It means "Thank you." in Russian.
I arrived at Russia via Bangkok, departing from Cairo.
The 23 names of the Japanese squad was, finally, announced yesterday.
I was relieved when the Japanese star Keisuke Honda, who we Libero admire, was called, although that was said to be certain.
Then, I decided to go all the way to Russia to see the Russian Football League, where Honda is playing. He has been on a hot topic in Japan these days.
Today, I watched the Russian Premier League.
CSKA Moscow, where Honda plays, is against TEREK which is a team of Republic of Chechnya.
I was worrying about the unstable conditions such as the explosion in the Moscow Subway, almost all of which were related with Chechnya.
Here is the costume I wore today.
I mail-ordered "Honda" T shirt!
This is collaboration between HONDA a Japanese car company and Keisuke "Honda". LOL.
Wearing a long-sleeved, the outfit looks like a CSKA Moscow jersey, which is consist of red, blue, and white, and the national flag of Russia!
The ticket was easy to get as there were not many crowds.
It cost 420 rouble (about 1,300 yen).
Moscow is expensive, but the ticket is reasonable.
The appearance of the stadium.
CSKA's home stadium is under construction.
So, this is temporal.
A lot of fake CSKA goods were sold around the stadium.
Look at the flag designed to look like the Japanese one.
We both think it in a same way.
However, I found a Korean car company HYUNDAI is the official sponsor of CSKA!!
Sign HONDA next season, CSKA!
When I was strolling around the stadium till the Kick off,
I was interviewed by TV Asahi,
which is one of the majors TV companies in Japan.
They told me they're collecting scenes that could be on air in Hodo Station, which is one of the popular TV news programs. I might make a debut sooner or later.
I saw Russian beauties wearing CSKA items.
Who are you giving the flowers?
By the way, I saw many Russian beauties in the city of Moscow!
Maria Sharapova is everywhere in the city.
Then I entered the stadium.
It is a small stadium with the capacity of more than 30,000.
The roof is protruded and good-looking one.
What surprised me the most was that there were so many empty seats.
It reminds me of the stadium of Slovenia.
I should not have been afraid of the opponent team from Chechnya.
There were only about 20 TEREK supporters in the second floor.
In the CSKA side, on the other hand, there were many crowds rushing in.
The center was almost packed!
They were relatively calm throughout the game.
I should have seated there instead of stating away from them.
The big flag was pulled dawn from the roof!
In terms of Russian or CSKA style, the brass bands members positioned at the center of the backside of the stadium and continued playing music throughout the game.
Check the movie posted at the end of this diary.
In the meantime, the game kicked off!
The cloudy weather became clear gradually.
It's a beautiful scenery.
Speaking of today's main dish Honda, he played so so.
He played a defensive midfielder today.
He's supposed to play more attacking side in Japan.
Come on, coach!!
Regrettably, he gave in free kicks, although he is known to be very arrogant in taking his ball in the case of free kicks.
(In a past international match against the Netherlands, he took the ball from Shunsuke Nakamura, who was an specialist of free kick.)
During the game, he even hesitated to make a shot by force and passed the ball.
That was totally disappointing for me!!
I wonder if the Japanese tendency of not taking risks might ruin Honda's wild streak.
ＣＳＫＡ ended their first half 1 point behind TEREK. But they crushed TEREK by 4-1 in the end.
But Honda didn't make a big contribution to any of them today.
He was substituted at the end of the game.
However, he was clapped by the crowd, which indicates he is firmly supported by them.
When I was walking wearing this HONDA T shirt, many supporters spoke to me.
Some says, "I really respect Keisuke Honda."
I assume he has built a strong position in his team and enchanted the supporters via fan festivals or something like that.
The Russian Premier League will be in a recess from the next Friday due to the World Cup.
I hope Keisuke Honda become more assertive in the rest of the Russian games and prepare for the World Cup starting soon.
That's is Honda's true value.
But his left has been injured and might not have recovered completely yet.
If so, he should not play 100 percent.
Whatever it is, I'm happy if he plays brilliantly in the World Cup!!
I post the movie of today here.
It includes the scene of the subway I mentioned before.
Follow us on Twitter!!
http://twitter.com/2010Libero
We appreciate if you would publicize our blog and Twitter within your circle of your soccer friends or acquaintances.
Posts
