Guest Posted June 27, 2002 Report Share Posted June 27, 2002 Have been lucky enough to see a few matches live in Japan so thought I'd share my views on the tournament. THE GOOD The success of the underdogs: Who would have thought South Korea or Turkey would have made the semifinals, let alone play well enough to have a chance at reaching the final? Little-known Senegal also had a dream tournament and can feel unlucky to have lost to Turkey. Japan played the best it has for a long time but ultimately French manager Troussier pulled the plug on their chances of advancing with bizarre selections against Turkey (starting Nishizawa instead of Suzuki and then replacing Alex at half time) The early exit of Argentina: Great to see those cheating bastards in tears! England's performance: While at times it wasn't pretty, I thought they did enough in the big games until they met Brazil. The squad ran out of gas in the second half in Shizuoka (as they did in many games) but can still hold their heads high. Lack of hooligans: Local authorities did a good job of teaming up with their overseas counterparts to keep the thugs out. One poor English lad on a blacklist got turned away at Narita with 175 tickets! THE BAD Paranoia: Worst display was in Sapporo where the city with the reputation for great nightlife was reduced to a dry town. Pubs shut down and convenience stores and liquor shops wouldn't sell alcohol. Half-empty hotels were telling foreigners who wandered in off the street no rooms were available. In the end, the only reported trouble was the arrest of a Japanese drunk. Why bother to put your hand up as a host city if you're not prepared to open up to the world? Transport: The home of the 300-kph bullet train was caught with its pants down, especially at Kashima. No special services were scheduled for the Nigeria-Argentina game, which meant one train every 20-30 minutes coming home. The result: You couldn't even get on the platform! Atmosphere around the stadiums: Too many of these stadiums (Kashima, Saitama, Shizuoka) look like a UFO has just landed in a rice field. No pubs, restaurants, shops, nothing. Once again, too much police paranoia that fans may have a few drinks and actually enjoy themselves. Linesmen (or assistant referees if you like): This collection of amateurs need eye tests, unless you're a Korean fan who thinks these guys have the vision of Superman. Beckham's performance: Perhaps he hadn't fully recovered from his injury, but the pin-up boy lacked spark. Camera angles: Don't know how it was in Thailand, but the cameras were either so far away you couldn't see the players' numbers or they'd zoom in for a nose hair shot. THE UGLY Empty seats: Real tragedy. Why weren't all unsold seats allocated overseas returned to the host countries one month prior to kick off? Despite all the promises to rectify the problem, 4,000 seats were still empty for the Brazil-England quarterfinal. Hairstyles: It's tough keeping up with the Beckhams and the Ronaldos but the pick of them all was Del Piero wetting his locks to give him the "model" look before he came on against Mexico. Whining: Yes Italy and Spain, it was all a conspiracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiery Jack Posted June 28, 2002 Report Share Posted June 28, 2002 Nicely summed up, Roppongi. My mates went to a few games in Japan and said that outside one of the matches, Nigeria vs (I think) Sweden (wasn't England, could have been Belgium) there were loads of japanese touts openly selling spare tickets but the only guy who got arrested was a lone Nigerian tout. Apparently it was on the news, and the arresting officers roughed him up a bit more than he deserved (kind of SAS style 20 cops pounce on one guy) . Did you hear anything about that, and were there many touts? I've attended sold-out rock concerts in Japan where touts have been pretty brazen about offering tickets outside the venue while the fuzz turned a blind eye that might not have been turned had the touters been non-Japanese of appearance . I heard also that the only major "hooliganism" incident was in Tokyo and involved not the dreaded English, but rowdy Japanese supporters smashing up a taxi cab. Sweet irony I thought. Anybody know anything? Cheers for the report anyway, Roppongi. jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2002 Report Share Posted June 28, 2002 Fiery Jack, generally speaking the cops here turn a blind eye to touts except when the world's watching, i.e. Nagano Olympics, World Cup. I did see one incident near Saitama station where this American tout was saying "Fuck 'em, what are they gonna do deport me?" He was nabbed a few minutes later. And yes, the majority of incidents of "hooligansim" or as the Japanese pronounce it "Fooliganism" have involved locals. Cheers Roppongi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 29, 2002 Report Share Posted June 29, 2002 "Fuck 'em, what are they gonna do deport me?" Funny one,he may not have heard much about Japan before.Interesting report too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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