Urawa Reds and Japan goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa has urged his teammates to seize the moment over the year ahead after suffering disappointment for both club and country in the last two months.
Nishikawa was outstanding as Urawa led the J. League for the majority of last season, helping the team set a new league record of seven consecutive clean sheets only to blow a five-point lead with three games remaining and hand the championship to Gamba Osaka.
The 28-year-old then sat on the bench for the duration of Japan's Asian Cup title defense in Australia, which ended in a quarterfinal defeat to the United Arab Emirates last Friday after first-choice 'keeper Eiji Kawashima came up second best in a penalty shootout.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.