Soccer Football Soccer
I love the World Cup. It might be evident that I have a fondness for Japan’s national team after posting news about their wins against Denmark and Cameroon and advancing to the top 16. Having lived in Japan for five years, and on the heels of my recent vacation, I am a little partial to the Samurai Blue! However, that doesn’t mean that I have not been cheering for the US or ignoring the other games.
In the first week of matches, the games times were 6:30pm, 9:00pm and 1:30am here in Hanoi. Leading up to this past weekend, the games were shown only at 9:00pm and 1:30am. I stayed up Friday morning to watch Japan beat Denmark, but I’ve also crowded into the hotspot to cheer on England (the only game shown in the bars here) and check the FIFA.com like a crazy person and high-fived all my British fans when we all learned that the US had won too. I was even at the bar at 1:30am on Sunday morning to cheer the US vs. Ghana and watched the Germany vs. England game from home last night, as I was still recovering from being up past 3am twice in 3 days!
I’m super bummed that the US didn’t beat Ghana. It was such a let down after their last-second goal against Algeria. Did you see all those celebration videos posted to You Tube? I was also heartbroken for England. I never expected Germany to crush their defense, and I am disturbed that another team was robbed of their goal.
I’m hopeful that Japan can beat Paraguay and go farther in this tournament than they ever have before. They are really a solid team with no prima donnas (yes, a reference to Nakata and Takahara) and while I have no illusions that they will win, I would be happy if they move on just one more step. I can’t wait for the Argentina/Germany game which will be prime time here. I think Spain will take Portugal and I take the risk to predict a Netherlands vs. Argentina final which will offer amazing play on the field and a win for the Argentinians.
Tags: World Cup