Thursday May 23rd 2002
 Bad omens. This
year’s rainy season has made a couple of attempts to get going
(most notably during my trip to Tokyo Disneyland), but still
hasn’t really kicked in. Today, it’s humid and the sun's
shining, but inside my heart the weather’s grey and miserable.
Too much shouldn’t be read into the disappointing one-all
defeat by the mighty South Korea, but it’s not exactly a good
sign. One positive thing, though; I thought Greg Rusedski
played particularly well in midfield. Talk about Murphy’s
law, the guys survive the game then Danny gets injured in
training! Get back on that plane, Trevor, and bring David Dunn
with you. At least we’re not in such Dyer straits as
first thought with Kieron and
Beckham.
Jockstraps. I watched the Korea game at
Footniks, a famous Tokyo football pub. The atmosphere’s good,
but don’t bother with the food: how with a straight face, can
they serve fried chicken with seven chips? Suicidal Ronnie,
the archetypal Jock (strap) watched the game with us. When
Korea scored, he was the only bloke, in a pub full of
hairy-arsed Englishmen, to be jumping up and down
cheering!
 Rip-offs and
ripping in. The bars are now finalising preparations to
cash in on the foreign supporters - you know the sort of
thing, extra beer stocks, big tellies, projector screens, sick
buckets, bandages. Most drinking holes will be open into the
early hours during the World Cup, which is great news if
you’ve just taken out a second mortgage. A pint averages about
five quid, although if you hunt around it can be found at the
knock-down price of £3.50! Us expats have acclimatised to this
necessary outlay, and unless you want to reinforce the image
of the whingeing pom, you should too. Besides expensive
beer, there’s also high demand for a strong Scottish spirit
here in the Far East, but as Berti knows after losing four
games on the trot, that’s really lacking in the Scots! The
police too are gearing up for the onslaught of “Engrish
foorigans”, with Spiderman nets, ice-guns and kryptonite among
their top weapons.
 Scant briefs?
My tickets are rolling in now. I still can’t believe my luck -
thanks to one of the sponsors, I’ve got first-class seats at
two of England’s group games. Me and a couple of mates are
flying up to the Pacific island of Hokkaido to see our boys
take on the Argies. I remember we did okay against them on an
Atlantic island, so maybe that’s a good omen! Let’s
face it, we’re not favourites to win the battle of Sapporo,
but if we did, it would be the best thing since Michael Owen's
parents got a bit frisky! Just waiting now for my remaining
tickets to arrive from the UK. The issuing process has been
the biggest balls-up since the “hanging chad” saga. I’d hate
to be one of those people who’ve had to travel empty-handed.
Don’t worry though if your forwarded tickets get “rost in the
post”, I’m sure the Yakuza will be on hand to sell you them
back once you arrive!
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