red Diamonds 1-0 Inter Goal: 51' Emerson (U) Inter: Toldo (88' Bindi), Dellafiore, Adani, Giani, Coco (80' Visconti), Karagounis (87' Di. Marino), Farinos, Lamouchi, Zicu (46' Costanzo, 78' M. Lombardo), Recoba, Choutos (7' Meggiorini). Coach: Orsi Urawa Red Diamonds: Tsuzuki (45' Yamagishi), Alpay, Horinouchi (71' Muroi), Uchidate, Iamada, Hasebe (82' Arai), Hirakawa, Yamase (77' Chishima), Suzuki (71' Sakai), Nagai (71' Okano), Emerson. Coach: Buchwald Referee: Nishimura (Japan)