14 Jul 2010(Wed)

(This article originally appeared on the Football Japan Minutecast. Listen to the audio version here, or subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here.)

 

You know what, I think I prefer winter to summer. At least, I do when it’s a sunny 19°C as opposed to an oppressive 34°C. And fresh and dry rather than so humid that a ten-minute walk to the shops will leave you soaked even if you choose one of the few days where it’s not actually chucking it down. It helps too, of course, when there are parties, songs, and football instead of… well, work.

 

I had originally intended to follow the Minutecast recorded at Uruguay versus Ghana with another at Ellis Park 24 hours later, but this was ultimately abandoned for three reasons. Firstly, as can be confirmed by the podcast intro spoken that morning, my voice was absolutely shot to pieces from Soccer City the night before. Secondly, I was still a bit gutted that we weren’t going to be seeing Japan, although I did bump into seven Japanese supporters in and around the stadium that night – including a Bulgarian girl who seemed delighted not to be the only Caucasian with the Yatagarasu on her chest. Finally, Spain against Paraguay was simply never going to compare not only to the drama and controversy of Uruguay’s penalty shootout win, but also the atmosphere of a genuinely African crowd desperate for the Ghanaians to keep the flag flying.

 

In this sense, it was almost a shame that the Soccer City experience had come on my first full day in Johannesburg. The overriding image that I shall retain from the South Africa World Cup was that of tens of thousands of locals – encompassing all races, but most strikingly whites (to whom FIFA’s latter-stage ticket prices had arguably been most targeted) – decorated in flags, shirts, and face paint representing a nation of Ghana that most will surely never have visited. The phenomenon of multinational identity is probably at least as complex when exhibited so openly as is its far subtler form in East Asia, and while enjoying Germany’s quarter-final with Argentina at the Long Bar in Braamfontein, it was equally fascinating to observe how keen the majority of our fellow punters were to see the gold trophy ‘at least stay in the Southern Hemisphere’.

 

Not that the four-letter jokes being sprouted about Europe meant that I should be seen as an intruder. On the contrary, virtually every stranger I spoke to – from street traders to one gentleman in a bar draped in an enormous Ghanaian flag who later revealed himself to hail from Cameroon – made a point of welcoming me not only to their country but to Africa. If this is how all tourists and journalists have been greeted throughout the last five weeks, it is little wonder that the negative headlines that once dominated the Western and Japanese press have long been consigned to the archives.

 

Marc Fletcher mentioned in the first of the Minutecast specials that much of this criticism had been penned by ‘people writing from their armchairs back home rather than coming out here’, and certainly, there was nothing even witnessed from afar that gave me the slightest cause for concern during the eight days in which I enjoyed Johannesburg in person. Traffic in the central business district delayed our journey to Soccer City slightly but we still arrived comfortably in time for kick-off. Those who were not so fortunate for the Germany-Spain semi-final in Durban – the one logistical incident that has affected these Finals – were apparently muscled aside by jets carrying the VIPs that had left so many seats vacant in the earlier rounds, suggesting that the problem here may lie less with the South African organisers and more with FIFA’s priorities. And any suggestion that vuzuzelas have been a blight on the tournament will curry little favour with this column, which thoroughly enjoyed blowing B-flats both at the actual matches and at a friend’s wedding reception back in Japan this past Saturday.

 

As for Japan, their elimination to Paraguay barely twelve hours before I embarked on my outward journey was both dramatic and cruel, but I stand by my ‘tweet’ posted in the glorious aftermath of that 3-1 win over Denmark that a first knockout stage appearance on foreign soil represents the finest achievement in this country’s footballing history. It was a huge relief that Takeshi Okada finally found the courage to decide that the current crop of players were not suited to 4-2-3-1 against stronger opposition, and a sheer delight to see Keisuke Honda not only sparkle on the highest stage but do so in an unfamiliar striking role that few observers – myself included – would have predicted him to fulfil. The outgoing manager deserves enormous credit for surviving the intense and often excessive condemnation thrown at him by certain naïve sections of the domestic media to lead his side to within one penalty kick of a quarter-final against eventual champions Spain.

 

The challenge for his successor will be to carry the momentum into January’s Asian Cup in Qatar and a potential guest appearance in next summer’s Copa America, while the players must prove that they can now cope in the spotlight and live up to their enhanced reputations. Honda has been linked with a host of top European clubs, while a J. League exodus has already been confirmed for Shinji Kagawa to Borussia Dortmund, Atsuto Uchida to Schalke 04, and goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima to Lierse of Belgium. Football Japan wishes them all well in their new adventures.