Igirisu gin

So I didn't post for a long time, not because I didn't have the time, but because I am a lazy man. So after killing a couple of weeks in Japan lounging with Noriko and thoroughly enjoying spending a lot of time together, the time finally came when I had to leave.

Off to Vietnam for 15 days of sweating. As usual, the first day of travel is a numb haze, up at dawn and still digesting last nights World Cup fuelled drinking. Perhaps the strangest atmosphere I've ever seen a game; Japan vs Australia in a crowded Japanese bar with the whole room displaying a nieve exuberance. Every time the ball went anywhere near the Australian box the room exploded, even before the game I had to run the gauntlet of fans outside checking to see if I was Australian and was eventually given the honourary status of Japanese for the day.

Japan scored a lucky goal in the first half, well one of their striker's barged the goal keeper and a cross went in. The crowd cheered the roof off when it went in but there was a real lack of sportsmanship, even when the replays showed it was a clear foul noone stopped cheering or even seemed to acknowledge that it occurred.

Australia had the bulk of possession but couldn't break fast enough, looking for all the world like a team heading for defeat if it hadn't been for the introduction of Tim Cahill. He stabbed home a rebound and then curled in a peach from the edge of the penalty area.

The atmosphere was distinctly less jovial after that I can tell you. I thought most of the crowd was going to cry. It ended as a 3-1 drubbing, oh dear.

So in bed at 2am after the game, up at 5:40am. Not feeling good. No drinks for a day or two. Well, maybe tomorrow.

To be continued...

Christmas came early this year in the shape of 11 men dressed in red, no not a plethora of Santas but the mighty Liverpool Football Club. Its pretty hard to watch decent (ie European) football over here, so although I promised myself that I'd never miss it, I sometimes daydream about Match of the Day. Sad I know.

I tried anything to get my fix, even watching Japanese football, that was a big mistake. Some occasional nice touches and skill but its not surprising given that everyone has an acre of space all to themselves. Its a non-contact sport over here and quite frankly it just doesn't cut the mustard. So I was a touch excited when I found out that my team were coming over here to play in the FIFA World Club Championship. Thursday night saw Liverpool take on Deportivo Saprissa.

I prepared with military precision: beer - check, snacks - 4 kinds, beer belly - on its way. A warm glow surrounded me the whole match; Liverpool were dominant, even showboating in the second half. The beer helped too.

What really amused me was the Japanese commentry though, they had the usual sports hacks but also felt the need to include Sanma, a popular Japanese comedian. Peter Crouch, Liverpool's lanky forward, has been the butt off a lot of jokes in the English press and even the Japanese were getting in on the act!!! Its a small world after all, even if Peter isn't:

Piitaa Kuraochii is a god over here in Japan, he's 6'7" which is 202cm about 40 cm taller than the average Japanese. He banged in a superb goal after only 3 minutes and after that the commentary team could hardly contain themselves whenever the ball went near him. Classic comments included "I bet he hits his head when he gets on the train", and just to prove that football is really universal "he's got bood balance for someone so big". Fantastic. If you're a Liverpool fan you'll have heard that god knows how many times in English but in Japanese it was pure comedy.

There was lots of great Japanglish on show too: "subarashii shotto" - "wonderful shot" and the rather non-sencical "heidaa shotto" - "header".

Well thursday was another successful night for the Reds, triumphing 3-0 over some really inferior competition. You can watch the highlights, including 2 fantastic goals by clicking here.

I also stumbled upon some rather amusing before and after photos of last year's Champions League Final on the Telegraph website:

Liverpool at half time, losing 3-0 to AC Milan, boo

Huzzah! The greatest come back in a football final ever sees Liverpool win 4-3!!!! Good luck and good night.