'North Korea hometown team faces off in final,' Tokyo manager says "Goal is to conquer Asia, will do our best" [Suwon]

*This content was translated by AI.

Naoaki Kusunose (62), manager of Tokyo Verdy Belza, who will face North Korea's Naegok Women's Football Club in the 2025-2026 AFC Women's Champions League (AWCL) final, said, "Our team's goal is to conquer Asia," and added, "We will do our best to win the final."

Manager Kusunose of Tokyo Verdy stated at the pre-final official press conference held on the 22nd at Suwon Sports Complex, "We are happy and satisfied to have reached the final. Now, we will do our best with our own style of play."

Tokyo Verdy, which participated in this tournament as the winner of Japan's WE League in the 2024-2025 season, was placed in the same group as Suwon FC Women and Naegok in the group stage, finishing first with two wins and one draw (7 points) to advance to the quarterfinals. At that time, Tokyo defeated Naegok 4-0 and drew 0-0 with Suwon FC. In the quarterfinals, they defeated Stallion Laguna (Philippines) 5-0, and in the semifinals, they beat Melbourne City (Australia) 3-1 to reach the final.

Having faced Naegok, which suffered a decisive defeat in the group stage, again in the final, Tokyo Verdy is in a position to enter the final with confidence. However, Manager Kusunose said, "There have been some changes in the Naegok roster. They are a very strong team in terms of power and speed. Although we won in the group stage, it will not be an easy game like that. If we do not do our best, we may be outmatched in terms of power play. We will do our best with our own style of play."

Tokyo Verdy, which won the AFC Women's Club Championship in 2019, is challenging for the Asian title again after seven years. Coincidentally, the tournament was also held in Korea at that time. Manager Kusunose said, "I was not aware of the fact that we won seven years ago," but added, "Winning a major tournament will send a very important message not only to Tokyo Verdy but also to the history of Japanese football."

Defender Tomoko Maramatsu, who attended the press conference alongside Kusunose, said, "From the Myanmar qualifiers (group stage), we have been working hard with the sole goal of winning the Asian title. We are very happy to have reached the final. If we play in the style of Tokyo Verdy and Japan, we believe victory is possible. Winning will be a great opportunity to introduce our team's style of football to the world. It will be an important stage to confirm our competitiveness."

The final of the tournament between Tokyo Verdy and Naegok Women's Football Club will be held at 2 p.m. on the 23rd at Suwon Sports Complex. The championship prize is $1 million (approximately 1.52 billion won), and the runner-up prize is $500,000 (approximately 760 million won).

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.