Red Diamonds

A New Season Rolls Around

The beginning of a new season always brings about some optimism about the schedule ahead. It's a fresh beginning, a chance to start from scratch. It doesn't matter if the last season was complete shit. If the right tactical and personnel adjustments are made, you're looking at a team that can go for the big kahuna; the league title. Sometimes a small adjustment is required, other times it requires several seasons of rebuilding. However, after a pretty successful season, then things are going to be looking good when the new season begins.

That's what Kyo Yagami was thinking when he came to Ohara City Field, the training facility for Urawa Red Diamonds, the club he joined during the summer transfer window in 2009 from J. League rivals Kashima Antlers. It's not like he went from a big club to a small, club, though. Antlers are the most successful J. League club in terms of championships with six (as of the beginning of the 2010 season).

Urawa, on the other hand, are the first Japanese club to win the Asian Champions League (in its current format) and draw more fans than Antlers do. They also (within the context of this story) finished second in J. League Division 1 and won the Emperor's Cup (Japan's equivalent of the FA Cup) in 2009, thanks in large part to Kyo's contributions down the stretch.

Now Kyo was looking at a team that was in the AFC Champions League and his own World Cup ambitions. He's not just looking for playing time; he wants to start for the Soccer Nippon Daihyō. Hell, he wants to win.

But the J. League comes first. He may have already won the competition, but once is never enough, not for someone like Kyo Yagami, one of the best Japanese footballers in recent memory.

He smiled when he entered the changing room. The players were abuzz and joking with each other. And just one look at Kyo and they were already in a better mood. He could not help but smile while his teammates, who had grown on him very quickly, greeted him with cheers. "Nice to see you guys too," he said.

"Sorry," said one player, one who was obviously younger than him.

"That's enough, everyone," said the veteran captain. "Good to see you again, Yagami."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," he said while taking off his kit bag and placing it in his locker. "So the Brazilians are gone?"

"Unfortunately," said the captain, Shuichi Matsuzaka. "But our new manager, Ingo Badstuber has already signed four more foreign players. They should arrive later today."

"Another German manager?" Kyo asked.

"Reds do have a tradition of hiring Germans," said Matsuzaka. "Get dressed; he'll be in here soon."

"Sounds good," said Kyo. "And when are the foreigners coming?"

"They'll be coming with him," said Matsuzaka. "Just calm down."

"Fair enough," Kyo said with a shrug. "I'm in no hurry."

"Good," said Matsuzaka. "Get dressed, alright?"

"Alright," Kyo said, walking over to his locker and sitting down. Now Kyo's not a very big person. He's a striker, and they usually aren't that big. His official profile on the Reds' website lists him at 75 kg and 1.69 m. Of course, weight and height only tell a small story. He's almost Messi-esque in terms of his physique. He's got a little lighter skin tone than the average Japanese male (which is apparently considered beautiful in Japan). He also had some brown highlights in his hair, which at the moment looked like the hair of the character Hyde, the blue warrior from the new Super Sentai series, Goseiger (he's a Sentai fan).

Okay, a little history of the Red Diamonds. They're called that because they have roots as the Mitsubishi works club, hence the name, from Mitsubishi's three red diamond logo. Their colors are red (naturally) white and black, which gives them a Manchester United-like resemblance (they're even equipped by Nike!). They played in Tokyo for years before moving to Urawa in the Saitama prefecture (which was eventually merged into the city of Saitama) and were a founding member of the J. League.