Monday 10th June 2002
 Went down the pub on Thursday
to watch the France v Uruguay match and could not
believe my luck - there were French people in there!
Now I don't like to gloat (yeah, right), but to watch their
sad little faces as their dream was fading away was
magic!
Hopped on a plane back to Hokkaido next
morning, head still thumping. This time I made the journey
with a couple of genuine Englishmen (instead of
Scots who think they're Irish). The big park in
the centre of town was buzzin', Argies and fat
English blokes everywhere. There were lots of people
taking photos, others taking a nap, and a few taking the piss
out of each other, but incredibly these two great enemies were
getting along very well.
 Watched the Sweden v Nigeria
game in a cramped sweaty bar (that's a bar full of
perspiring bodies, not a Scottish bar). The place went
berserk when Nigeria took the lead. It was sort
of great and awful, all at the same time, half-naked men
jumping up and down oozing bodily fluids all over us!
But that wasn't to last long, the place was pretty calm for
most of the game and we went away disappointed. Not just
disappointed at the Sweden win, but also the fact that
Wee Ronnie who was at the Sweden game (wearing a
skirt), would be revelling in the Boy Larsson's two
nails in the English coffin!
With hope in our hearts
and a wig on my head we took the short tube ride out of town
to the big silver Sapporo dome. The atmosphere was
electric, everybody understanding the immensity of the
task ahead, and most a little beered up. Despite all the
rumours, alcohol was freely available before, during and after
the game. My literary skills are insufficient to describe what
happened next. Years of disappointment and defeat were
slipping away, the crowd singing their guts out, hailing
Sir David and his World Cup warriors. I've never, ever
experienced such mass jubilation as that moment when, after
far too long a wait, the final whistle
blew!
 We then boarded a shuttle bus,
from which we could see thousands of people, half of them
Japanese celebrating in the streets. Back in town, we
managed to crash a party full of England fans
having the time of their lives, shortly after the free bar ran
out, we legged it to a nightclub where we partied on until
morning. Excluding some puerile behaviour by the odd English
racist, the whole thing was one fantastic knees-up - even a
few Argies found it in them to come and drown their
sorrows.
Went up to Miyagi on the bullet train
for the Ecuador v Mexico game on Sunday. The Plastic
Paddies accompanied me again, but all this travelling is
starting to take its toll on me now - not to mention my wallet
and my voice! The Mexicans really know how to hold a
train party, constantly chanting "Tequila, tequila,
tequila" as they poured the stuff down each other's
necks!
 Managed to get back to a bar in
Roppongi, twenty minutes into the Japan v Russia
game. This time it was the Japanese fans' turn to spill onto
the streets, they were going crazy. I've never seen them so
ecstatic.
Can this World Cup really still have
three more weeks to run?
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