Today was a big football day in Japan. The national team played their first home match since the World Cup, ironically against Paraguay who knocked them out on penalties in South Africa. But revenge was sweet as Japan triumphed this time 1-0. It was amusing to see the match described on television as the first step towards the Brazil World Cup in 2014! But a more important match (for us anyway) took place earlier in the day somewhere on the outskirts of Sapporo. The last big tournament of the season (before everyone has to retreat indoors to play football) was taking place and Calum's team managed to be drawn against one of the toughest teams in Sapporo. A win seemed unlikely. Yet for weeks before extra practices were arranged to give the team as much chance as possible. Today they played really well in a hard contest and having ended 0-0, it went down to penalties. With the score at 3-3, Calum stepped up to take the deciding kick - and in it went! Now, many mothers attend football matches in Japan and it was worth being there just to see their reaction as they shrieked and danced and 'high-fived' - not your normal image of Japanese mothers! At the end the boys lined up as usual in front of the parents, gave their thanks and bowed deeply. Maybe some future national team stars among them - but which country would Calum choose?
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Football - again
Today was a big football day in Japan. The national team played their first home match since the World Cup, ironically against Paraguay who knocked them out on penalties in South Africa. But revenge was sweet as Japan triumphed this time 1-0. It was amusing to see the match described on television as the first step towards the Brazil World Cup in 2014! But a more important match (for us anyway) took place earlier in the day somewhere on the outskirts of Sapporo. The last big tournament of the season (before everyone has to retreat indoors to play football) was taking place and Calum's team managed to be drawn against one of the toughest teams in Sapporo. A win seemed unlikely. Yet for weeks before extra practices were arranged to give the team as much chance as possible. Today they played really well in a hard contest and having ended 0-0, it went down to penalties. With the score at 3-3, Calum stepped up to take the deciding kick - and in it went! Now, many mothers attend football matches in Japan and it was worth being there just to see their reaction as they shrieked and danced and 'high-fived' - not your normal image of Japanese mothers! At the end the boys lined up as usual in front of the parents, gave their thanks and bowed deeply. Maybe some future national team stars among them - but which country would Calum choose?
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