Football Unites the World

Revenge match against Paraguay!!

2010-09-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Hello, guys.
It's been a long time!

Finally, the head coach of Japanese national team has been chosen!
His name is Alberto Zaccheloni.

It's Zac Japan! I like the way it souds.

Anyway, people will see Zac's first tact on 4th September, the game against Paraguay, who defeated us in South Africa two months ago.

The game report can be seen here.

Listen, on 4th Sep, I am planning to sell books "How the world view JAPAN?", which I wrote after the round the world journey, at a stall on the way to Nissan Stadium where the game is to be held.

We Libero have published two books.
This is one of them titled "Football Unites the World."

Another one is called "How the world view JAPAN?", as I mentioned before.

If you can pick up some japanese, please get one of those!

By the way, the location of the selling is as follows.

Of course, I have gotton an official perission to use here.

You will see me wearing Samurai Armor with my friends.

Also, I'll give you an autograph on the spot if you buy one.
The trading hours should be within 3:00pm to 6:30 pm.

I will servise you cold drinks or something as it's gonna be hot.

I'm really looking fowrward to seeing lots of fans.
I don't care if you would get the book or not.

Unfortunatelly, a typhoo is coming up.
I don't want to ruin the books under the weather.

So in the case of raining, I will wait for you at another location.
It will be at Scudetto. The location is here.

It's quite close to Shin Yokohama Station.

Then see you soon at Nissan Stadium!!

If you can't come to the game, you can still purchase books at:

Football Unites the World
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4575302260/amzonassoc-22/

How the world view Japan?
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4766710959/amzonassoc-22/

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World Cup Dreams

2010-07-31T21:09:00.000-07:00

During the World Cup, the radio program “Chronos” on Tokyo FM featured us dozens of times, so upon our return to Tokyo, we had a chance to go out to dinner with the “Chronos” staff.

Here we are with Tetsuo Nakanishi (former Japan National team player and currently Special Appointed Board Member of the Japan Football Association) and TFM radio personality Ryoko Koga.

As we were having talking about soccer during dinner, Tetsuo told us:

“My dream is to see the Japan National Team win the World Cup during my lifetime”

Wow! Same dream as mine!

Anyone who loves soccer seems to have the same dream.

Even though we are in different positions, our dreams and goals are the same, so I hope that we can collaborate on some projects in the future.

I want to contribute to the Japan National Team in some way, from a supporter’s standpoint.

I’m sure I’ll plan my future years so that I can be in the same place as the Japan National Team is when they play their international matches.

(In the near future, Asia Cup in Qatar in Jan. 2011 and Copa America in Argentina in July 2011 are coming up).

I’d really like to cut off my contract and just go to the stadiums where Japan National Team is.

I’d also like to go to Europe after the Asia Cup to see several of the Japan National Team players who play in the pro leagues there.

I am not planning anything as huge as the “Football Unites the World” trip, but I hope to continue reporting and sharing experiences on this blog about soccer from a supporter’s point-of-view.
In the last entry, I wrote some things that sounded like I wanted to stop living my life with constant missions to accomplish, that I want to discover something in average daily life live for, and learn how to live tranquilly.

But now, 10 days later, after talking to someone like Tetsuo Nakanishi who is so passionate about soccer, I’ve begun to go back to my old ways and set a new goal.

Seems I can’t stop always having new ideas and goals in the working.

However, I don’t have a plan as huge as “Football Unites the World”, so depending on how my consulting project goes in September, (is it just an excuse?) I might not be able to go to the Asia Cup.

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Thank you South Africa. See you in Brazil!!

2010-07-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

Hello. This is Ken.

It's been a while since the World Cup final.
Things have been screwy for the last couple weeks, starting to calm down a bit now.

Now that I want to report about the final, Spain vs Netherlands!!

We have been reporting a bunch of the in South Africa and this is gonna be the last one.

Of course, this will the last game report as the round-the-world journey, that has been gone through about 1 year!

To think that this is really the last game makes me feel sentimental.

The final was held at Soccer City Stadium.

As you all know, the teams who made it to the final are the Netherlands and Spain, but the two of us wore our blue samurai armor to give the world a message to support the Japan national team.

Shot with a South African guy.

Well,
if you're a big fan of our blog, you might realize something familiar in this picture.

The second from the left is Mr. Bachelor.

Mr. Bachelor was on South African national squad.
He is also known as a commentator of South African sport news.

Besides him, there were a lot of famous people from all around the world to see this World Cup final.

The stadium was totally jubilant with the excitement !!

Beofre the kick off, there was a closing celemony.
These kids were waiting in line for making an appearance in the show.

All of them were wearig the white cothes.

We ran into another Samurai!

There were more than 10 samurais in the games of Japan.

Now, only 3 of them.

The samurai in the middle is Yohei, who is a cowoker in our previous company.

He is so brave that he played a few rounds of golf in South Africa.
Moreover, I saw him on this armor in the airport.

I believe he is the "last samurai" !! LOL.

All right, let's get into the main show.

We watched it from the 5th floor.

This ticket costs ＄990!!

Oh, my dear. It's so expensive!!
I couldn't believe it!!

But, what I've been through this long journey made me decided to purchase it as this is the culmination of what we have been aiming.

In spite of that, we were given the seats that were quite far from the field!
Oh, my goodness!!

I heard that good seats had been already taken by FIFA officials.
It's uderstandable, but they should've reserved them even for the normal people.

In a meantime, the closing celemony started!!

The scenary becomes totally dirrenrent from usual.

The blue light was celebrating for Blue Samural,

who made a big performance?

Occasionaly, the stadium turned into red!

Then, yellow. Looks like Las Vegas, doesn't it?

A variety of exciting performances took place.

The live performance of WAKA WAKA by Shakira was also on stage.

The flags of Spain and the Netherlands were glare on the pitch!

A line of elephants!! They are one of the BIG5.

Samurai armor was shown in a movie introducing

supporters from many different coutnries.

Finally, both squads made an appearnce on the pitch along with FIFA Anthem!!

In front of them, the World Cup was set.

The second from the left in the refree team is a Japanese Mr. Nishimura.

It's great of him to be assigned to the fourth judge in a World Cup final, isn't it?

It indicates that he is the fourth best refree in the world.

The goal that Japan made it to the semi final, which had been set by the Japanese national head coach Okada before the World Cup, was achieved by him in the end!!

As you know, Spain was crowned the champion of World Cup!!
They broke lots of jinks.

Their road to this historic moment was not smooth.
They lack in decisive striker, resulting in winning every game by 1-0.

I got an impression that Spanish soccer looks like futsal in that they possess the ball very long, although rarely scored.

Japanese soccer, espetially under Osim's coaching, seems to be similar to it, doesn't it?

Above all, individual skills are the essentials to the possession soccer.

After the trophy was handed to the palyers, they went back to the pitch for the commemorative photo shot.

On the way to it, they were welcomes by ...
Dutch players making an entrance arch so that Spanish palyers could walk through it.

Dutch players also celebrate them!!

I've never seen this scenary.
Who came up with this idea?

Right after the game finished, some Dutch players complained to the refree over the Iniesta's goal as it was look like an off-side.

However, they celebreated thier winning in the end.

What a great moment!!

In addition, commercial boards surrounding the field also read;
"Congratulations!! Spain!!"

Then, they turned into as follows.

Thank you, South Africa.

Then,

See you in Brazil at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

It is so exquisitely-choreographed!!

I filmed them, too.

I'm sure you feel like to go to Brazil after watching this movie!!

The movie consists of two parts.
Have a look at it!!

After all, this is gonna be the final entry from South Africa.

I will talk about our next plan sooner or later.

This round-the-world journey has taken about 2 years including the preliminary session.

A thousands of viewers have supported our blog during the term.

This long long journey has not been successful witout your supports.

We have learned a lot from this trip.
These will broaden our viewpoints to the world and become a benchmark for pursue of our life goals.

Thank you very for all supporting our journey.
And see you soon in Brazil at the 2010 FIFA World Cup!!

Ken created his own Twitter account!!
He tweets in ENGLISH!!

http://twitter.com/KenYomo

The dream came through: Football United the World !!

2010-07-12T00:41:00.001-07:00

Hello. Here is Atsushi.

Spain defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in extra time to win the World Cup for the first time.

Not only supporters of Spain and the Netherlands, both of which have made it the final, but also soccer fans from all over the world came down to the stadium, which was packed with 84,490 spectators, to see this historical big match.

I'd like to show the pictures of people from various countries in order to claim that the World Cup is "the world's biggest festival".

Dutch (upper left), Spain (upper right).

South Africa (bottom left), Mexico (bottom right).

France (upper left), Argentina (upper right).

England (bottom left), the U.S.(bottom right).

Australia (upper left), Ghana (upper right).

Denmark (bottom left), Slovakia (bottom right).

Japan (upper left), New Zealand (upper right).

Brazil (bottom left), Portugal (bottom right).

Honduras (left), Chili (right).

It took only 1 hour to meet 18 different nationalities out of 32 countries.

Add to these, supporters from the nations that didn't participate in the World Cup were also there.

Croatia (upper left), Poland (upper right).

Jamaica (bottom left), India (bottom right).

Vietnam (left), Saudi Arabia (right).

The following are only flags.

Algeria (upper left), Scotland (upper right).

Israel (bottom left), Finland (bottom right).

Finally, check out this abnormal Japanese.

A supporter of a judge?

This guy was following the same action of the referee in the game.
If the referee in the game gave the card, this guy did , too.
His performance in front of the crowd made them big laugh.

In the final, many yellow cards were given. So he had lots of opportunities to perform!

By the way, I think the World Cup is the only worldwide sport competition that enchants this vast amount of people from various countries at the same time.

This is the very word's greatest sport festival!!
I hope we can come back to here 4 years later.

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Miss World Cup!: Final!!

2010-07-12T00:41:00.000-07:00

Congratulations! Spain!

Here is Atsushi.

I will report the detail of the final later.
Today, I will work on my final assignment of wold beauties!! Haha.

I met her at a parking lot.

The followings are three shots of Dutch supporters.

Then, Spanish supporters!!

Spain won the game.
But which won this Miss World Cup, Spain or the Netherlands?

I saw Spanish girls with this funny gate flag.

Check here to know more about the octopus story.

Look at him !!

It's so obvious!!

It's so tough to find this costume, isn't it?
Way to go!!

Add to this is..

I should have had Children World Cup,too.

Finally. this is the last entry of Miss World Cup.

Personally, my best one is a South African TV reporter Cyndy, who I met at the SONY event venue.

The blog at the time was here.

Atsushi gives her the Miss world trophy!!

You can check the past entries here.

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Wanna see Atsushi's Waka Waka?

2010-07-10T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hi! Ken here.

I’m finally feeling better now!

I heard that in Japan, since the Japanese national team was eliminated, it seems like the World Cup is already over, but here in South Africa, the World Cup is reaching its climax with the game for third place and the final remaining.

The excitement of the people here is also reaching its climax!

We made the trip from our “home” in Johannesburg to go to see both semi-finals in Durban and Cape Town.

At Green Stadium in Cape Town, we participated in the “Waka Waka” dance contest at the Sony booth.

By the way, do you guys know what “Waka Waka” is?

Here in South Africa, you hear the FIFA World Cup official song “Waka Waka” wherever you go, so anyone who came to South Africa surely knows the song by heart, but I heard that “Waka Waka” is not so well known in Japan.

When I first heard the song “Waka Waka” sung by Colombia’s pop princess Shakira, I didn’t know what to think of it. But when I saw the promotion video which was made for this World Cup, I instantly became a fan.

I mentioned above that I participated in the Sony 3D event.
Take a look at the video below.

A “Waka Waka” dance contest was held at the stadium. Fans who came to see the semi-final could participate in this contest by dancing to the high tempo song “Waka Waka”.

By the way, when I was in South Africa for the Confederation’s Cup last year, I participated in an event held by South African mobile phone company, MTN, and won a prize. Check out the video here!

So this time, Atsushi represented Japan in the “Waka Waka” dance contest.

Check out this video to see Atsushi’s “Waka Waka” dance… and, the results!

The judges of this dance contest are the fans who stood around to watch.

The MC really liked Atsushi’s dance, and he won the contest!!

Here’s a picture of Atsushi with the MC of the event.

He won a Sony t-shirt and PSP software as the grand prize!!

Here is Atsushi with the South African
who competed against him until the final round.

This Sony event booth is set up at all of the stadiums along with the other World Cup sponsors’ booths.

A lot of fans come to the booth to see the 3D video which is one of the highlighted products at this World Cup.

There’s a long line at the Sony booth at each game.

At the booth you can see Shakira’s “Waka Waka” promotion video in 3D!

Everyone has their eyes (covered with 3D glasses) glued to the screen.

No matter how many times you watch it, you never get tired of it.

By the way, the official World Cup album is on sale from Sony Music.

The album includes not only Shakira’s “Waka Waka”, but also the South African traditional song “Shosholoza”.

It’s too bad that because of the noisy vuvuzelas, “Shosholoza” wasn’t sung at the stadium. If you watch the movie “Invicutus” which is based on the true story of Nelson Mandela, you can hear the “Shosholoza”.

Did you know that Sony is the only Japanese company which is a FIFA official sponsor?

Many Japanese companies have sponsored the FIFA World Cup and other soccer events in the past.

Lots of foreign companies, including some from developing countries, are FIFA official sponsors. I hear that Sony will be an official sponsor at least until the World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

Of course it’s a good thing to have companies from a variety of countries at the World Cup, but I hope that more Japanese companies will get involved.

Anyway, after warming up with the “Waka Waka”, we went into the stadium to watch Uruguay play the Netherlands in the semi-final.

As usual, I won’t get into the details of the game.

Enjoy “Miss World Cup”!!

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Miss World Cup!: Quarterfinal and Semifinal

2010-07-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

Hello! This is Atsushi.

I'll post beauties from quarterfinals and semifinals!

The first entry is from Spain!!

She was working for O. R. Tambo Airport.

The next ones are Spanish supporters holding a gate flag.

And children.

They were singing "Shosholoza", which is a fight song for South Africa.

Are they South African?

The following girl was at SONY booth.

You can see lots of beauties at SONY booths.

She was a Brazilian supporter wearing floral decoration.

The daytime in Port Elizabeth is a right time to shoot beauties.

A Dutch couple.

Stop playing up!

Another Dutch woman with me.

Then, a German woman.

German supporters seem to be less than those of Dutch, Spain, or Brazil.

Finally, I met two beauties wearing see-through dressings.

Are they in the middle of any events?

It's quite rare to see this in frigid Johannesburg.

I haven't been coughing for a week. It was the worst at the semi final German vs. Spain in Durban. So I was watching the game wearing a mask.

I've been under the weather these days, so it's hard to spend plenty time in taking beauties before get into stadiums. Sorry for inconvenience.

But, at the grand final, I will join an event which will be taken place 2 hours before the game. So I can take some!

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Soccer ball makes children in South Africa happy!!

2010-07-05T07:24:00.000-07:00

Hello, this is Atsushi.

Watching two quarterfinals at the stadium, I am gradually getting over the fact that Japan has lost the game.

Thank you for a lot of encouragement.

Although the Japanese national team won’t play anymore, the World Cup is still going on.

So, switching our moods, we will keep writing in South Africa.

The day after the game of Japan against Paraguay, I visited a primary school in a township, the Diepsloot region in the suburbs of Johannesburg.

Township is a district where black people used to live during the apartheid era.

The purpose of this visit is to give soccer balls to underprivileged children.

For those not familiar with this charity, I will explain a little more detail about what we have done so far.

With a catch-phrase “Football Unites the World”, we sell Libero original T-shirts as charity. 500 yen from every T-shirt sale goes to the charity funds to buy soccer balls for underprivileged children in Latin America and Africa.

We’ve already given soccer balls to children in Paraguay, Algeria and Thailand.

Due to safety issues, it is fairly difficult to find the places to do charity in South Africa. Even though Libero enjoy going to wherever we want, we are not brave enough to drop at a primary school in South Africa at random. We asked a local Japanese resident to introduce a staff member working at Education Ministry, who introduced a primary school teacher to us.

Then, it happened to be the day after the match of Japan against Paraguay. I was by no means in a mood of visiting them, but I had to go. It would be offensive to say, “Please rearrange the date because we still remain deep in the shock of the loss yesterday.

Ken stayed home because he was sick. Instead, I was accompanied by a newspaper journalist who was interested in this charity.

Since the primary school is located in a township,

we had no choice but to pass by rough areas.

The newspaper journalist was secretly taking pictures with great cautions, as even taking a picture out of the car window itself could be very dangerous.

Those walking along the street were all black people. No white people or Asians were there. It’s been a long time since I felt so nervous in a car.

Anyhow, we managed to reach the primary school.

Diepsloot West Primary School

Compared to the old houses in the neighborhood, this primary school looked really good, as may be expected of public school.

I guess they have just built the school buildings.

They looked quite new.

School is on a winter vacation now. Children were playing football in the courtyard as a holiday program, with teachers working as referees.

You can see the houses in township all around behind the courtyard.

I greeted the teacher I had contacted before, asking him to gather children.

I brought five soccer balls I had bought at shopping center before.

I asked these children in English if they knew which country this blue uniform represented. They energetically answered all at once, “Japan!!”.

Before the start of World Cup, local people didn’t know well about Japanese national team. I was even asked by a cashier at a supermarket, “Where are you from? Japan? Well, is Japan in the World Cup?” But now, many people, seeing this blue uniform, speak to me, saying “Japan, Japan”

So, I realized again that Japanese national team had achieved a great thing. Enormous is the impact of advancing to the final 16.

I was surrounded by children eager to play football.

The newspaper journalist wanted to take a photo with me handing a soccer ball over the children.

500 yen from each T-shirt sale has led to smile of these children.

A teacher said, “Quite a few children growing up in a poor family are led into delinquency. If they have something they can commit themselves to, such as football, they should get on the right track. Thank you for helping us to organize such environment.

Finally, we took a group photo.

I showed them the Japanese way of taking a picture: “Piece!!”

I hope one of them will become a national team member of South Africa in the future.

The article of this charity appeared on the local news section in evening edition of Nihon Keizai Shimbun on July 3rd.

The headline is “Passing soccer balls to children in South Africa. Japanese supporters keep mingling with local people”. This article was covered extensively with a picture. Since this is the past newspaper, it may be impossible to get it in the store. But if you happen to subscribe the evening version of Nihon Keizai Shimbun, please take a look.

Anyway, as a part of this charity, Ken visited Bangkok in Thailand last May. Ken gave the collected donation to Yutaka Aihara, who is in charge of organizing soccer school for children in Bangkok. This donation was used for making training bibs. He sent us some of the pictures.

Middle: Yutaka Aihara, who organizes soccer school in Bangkok.

You can see the catch-phrase of this charity: “Football Unites the World”.

You can also see the letters in Japanese above the uniform number, which means “traveling all over the world with football” in Japanese.

If you agree with the idea of this charity, please purchase this T-shirt through the URL below.

About purchase of T-shirts: http://www.libero2010.net/store

If you're inconvenient with the language, please e-mail us directly.

They are worth buying as a reminder of this 2010 South Africa World Cup, as the national flags of 32 countries which joined the World Cup are printed on the front of this T-shirt.

In this journey, this is the last opportunity for us to give soccer balls to underprivileged children. However, we will have chance to travel overseas in the future, where we continue this kind of charity.

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Never forget Samurai's Spirits!!

2010-07-04T23:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, guys! This is Ken.

Five days have passed since the game against Paraguay.
We're finally getting ourself under control.

So, I'd like to review the game today.
In order to cheer you up, I'll post some beauties' pictures,too!

On that day, we arrived at Loftus Versfelt Stadium in Pretoria 3 hours before the game!

I've recovered from the cold that I caught right after the game against Denmakk and put on a mask just in case.

Ayaya, who lives together with us, is in the left.

Gan-San is in the right.

Around the venue, I was really surprised by a number of non-Japanese supporters of Japan.

In the last three preliminary matches, I saw a few non-Japanese supporters.
But, I guess the number has increased sharply today!

The young people're wearing Judo costumes.

We couldn't understand the weird Japanese characters they put on their backs.

I don't think Japanese national team played elegantly in the preliminary matches.

But the fact that Japan won has increased the number of Japanese supporters.
That reminded us of the importance of winning as a sport game.

Look. Besides us, the people made their own Samurai armors!

I guess this guy's appearance seems to be far from a Samurai.

But who cares?

The painting of Japanese characters on his head might have been done by a Japanese. It's so natural!

As usual, we've never stop finding beauties!!

She is a campaign girl for Hyundai, which is one of the sponsors.

A Latin beauty wearing a Paraguay jersey.

Here we go! She is the representative of our country!

This hot Japanese woman's name is Yuko Watanabe.

Her Japanese blog is here.

They're also Japanese supporters.

We met them at Japan vs. Denmark game, too.

These cute girls are also indispensable to the festival!

This match flag was designed by Katsuhiko Hibino, who is a very famous artist in Japan. Katsuhiko is also known as a big soccer fan.

Wish Japan could have made it to the quarter final.

Now that Japanese Honda has become a world-well known player.

She is an Russian beauty cheering for us!

Wow, the Japanese flag looks happy!

Another sexy representative of Japan!

Not only the beauties but also many non-Japanese people were rooting for Japan from the bottom of their hearts, chanting "Nippon! Nippon!".

This is totally unusual situation, isn't it?

I've seen many games of Japanese national team in foreign soils.

But I've never experienced cheering for them with such a lot of local people!

When I watched Beijing Olympic, most of the Chinese people turned against us because of our historical relationship. I was so sad.

Throughout the 4 games, Japanese supporters made an great effort to be accepted in the local people.

I think Japanese national team's achievement is not the only reason for it.

In that sense, we Japanese supporters also learned a lot from this World Cup.

So, I still wish Japan had made advance to the quarter final because that would have made a much stronger impression to the local people.

As for the game, we Japanese supporters gathered around the back side seats on the first floor.

Our cheering must have reached the Japanese players during the game.

In a Japan's attacking, Nagatomo, a Japanese defender, gestured us to make more noise during the game.

It brought us a feeling of unity with the players!

It's Okada Flag, which is put up before the game.

It is what it looks like under the flag.

During the preliminary rounds, we Japanese supporters were separated into many groups. But at this time, they became a unit!

We held each other round the shoulders to sing the national anthem of Japan and to cheering the penalty shooting out.

In the extra playing time, they made a circle including all the staffs.

After all, our dream of making into quarter final didn't come true.

A lot of supporters were crying over the shocking defeat after the penalty kick.

But we're proud of our national team's hard working.

That's why we were connected emotionally to them.

At the same time, I've been filled with a sense of loss as we're no longer a participant of the festival.

In a moment of cool-headed, rational thought, I realize that the Japan's defeat deserve it.

It is true that I wanted to see them against Spain, but it's also the fact that Japan was not good enough to overcome Paraguay.

Considering the fact that Japanese team has been welcomed by the public in spite of the coach's reckless goal setting, which was to make it into semi final, and they ended up in the knock out round, we might have realize the reality of our national team. That is, Japan was not capable of achieving the goal.

However, everyone must agree that they made their 100 percent efforts enough to touch the people.

The players also must have learned that more supporters would come to stadiums if they play in the same manner in J League, too.

Our nation's challenge has finished, but the World Cup still continues.

Strong sides such as Brazil or Argentina have lost at the quarter finals.

This means it's so tough even for them to make into the semi final.

Although German, which has a strong team tactic, doesn't have star players, they're playing in semi final.

I think Japan could learn something from them in one or another.

The festival will continue.

It's a week away to the final.

So, we still gonna have a great time here in south Africa!

We will enjoy this festival from 32 different perspectives!!

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No future, no past. Not lost.

2010-07-01T02:01:00.000-07:00

Hi, all.

I don't know what to say.

I've spent two nights since the lost game against Paraguay.
But still can't accept the reality.

It's true that the World Cup has not finished yet nor my life.
But our national team has lost.

I'm not in the mood of talking about the future.

Their defeated left a great void in my life.
I don't know how to overcome it.

I spent the whole 2 years on this round-the-world journey, which includes the
preliminary period for the trip.

My public statement is that our trip to 32 countries would enrich and dramatize the viewers' recognition toward those countries.

But I've always concerned with Japanese national team.

Now that I lost it.
That indicates "the end" of our journey, although it's still 10 days to go to the end of the comp.

During our trip, my fellow Japanese supporters would cheer me up whenever I felt down after the defeated games.

Just give me a while to get over this.

Now I can't feel to say "OK, let's get into the business! Today I will show you some pics of beauties from the game against Paraguay."

Thank you for your understanding.

Regards,
Atsushi.

Libero’s Lucky Costumes

2010-06-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hi! Ken here.

I got a high fever of 39.5℃　here in Johannesburg where the altitude is 1500m and it is hard to even boil water.

Finally my temperature went down to normal yesterday, and I am getting ready for the Japan vs. Paraguay game tomorrow.

But I am still a bit under the weather, so I am resting at home today.

I ended up never finding out whether I have the flu or the measles.
Even though my temperature went down, it’s not something that heals quickly.

Thank you all for your kind and encouraging messages!

Now, I’m going to show you my three treasured costumes.
With these lucky charms, Japan can beat Paraguay.

First of all, here is my familiar samurai armor, which I am wearing in the picture of the main page of this blog.

I think that most Japanese supporters have seen it on the blog or on TV.

This is what is looks like before I put it on.

It’s plastic, so it’s lighter than you may think.

This samurai armor was made for us (Libero) by Tsun-san who is the head of the “Samurai Topknot Supporters” who was at the Olympics in Bejiing to cheer on Japan.

He brought the armor to South Africa for us from Japan!

I’ve heard that Tsun-san has not only been on TV in South Africa, but has also appeared on some Japanese infotainment shows. Great job!

On the right side of the chest is “Baka-tono”,

a character from a very famous Japanese comedy show.

On the left side is the JFA (Japan Football Association) emblem.

Did you know that it is pretty hard to put on?

I’ve worn this twice, and Japan has won both times!

(*I didn’t wear it to the Japan vs. Netherlands game in Durban, because it
was too far away from our “home” to wear it.)

So, I am going to wear it to the Japan vs. Paraguay game in Pretoria.
I will do whatever it takes to win the game!

Here’s my next costume:

The “Score Prediction Hat”!

I heard it was shown quite often on TV in Japan too.
I wore the “Score Prediction Hat” showing 3-0 to the Japan vs. Cameroon game…and Japan won 1-0.

Being humble, I wore the hat with 1-0 to the Japan vs. Netherlands game, and Japan ended up losing by that score.

At the Japan vs. Denmark game, the prediction was 3-0, and if the Dutch didn’t score that PK, it would have been right on.

So, the hat stays at 3-0 for the Japan vs. Paraguay game.
I will do whatever it takes to win the game!

And last but not least…
This t-shirt is what I wear under my samurai armor and Japan national team uniform.

A HONDA t-shirt.

I tried to take a cool picture of me wearing this shirt, but look, I am wearing slippers! I guess I still must be feeling a little under the weather.

I bought it from a Japanese website before going to see Honda play in the Russian football league.

I’m going to bring these three costumes to the game.
I’m going to get my health up to par as much as possible and then head off to the battlefield.

Wish me luck! Wish Japan luck!

We assume that Japan will win, so I’ve put Spain and Portugal flags on my hat.

Finally, before I go, I’ve got a favor to ask all of you. Put on something blue, anything blue, and cheer for Japan!

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Miss World Cup: Spain vs Chili

2010-06-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

Hello. This is Atsushi.

I watched the game Spain vs Chili on 25th June at Pretoria.

As I mentioned before, my boddy Ken downed.
So I took to the field with another Samurai.

Now, I'll show some Latina beautiful women from Spain and Chili!

Latina women like to dance to "WAKA WAKA" the FIFA official song.

I guess there are more Chili supporter than Spanish at the stadium.

We're both throwing a deuces.

These are very energetic kids.

Their faces are completely painted.

This is the 10th memorial game I've seen in South Africa.

15 days have passed since the commencement of the comp. On average, we've watched two games per three days. What a overburdened schedule.

For this reason, Ken and I have fallen sick.

As a proverb goes, "He that wants health wants all."

I will take care of my body, too.

I saw some Japanese supporters.

One of them was wearing this.

Look at the emblem.

The date and place are embedded.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the game Japan vs Denmark is the best game in the past our World Cup history. I think this blue jersey become a treasure for him!

The crowd in the stadium saw me wearing blue jersey and said, "Congratulations!" many times.

They plastered me with praise saying, "Well done!!" or "Fantastic free kick!!"

I'm really happy about being on the victorious side!

Anyway, looking after our bodies, we cancelled the trip to Durban and decided to rest up till the next Samurai's game against Paraguay on this Tuesday!!

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Miss World Cup!: Japan vs Denmark

2010-06-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

Ayoba! This is Atsushi.
Ayoba is "good" in the local language in South Africa.

First, let me show down the film from the last Samurai's game against Denmark!

This must be a historical game ever!
We supporters got so excited about their winning!
Take a look at it!!

Now let's get into business!

On my way, we met white women painting their faces.

They are from South Africa.

They were really friendly and painted my face, too.

The next woman is a supporter of Denmark.

I'm wearing a Danish wig.

It's hard to tell which side she's in.

I took some pictures of Japanese women.
But they don't like being posted here. Unlucky.

By the way, my partner Ken downed after the game.
He caused high fever (39 ℃).

I'm afraid he's not back by the next game against Paraguay.

Please cheer him up!

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Match Report: Japan vs. Denmark –Japan advances to the knockout round!

2010-06-25T15:47:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Japan! This is Atsushi.

Japan beat Denmark 3-1, and advanced to the knockout round for the first time on foreign soil!

I was there at the stadium when Japan made history!
I’m so proud that I was there to see history being made.

I’ll send some video from the match later, but first of all I’ll upload some pictures from this memorable day!

We arrived in Rustenburg while it was still light out, and were interviewed by Fuji TV, a Japanese major TV network.

Second from the right is Mr. Omura of Fuji TV

We were interviewed by the same reporter 4 years ago at the World Cup in Germany.

Here’s a photo of us with some Denmark supporters near the stadium.

I borrowed a Viking hat for this pic.

When we got to the stadium, we bumped into Japan national team’s defender Nagatomo’s sister again.

Nagatomo’s brother was also there, so we all took a photo together.

Nagatomo’s brother is in the middle, his sister is 2^nd from the left.

I told Nagatomo’s sister that we got several hundred thousand hits on our blog. She was really surprised.

The pictures after the game are much better, so let’s fast-forward to the end of the game.

The man of the match, Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow) came over alone to salute the crowd.

After letting out a triumphant yell, us supporters took a picture together.

We took a photo with the “bowling pin” supporters,

who are popular with the locals.

I twitted that the “bowling pins” had gone home, but it seems that just the people inside went home, and they passed on their costumes to their friends.

A picture of all of us.regular supporters

It’s hard to believe this is South Africa! We’re here with our fellow supporters who we see all the time in Japan. We all came in different ways under different circumstances, but still, we are all here!

A photo with my buddy Ken. Libero is celebrating Japan’s advance to the knockout round.

Our supporter friend Ebi-san who we only see at away games, always has a great flag. This once says “First we get through to the knockout round .We’re not going home to Japan yet!”

Here’s a photo with a supporter of Endo.

He scored a great goal this game!

A photo explaining this game’s result.

Royal Bafokeng Stadium was so quiet after the game

The game ended at 10:30 local time. We headed off for our home 130km away, and finally arrived at 3am.

Since we’re going to see Spain vs. Chile tomorrow, I thought I should sleep, but I realized that the supporters in Japan pulled an all-nighter to see the game, so I stayed up as well to write my blog entry.

Now it’s 6am in South Africa, so I’m going to go to sleep. Tomorrow I’ll post the videos, and Ken will post the “Miss World Cup” blog.

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Spreading our wings around the world!!

2010-06-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

What's up? This is Ken.

As our national team's challenging the world, we Libero also appeal ourselves internationally.

At this moment, our global expansion projects are as follows.

1, Interviewed by SABC concerning FIFA Word Cup 2010!

We were interviewed by South African national broadcast station SABC.

2, Tracked down by CNN!

http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/play/tracking-down-japans-no1-fans-514393

We were interviewed by CNN.
Things like this just happen.

We took advantage of this to publicize Libero Cafe and this blog.

Libero cafe is open over night so that you can watch the World Cup even in midnight.

About 100 seats have already been reserved for the game Japan vs Denmark.

3, Internationalized "Football Unites the World" blog.

Did you know that this blog is originated in Japanese language blog?

If you understand Japanese, check this out!

http://ameblo.jp/libero2010/

Thankfully, one of my friends Nishijo, who I met in Australia, is putting a great effort in establishing this English language blog.

Staying in Australian, Nishijo is also reporting how Aussies're going with World Cup in his blog.

http://ameblo.jp/yakimareds22/entry-10566942894.html

During the World Cup, timely translation is given in corresponding with our Japanese blog.

At the same time, the past archives are also enriched .

I'd like you to inform your friends of our fanatic traveling!!

Thank you.

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Miss World Cup!: Spain vs Honduras

2010-06-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

Good evening! This is Ken.

Last night, we went to the match Spain vs Honduras.

My parter Atsushi got in a trouble. He gonna report by himself in another place.

Tonight, I gonna host the Miss World Cup, which has been recognized these days!

There were many supporters wearing red jersey in the stadium.
I saw a few Honduras supporters, too.

I took a shot of a guy this time.

【Spain Supporters】

【Honduras Supporters】

【None of the above】

There are many Chinese people as well in the stadium.

They are dancing to the FIFA official song "WAKA WAKA"

《For those in Tokyo》

Are you in Tokyo now? Then just go to "Libero Cafe" to watch the games.
Libero Cafe is equipped with 5 big screens and a sophisticated sound device.
An accommodation facility is also available near the cafe.

Location: 1-14-1Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo and will be open daily 11am-11 pm. Entrance is ¥500 from 11am-6pm and ¥1,000 from 6pm until the end of the last game. For more information, call (03) 6322-4786.

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Come to Libero cafe’s “Public Morning” for Japan vs. Denmark match!!!

2010-06-22T04:45:00.000-07:00

Hi, this is Ken.

Every team has already had two games in each group tournament.

From now on, it will get a lot harder for each team, as the third game will decide their fate: a winner or loser, heaven or hell.

Some teams can still keep playing; others have to go.

At the same time, start time are changed. No games will kick off at 20:30 (Japan time) like that game of Japan against Netherland.

It will be either 23:00 or 3:30 a.m.

At Libero Cafe, supporters are excited!

I guess people in Japan are really looking forward to the match, Japan vs. Denmark, but it kicks off at 3:30 a.m. and finishes at 5:30 in the morning…

I know it’s difficult to go out to see the game at that late time on weekday.

There would be only few bars open until that time, and even if there are, you have to think about how to get there, how to get back home.

You don’t like being forced to leave a bar at 5:30 in the early morning.

But, the game against Denmark is very important, as it decides whether Japan will advance to the final 16.

Samurai Japan will play with the Japanese spirit, Yamato-Damashii.

In South Africa, I’ve heard a supporters’ voice: “We do want to get together to cheer for Samurai Japan, but it’s going to be a problem to scream with excitement very early in the morning at someone’s place”

OK…

“Let’s do it!!!”

Libero Cafe in Toranomon will open until very late at night for the match, Japan vs. Denmark!!

The cafe has five big screens.

Furthermore, we’ve tied up with “Astil SHIMBAASHI”, making a special deal. Astil SHIMBAASHI is located seven-minute walk from the cafe and offers spa and sauna facilities.

Astil Shimbashi, the clean and comfortable place, will make you relaxed.

This hotel is in Toranomon, one of business areas in Tokyo, so taking advantage of this location, you can take a rest at Astil Shimbashi or Libero Cafe after the late-night game, and go to work in the morning. This is going to be a new soccer viewing style.

I name it “Public Morning”!!!

※Did you get it? It’s a play on words! Public Viewing and Public Morning…hahaha

Print out the image below, and bring it to Libero cafe to get it stamped; then you can get 20 % discount at astil Shimbashi!!

Print out this image and bring it to Libero Cafe.

You can get 20% discount on the total amount of charge.

These are just some examples, but look!!! You can use these plans at relatively low prices!!

Staying Course (18:00〜10:00) ¥4,700 ⇒ ¥3,760

Morning Course (4:00〜9:00) ¥2,000 ⇒ ¥1,600

Speed Course (60 minutes) ¥1,500 ⇒ ¥1,200

Well, now you don’t have to be bothered by thinking about your last train or where to go before and after the match, and can cheer for Samurai Japan at Libero Cafe without any concern!!

Not only Japanese but also non-Japanese who happen to be in Tokyo should take most of this great opportunity to enjoy the night!

※ Astill Shimbashi has a women-only entrance, so ladies can also stay at this secure and comfortable hotel.

※ Needless to say, you are welcome to stay at Libero Cafe and take a rest after the game.

A lot of supporters came to the cafe for the game, Japan vs. Netherland!

For booking and any inquiries, please contact below.

There are still some seats available!!

【Reservation and Inquiries】

〈Libero Cafe〉

Address: Yusei Fukushi Kotohira Bldg., 1st Floor, 1-14-1, Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Station: Tokyo Metro, Toranomon sta./ Tameike-sanno sta./ Kasumigaseki sta./ Uchisaiwaicho sta.

Tel: 03-6322-4786

Email: liberocafe2010@gmail.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/liberocafe

Opening hours: 11:00〜23:00 (can be subjected to variation), *opens from 21:00 on 11 June

※ The cafe will open when there is an important game such as Japanese one. Please contact the cafe for further information.

Capacity: about 130 seats

Entrance Fee:

11:00〜18:00 ¥500

18:00〜23:00 ¥1,000 ※ in the event of Japanese match, ¥2,000

※The cafe was introduced on Yahoo News!

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Japan vs the Netherlands – what a close game!

2010-06-21T16:39:00.000-07:00

Hi! Atsushi here!

As you all already know, Japan lost to the Netherlands by a narrow margin of 0-1.

Japan put up a great fight, and the game was so close!

After the final whistle was blown, all of us Japan supporters in the stadium were so frustrated, we didn’t know what to do.

After that match, I totally didn’t feel like writing my blog. I was so wiped out and drowned my disappointment with some drinks.

On the bright side of things, the final score of the other Group E game was Denmark 2, Cameroon 1, which means that even if Japan only manages to tie Denmark in the final game of the group stage (June 24), they will make it through to the final 16. So, overall, the close result was important to Japan.

With the chance to make it to the final 16, all of us Japan supporters are gonna leave our disappointment of our loss behind, and think positively about our next game against Denmark.

Anyway, sorry for the delay….hope you understand.

Take a look at all or our pictures from the Japan vs. Holland game.

The game was played in Durban, a resort area of South Africa. Durban is only an hour plane ride from our “home” in Johannesburg. In just one hour, we travelled from the freezing cold of Johannesburg to a sunny 25 degrees, which seemed like paradise to us.

It’s bright and sunny like California!

Today I’m going to the stadium with my supporter

friends Sho-kun (center) and Ji-tsu(right).

Here I am with the Dutch supporters.

I’m so excited about the game coming up!

The event space outside of the stadium was full or people dressed in orange!

Durban Stadium, probably the most beautiful

of all 10 stadiums in the World Cup.

Everyone is hyper excited!

…and even more excited inside the stadium!!!

I’ve heard that you can bungee jump from the top of the stadium,

which also has an observation area.

The Dutch supporters are known throughout the world as the one of the most unique dressed.

This guy could be in the “Orangeman”show;

Here’s a guy growing Dutch tulips from his helmet.

Japan’s supporters are just as uniquely dressed as the Dutch.

Look at this Japanese guy with “Licca-chan” dolls on his helmet!

We know this frequent flyer as he travelled with us to Indonesia in 2009 for the Asian Cup. We call this trip “The Miracle of Palembang”. At our stop in Singapore during our travels to the 32 countries competing in the World Cup, we even went to a “maid café” together.

Some local beauties also cheered for Japan.

See “Miss World Cup” for more!

By the way, did you know that there are a lot of Indian immigrants who live in Durban?

We bumped into a Japanese comedian, Hirabata-san of “Dondokodon”, whom usually we see in the J-league post-game show in Japan

This Japan fan outdid our handmade samurai costumes with his unique outfit!

After finishing our “supporter-watching”, we went up to our seats.

It was almost hot enough to wear bathing suits to the stadium.

Check out “Miss World Cup” to see the hot girls!

We were so excited and up-beat before the game.

I did my hair in a samurai-like ponytail.

(Remind you of the Turkish national Ilhan?)

Let’s eat up the Oranges!

A picture for our album with Tsun-san, head of the samurai group.

There must have been about 5000 Japanese supporters, definitely more than those at the Japan vs. Cameroon game.

However there must have been about 20,000 Dutch supporters.

Even a lot of the locals at the stadium were dressed in orange.

Here I am with my “Let’s Travel around the world watching football” flag.

Supporters passed up a huge Japan flag (Hinomaru)

through the back stands before the game

As usual, I won’t go into detail about the game.
Now I’m going to focus on Japan’s next game against Denmark.

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Miss World Cup!: Japan vs Netherland

2010-06-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

How are you doing, guys? This is Ken.

It's been 2 days since the Japan's lost game against Netherlands.
It was so disappointing but it's time to reboot our mindset!

Alright, let's get down to business.

I'm glad to show you some good-looking girls from the game!

【Netherlands supporters】

The brilliant sun shine makes girls more beautiful than I saw them in Netherlands.

【Japanese Supporters】

The local people in Durban rooted for us as well as Japanese.

【None-of-the-above】

It was so nice weather that some were wearing swimming suits.

In the next time, we are reporting Latin beauties from the game Spain vs Honduras.

Please check the past gallery, too !

Argentina vs Korea

Brazil vs North Korea

Japan vs Cameroon

Argentina vs Nigeria

South Africa vs Mexico

Match report: Argentina VS Korea

2010-06-18T01:41:00.000-07:00

Hi, this is Ken!

It’s been just one week since the World Cup started.

I’m having so much fun here. I do feel time flies.

The other day, we had a chance to have dinner with Toshiya Miura, the coach of J-League club Vissel Kobe.

He was so generous as to let us take a picture together and give us a permission to upload the picture on this website.

We are so happy about it!

Taking with him, I could feel his intelligence. I think such a coach will lead Japanese football in the future.

He came to South America as a NHK commentator on World Cup.

And he will commentate on the game of Korea against Argentina.

It is not exaggeration to say that Korea is the number one team in Asia.

We went to Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, where the opening game was held.

It was the afternoon game, which started at 13:30 local time.

For a few days, it’s been unusually cold in Johannesburg and its vicinity.

But we took seats in the sun, so we could watch the game in T-shirts, taking off long-sleeved clothes as well as down jackets.

On the contrary, it was very cold in the main stand which was in the shade.

A guy who watched the game there told me he needed his gloves.

So, in going to see the game here, we need to consider these temperature differences and prepare clothes for both hot and cold weather.

On taking a seat, I was very surprised to find that a man sitting next to me was the one who had also sat next to me in the game of Brazil against North Korea!!

He talked to me, “I know you. You were sitting next to me the day before yesterday, weren’t you?”

Sure I was. It was the game at Ellis Park Stadium. I clearly remembered him because he was cheering for North Korea loudly. And we had a chat a little bit at that time.

What a coincidence!!

We bought a ticket individually, and there were as many as 80,000 people in the stadium!!

After a while, I found that he also works as a freelance consultant. We were getting to know each other well, and he treated me to a coke!!

He is cheering for Korea today. Why on earth is he doing this?

He asked me, “Which team are you cheering for?”

I answered, “Well, I’ll go Korea as the same Asian.

He said, “You must be kidding! The English never cheer for Scotland!!”

But actually, I wouldn’t be really happy if Korea should win the game. This is because beating Argentina means Japan’s eternal rival would make a breakthrough to surprise the whole world.

I had an ambivalent feeling: don’t lose, but don’t win… Maybe, a draw sounded fair enough.

By the way, Atsushi cheered for Korea, as he had many Korean friends.

In the stadium, there were many Korean supporters who wore striking “red devils”. Korean supporters showed their presence, though they were outnumbered by Argentina supporters.

A huge Korean national flag.

I don’t know why, but they were cheering for Korea.

I saw many Korean beautiful women. Take a look at “Miss World Cup －Korea－” here.

During the game, Argentina supporters were being really excited. The final result was 4-1. After the game, they looked calm and composed in such an overwhelming victory.

Even though I didn’t feel like cheering for Korea from the bottom of my heart, I did feel disappointed at their loss as the same Asian. It’s complicated.

By the way, as you can see a picture above, we got limited-version T-shirts from “Tokyo Airlines” Project, which I agree with their ideas.

They work under the concept of “Travel more!!” and “Travel cool!!”.

They’ve made “cool Japan T-shirts” for South Africa World Cup.

Back side of the T-shirt.

They put their hope into this T-shirt that supporters who have no choice but to give up coming to South Africa as well as those who can make it to see the game in South Africa could enjoy the World Cup.

In the front side, they put the letters of “Tokyo” and “Hinomaru Japan”; in the back side, a puma with the same color as the national flag in South Africa. Wearing this T-shirt, let’s get along with South Africans.

Personally, this is not a product with classical image of “Samurai” or “Geisya”, but a cool and fashionable Japanese product.

Please check out the website below. You can buy this T-shirt on this website.

（http://www.tokyoairlines.jp/）

Front

Back: A puma is the one of the five biggest animals in South Africa. (Big5)

Argentina’s striker Higuaín, who hadn’t played well in the previous game, scored a hat trick today. Maradona’s tactics might have worked very well.

Well, I am relaxing in Johannesburg today, and tomorrow I will move to Durban, where the game of Samurai Japan against Netherlands is to be held.

The wait is over. It's a Korean beauty!!

2010-06-17T22:03:00.000-07:00

Hello, this is Atsushi.

I know you've been waiting so long.

It's a show time!

I took a photo of a Korean beauty at the game Argentina vs Korea.

The traffic jam was so heavy that we got in the stadium just 10 min before the game.

I didn't have enough time to walk around to find beauties during the game.

So I took only one shot during 15 min half time.

Next time, I promise you to get more.

Maybe, I should make an effort in a different way.

Firstly, it's an appetizer.

How lovely boys!

Vuvuzela-shaped costume. It's novel.

South Africa is said to be an insecure place. But I saw many families accompanied by children.

Now, let's get into the main dish!!

Today, I took a photo of a Korean young girl.

She is so lovely ! Is deuce popular in Korea?

The rumor is that she was on air world wide.

She seems to be very young. Is she a high school student? Could be a middle school student.

I'll vote for her if she were a member of AKB48.

Next time, I will go to the game Netherlands vs Japan to find beauties!

Match report: Brazil VS North Korea

2010-06-17T18:25:00.001-07:00

Hi! This is Atsushi.

Before writing my report about the Brazil vs. North Korea game, I will upload the video footage of the Japan vs. Cameroon game. (sorry for the delay).

I captured on film the Japanese fans triumphing over their victory after the whistle was blown to end the game.

My shouts of joy were also captured on the video…..so please make sure to turn the volume down before playing it.

I want to film the same reactions of joy after the Japan vs. Holland game!

Let’s go back to June 15th.

The day after celebrating Japan’s victory in Bloemfontein with some drinks, we headed off for Johannesburg by car.

During our trip, I was moved by the blue sky and distance of the horizon.

The sky was so beautiful that we couldn’t resist stopping the car to get out and take a few pictures.

It seemed like the sky was blue like Japan’s uniform color,
to celebrate the victory of “Samurai Blue” with us.

We made the 500km journey in 5 hours driving on the highway.
We didn’t stop at our “home”, and just continued on to Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg to watch the Brazil vs. North Korean game.

The kickoff was at 8:30pm local time, long after sunset.
According to the official weather records, it was only 3 degrees…it was freezing cold!!!

We entered the stadium about 1 hour before the kickoff. Thirty minutes before the kickoff, we noticed some trouble at the entrance gates.

When we went over to check, we realized something unheard of was happening.

Look at the long line of supporters waiting at the entrance gates!

How unbelievable!

It seemed that there was a power blackout in part of the stadium, and the ticket bar-code scanners were not working.

Because of this, many supporters with tickets couldn’t get into the stadium!!!

An angry supporter tried to climb over the gate.

The power blackout problem was fixed in about 10 minutes, so the worst-case scenario was prevented.

Was this incident reported on the news in your country??

The large screens on one side of the stadium were kept off,
perhaps to avoid another power blackout.

Now I’d like to show you some interesting supporters we found in the crowd.

This is a very original flag. Should it be called “Braz-Korea”?

The overall top scorer in the World Cup, Ronaldo, also came to see the game.

I found a North Korean supporter!!

… I thought he was North Korean, but when I talked to him in English, I found out that he was a Vietnamese living in South Africa.

Our seats were in the back stand, from which we could see some people dressed in the North Korean red colors next to the press seats in the main stand.

During halftime, we made my way over to the main stand to try to find some beautiful girls to photograph for our column “Beautiful Girls of the World Cup”

After managing our way past the usual ticket check, we got through to the main stand, and what we saw were…

A group of elder men only… ＿|￣|○

I thought, it’s too bad I didn’t find any beautiful girls, but it would be a valuable experience to take a photo with the North Korean supporters anyway.

So I asked them one by one “Can I take a picture with you?” in English.
Unfortunately, I was turned down. (-∀-;)

Everyone said “No! No!” and shooed me away. What great defensive skills by the North Koreans!

However I didn’t give up trying, and finally I found someone who was happy to take a picture with me.

When I asked him “Can I take a picture together?” he answered:

”OK, of course! Are you Japanese?” (in fluent Japanese!!)

I was so surprised that he answered me in fluent Japanese. After talking with him for a while, I found out that he was a North Korean resident of Japan!

He was very friendly. He said that he came to South African to cheer for Jong Tae Se (a North Korean resident of Japan who plays for a team in the Japanese professional soccer league).

We were very happy to get a chance to meet both Brazilian and North Korean supporters;

Like always, I won’t go into details about the game.

Jong Tae Se (nicknamed “Asian Rooney” shed tears during the playing of the national anthem before the game.

He almost made me cry too.

He’s one of the top players in the Japanese league, and plays so hard for his team, so I hope that he can score a goal in the World Cup.

Tomorrow (June 17 ^th) I’m going to see Argentina vs. North Korea!!

We shall never forget the victory song in June, 2010.

2010-06-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

How’s it going? This is Ken.

Well, victory brings us happiness, doesn’t it?

Looking back, it was the first time for me to see the Samurai Japan win a game in World Cup, though I have been watching World Cup Games at the stadium since 1998 FIFA World Cup in France.

*Japan did win the games against Russia and Tunisia in 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan, but I couldn’t get the tickets to see them.

Anyway, winning is important.

It seemed that Japan belatedly started to enjoy the World Cup boom.

We only knew it through the news, as we are not in Japan.

I’m glad to hear that people in Japan are getting excited about the World Cup anyhow.

So, this is what we Libero did yesterday: we watched the Japanese game in South Africa last night!!

Let’s get into the battlefield with “Samurai Blue Armors” on!!

We’ve made them in Japan.

Under the blue sky, coke is quenching my thirst.

A samurai is walking beside a sign: “Watch out for a soccer ball”.

This street lighting in the road divider represents “Vuvuzela”.

On the way, we run into a Cameroon supporter.

I wear a hat decorated with the score 3-0.

We dared to expect Japan would beat Cameroon 3-0.

There is a large shopping center near the stadium, and a lot of Japanese supporters can be seen in the restaurant area.

Depending on time and place, we can have such a peaceful moment.

There are many Cameroon supporters as well.

And, we join a main unit of Japanese supporters with Samurai Armors on.

They came all the way from Japan just to see this game.

Samurai armor of mine has also been carried from Japan by air.

This unit consists of 15 samurai supporters!!

I’ve heard that they were mentioned

in one of the articles in this morning’s Yomiuri.

Just before getting into the stadium, we happen to see Mr. Fukunishi, a former member of the national team.

Wait, he looks a little different in this picture.

So, let’s get into the stadium with the Samurai Blue Armors on.

Samurai Blue Armors look great against the blue sky.

Beat the Cameroon!!

In the meantime, Japanese and Cameroon players appear in the field, accompanied by the FIFA anthem.

Samurai Japan puts spirit into themselves with their arms around each other.

The opening game of Samurai Japan has finally kicked off!!

It’s 4 p.m. local time, the beautiful evening in the stadium.

Anyway, Keisuke Honda, who made an invaluable goal, has brought us this historic victory.

He is way too awesome!!

Last September, on our all-around-world journey, we visited Netherland, and interviewed him.

If you don't understand Japanese, please ask your Japanese friends.

Well, let’s move on to the game last night.
We will leave the game itself to the media; instead, we are telling you what was going on in the stands during the game.

Ｌook at his face!! We are cheering for Samurai Japan with excitement like this.

Nippon!!

And, after the game...

Hearing the final whistle which indicated our impressive victory, all players of Samurai Japan came right in front of the stand to greet us. I cannot forget their faces full of happy smiles.

Many supporters were crying from the bottom of their heart, including me.

During the half time, Japan was leading Cameroon by one goal.

The slogan among Japanese supporters was: “Be cool. Don’t get too excited until winning the game.”

This is because it reminded us of a bitter memory in the first match in German World Cup four years ago.

Syunsuke Nakamura got an opening goal, and in the last fifteen minutes of the second half, we were overly excited to see Japan winning the game, and Japan yielded three points in a row. It was as if we had fallen into the hell.

If we get too excited before we win, we will see a coming victory turning into a defeat.

Last fifteen minutes of the second half, Japanese defense kept enduring Cameroon’s offense.

A shot from midfield hit the goalpost.

We were almost hoarse for cheering.

Then, we finally heard the final whistle blown.

We can walk on the street with confidence tonight.

We don’t need to hear the other supporters saying “I’m sorry”.

This is the happiest moment ever.

We are celebrating the victory just after the game!

Atsushi and me. Libero gets really excited.

Today’s MVP should have been Nakazawa. He made no misplays today.

A picture with bowling pins

South Africans also supported Samurai Japan!!

As I mentioned in the blog talking about the game of Argentina against Nigeria, local people, especially children, are more likely to become fond of the winner. It is quite natural.

Many South Africans went back home, happily singing “Nippon, Nippon!!”

Japanese players were desperate to win the game, and at least succeeded in showing their presence.

Playing elegantly is important, but winning is the priority. It is quite natural, but this game made me realize how important it is.

They were playing with spirit. This game moved the audience.

What we got today is…

Three points!!

We took a picture with “Ninjya”, whom Atsushi played opposite to in NHK program “Nettyu Stadium”.

Cooling down, Libero left the stadium.

The stadium somehow looked beautiful.

On our way from the stadium, we found a timely sign.

This means “Honda, center forward”, doesn’t it?

Again, the result of the game:

So….what do you think?

We sometimes forget that football is fun.

But through the game yesterday, we remembered it again.

I heard that there was a great fuss in Shibuya and Roppongi. I think the last time that happened was in 2002 World Cup.

Miss Brazil and Miss Hongkong

2010-06-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

Good evening, this is Ken!

Today is the fourth day Miss World Cup.
We went to see the game Brazil vs North Korea at Johannesburg.

Atsushi will report the game in other place.

As for me, I'd like to show you some photos of BEAUTIFUL Brazilian women.

You know what, Brazil is a gold mine of beauties.

Probably, "Brazil" may remind you of SEXY women dancing to rhythmical Samba.

But, now in Johannesburg, it's just 3 degrees.
Sensible temperature could be almost 0!

That's why, the women were wearing heavy, unfortunately.

I was looking for Brazilian hotties,
but I came across a lovely Asian woman.

You know what, she is the Miss Hongkong for real,

visiting here for coverage of Hongkong broadcasting.

Also, I saw Korean mass medias.

But I could't see Miss Korea.

Ooops, I noticed it's winter in the next World Cup in Brazil, which is in Southern hemisphere.

I miss the Word Cup in Germany 4 years ago.
I was watching the games under the scorching sun.

Next, I gonna watch the game Argentina vs Korea on 17th.
I hope I see Miss Korea there!!

Follow us on Twitter !!

http://twitter.com/2010Libero

Japanese defender Nagatomo's sister

2010-06-15T02:52:00.000-07:00

Congratulations!! This is Atsushi.

We beat Cameroon!!

I was weeping with the emotion of joy after the game with Japanese supporters !!

We have devoted to this one single WINNING game!!

I'm really happy to face this historical moment in this stadium.

Moreover, I'm really thankful that I am alive !!

I hand over the baton to Ken to report the game.
Then I will show you some photos of beauties I met in the game as usual.

Anyway, I happened to meet the real sister of Nagatomo, who is a defender of the Japanese squad.

I asked her to take a photo with me and she welcomed it.

You'll never see her anywhere except on our blog.

Both of us so excited !!

I gave her my business card and said, "I'll put your photo on my blog. Please have a look at it!"

I have seen many many beautiful women during my round-the world trip.
But I like Japanese women the best !!

Then, I will show you some pics in the next game Brazil vs North Korea.

Follow us on Twitter to be updated news!!

http://twitter.com/2010Libero

Reporting the game Argentina vs Nigeria

2010-06-13T00:40:00.001-07:00

Good evening, this is Atsushi.

Today, we watched Argentina vs Nigeria at Johannesburg.

This is the parking lot. You can take a walk from here.

There are stalls around the stadium.

A box of rice with choices of some side dishes. Only US＄7. It's reasonable and yummy.

This is the stadium.

He seems to be a Japanese fan.

I saw a common Japanese family name "Abe".

Ken is twitting by iPhone.

Argentina beat Nigeria by 1-0 as I expected it.

The game finished at 18:00.

It was so cool at night.

We were heading back to the parking lot.
This is the Johannesburg downtown, which has been in world depression.

On the way back, I found a stall and got a drink.

This abnormal security is normal in here.

You might never realize the situation surrounding South Africa until you see this.

Once you go out there in the downtown, you'll see many police officers.

Many children were chanting "Argentina" to us, blowing vuvuzelas.

I like this friendly atmosphere.

I hope people cerebrate us like this after we Japanese team beat Cameroon on 14th June.

I'm sick of "Sorries" given after lost games.

Hotties in the World Cup.

2010-06-12T17:39:00.000-07:00

Good morning, this is Ken.

Last night, I went to the game Argentina against Nigeria at Johannesburg.

Yes, I know you can't wait.

Here are some beautiful women I saw there.
Have a good time!!

I could be closer to her.

Just envy his proximity.

Now, I did !!

Japanese fans asked me, "Why don't you take some of Japanese women."

Yes, of course, we will.

Then, the game of Japan will be scheduled on 14th June.

Just sit back and relax till then!!

Follow us on Twitter to be updated news!!

http://twitter.com/2010Libero

The Miss World Cup!

2010-06-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

Good evening, this is Atushi.

I know you guys like beautiful women.

So, I am going to show a bunch of pictures of them I met in South Africa.

At first, the followings are shots from the opening game South Africa vs Mexico







Please just ignore the frousy man.


All of them are supporters of South Africa.


I took some with Mexican supporter, too.
But I'm not gonna show them because of blurred images.

Anyway, the most beautiful woman I've ever met in South Africa is her.



Tomorrow, I'm gonna have shots in Argentina vs Nigeria.
Don't miss it!