Football News - ENGLAND in JAPAN
Saitama + Sapporo
England 1 Sweden 1
Saitama,
a 40-minute train ride north of Tokyo,
is Japan's fastest-growing prefecture. In one area the population
suddenly increased by 62,561 on the afternoon of 2nd June with the arrival
of England and Sweden fans for the opening match of the World Cup for
these two teams.
The first noticeable feature was the Japanese fans: a good ninety-five percent of them were sporting England shirts, and this despite the hysterical way the Japanese press and certain politicians have for a long time been stereotyping England fans as hooligans. Many shops in Saitama were closed and shuttered, perhaps fearful of trouble occurring.
Outside the ground before the match, language barriers didn't prevent English, Swedish and Japanese fans from mingling amiably and taking photographs of each other.
The match itself was a classic ‘game of two halves', with England denying Sweden possession of the ball early on. Beckham's corner to the head of Campbell enough to give England a one-nil lead at half-time. Vassell was impressive as he managed to turn and beat his marker on a number of occasions. There did seem to be space in front of England's back four that was not exploited by the Swedish front runners.
The second-half saw Sweden getting and keeping the ball a lot more, playing the ball on the ground in shorter passes. One period of pressure lead to a clearance by Mills that Andersson gratefully smashed into the net. For England fans, the way the English defence made long clearances straight to the Swedish defenders was disappointing.
England 1 Argentina 0
Odori
Park, a long green strip in the middle of Sapporo,
was the meeting point for fans of both teams in this the northernmost
World Cup Japanese venue. The organizers had sensibly erected booths representing
the two teams adjacent to each other and near the information centres.
There was friendly rivalry in the park to see who could make the most
noise.
Again the horror stories of the English hooligans didn't faze the local Japanese people; old folk and mothers with young children were enjoying the sunshine together with the fans. This went down well with the fans themselves, who have been commenting on how accommodating the Japanese are and how pleasant it is to be in a society where people can walk around with wallets sticking out their back pockets in safety.
Touts were selling tickets for the match, but there was hesitation on the part of potential purchasers when the asking price of 70,000 yen (about £350) was revealed, and many didn't want to part with such a sum.
On arrival in the stadium, there were gasps of admiration for its modernity and style. The previously announced problem of obstructed views due to the ground being primarily designed for baseball seemed minimal. From one seat I tried, the base of the corner flag pole was not visible, but this would not have detracted from the spectator's enjoyment of the game. There was no crush at the official shop to buy programmes and other products as there was at Saitama.
Considering the economic crisis currently besetting Argentina, there was a surprisingly high number of Argentina fans at the game. Indeed before kick-off they were making a lot of noise, but the huge England roar once the match started indicated the dominance of support for the team in red and white.
A sad feature – and one that has been evident at too many of the matches during this World Cup - was the number of spectators: only 35,000 in a stadium designed for 42,000. Outside the ground, there were people without tickets; inside, empty seats. One England fan at the game tersely summed it up: "It's wrong."
Man of the match was Nicky Butt. Not only did he provide the pass to Owen that led to the penalty being awarded, but he repeatedly broke up Argentina's attacks and linked well with Scholes and Beckham. The whole England team played very well, as did most of the Argentinians. Their best player was perhaps Ortega. He is one of the few Argentina-based in the squad.
Though the encounter was built up as a grudge match due to Beckham's being sent off in the corresponding fixture four years ago, the Maradona ‘Hand of God' incident and the Falklands War, the game was hard rather than dirty.
Hotels in Japan
Hotels
in Japan - Hotelclub
Hotels in Japan - Accommodation Online
Great Birthday Presents - World Cup Memorabilia HERE