Urawa or Milan? Dilemma for Japanese fans

Considering the fact that the stadium in Toyota City was half-empty on Monday night, the noise levels generated by the two pockets of Urawa fans were fantastic. Rehearsed, coordinated, effervescent and loud, it was a non-stop display of support for their team.

That night in Toyota was an unfortunate one for Urawa fans, because the majority come from Tokyo and Yokohama, and it was an impossible commute for many given that the game was on a weeknight, and that Toyota is so far away. They were also playing Sepahan, which hardly made for an attractive trip to the middle of nowhere.

Tonight however is a different prospect. The grander, larger Nissan stadium in Yokohama is easily accessible from Tokyo and Saitama (where Urawa are from). The best part is that Urawa, being a sort of Manchester United of Japan (their fans aren't from where the team are), have their largest fanbase in Yokohama, so all things considered, we should be witnessing an absolutely packed stadium and roaring support for Urawa, right?

Well, no. It's not that simple.

The bone in the kebab in this case, is the Japanese people's love of all things glamorous, famous and superstarry. I witnessed it first-hand last year when Barcelona played here, and the stadium was a sea of blaugrana shirts, with a rumbling whisper of adoration/excitement for Ronaldinho that exploded into "Oohs" and "Aahs" every time he did anything - whether it was a trick, a shot, a tackle or even kicking someone, miscontrolling the ball, or falling flat on his arse. The teams didn't matter, the football didn't matter, only the stardom did.

This year, there's no Ronaldinho, but there's Kaka. There's no Deco, but there's Seedorf. There's Maldini, there's Nesta, there's Pirlo... the names just go on and on. If you're talking about fame, glamour and stardom, AC Milan have all of those in abundance.

And here lies the problem. Urawa being a very populist team, means that a lot of the fans that would be neutrals or occassionals tend to support them. However against Milan all of those neutrals will quite likely have their allegiances tested. Milan have also been staying in Yokohama for the past week, and the locals have regularly been watching them train and play, and they've also played in Yokohama and Tokyo several times before in the previous Intercontinental Cup, so they already have a fairly large following in the local area.

On a technical level, there is only a very slight chance that Urawa will be able to get a result against Milan. There is also the worry with Japanese teams and players, that they will sink into the over-respectful, gracious mode that they tend to go into when faced with superior, more exalted opposition. Holger Osieck has worked hard to give Urawa a really tenacious edge to their game, it would be a pity to see Keita Suzuki not trying to chop down Kaka, or being apologetic about doing so. The players will all be nervous, and they will need the fans to help them retain their edge.

So it is absolutely essential that Urawa go into this game with a 40-50,000 strong bunch of supporters, because otherwise the silence and casual support for Milan is going to create a very, very strange atmosphere for them, one in which they might just lose their way, and which would be very disappointing for the fans watching around the world, who would miss out on a chance to see just how great the REAL Japanese football fans are.