The J.League on Thursday held a joint press conference in downtown Tokyo to promote the upcoming MEIJI YASUDA 2016 J.League Championship.

The event featured appearances by players from the three clubs who will appear in the tournament, which begins on November 23 when Kawasaki Frontale host Kashima Antlers.

Naomichi Ueda (Kashima Antlers)

“We won the First Stage, but we were all disappointed by our weak performance in the Second Stage. But the Championship is a different matter. We may have finished in third place overall, but the title goes to the team who wins in the end and all we can do is work hard to prepare well.”

Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale)

“It comes down to how much of our style we can demonstrate against Kashima Antlers at home. This year is our club’s 20th anniversary and we’ve earned a chance to win our first title. A lot is expected of us and we want to respond with good results.”

Yosuke Kashiwagi (Urawa Reds)

“(The semi-final defeat to Gamba Osaka) last year was incredibly disappointing and it made us understand the difficulty of these do-or-die games. Being seeded directly to the Final is a different kind of difficulty, but if we apply everything we’ve done over the last year I think we’ll win. We want to stay focused on our goal.