According to Japanese television, this goal was never scored…
I spent the better part of Monday morning hoping that one of Japan’s five main terrestrial channels would show me highlights of the previous night’s match between South Korea and France. Although all reports that I had read courtesy of the internet suggested that it was a match short on titillation, the fact that there was a goal a piece for the combatant squads led me to believe that there were at least two reels of footage worth exposing to a football hungry public.
Clearly I was mistaken in this belief, for in the two hours that I had the television on yesterday, I heard not so much the slightest mention of a match involving a nation a short plane ride away. (Indeed for many residents of western Japan, myself included, the closest capital city is not Tokyo, but Seoul.) It is strictly speaking possible that during the five minutes I was in the shower (I bathe quickly) that they managed to squeeze in all the high points of a by all accounts unmemorable game. I’m not sure that this is the case though. Morning news goes in cycles, and when all the main stories have been told, the wheel starts again, from the first point in its rotation.
Understandably most of the football related conversation (and most of the conversation was indeed football related) centred round the previous night’s scoreless draw between Japan and Croatia, and its implications for the progression of the ‘Samurai Blue’ as this World Cup squad has been monikered. Japan must not only topple Brazil, but must also hope for a favourable result in the match between Croatia and Australia. Australia will qualify for the second round with a win, but barring a Japanese annihilation of Brazil, a draw may suit the antipodeans just as well thanks to their superior goal difference after thumping three late goals past Japan in their first game of the tournament. Japan’s progression is to a large extent out of their hands, and much of the morning was spent closely analysing the possible permutations of the last two games in Group F. As a result, we were treated to the goals from the confrontation between Brazil and Australia, which had kicked off an hour after the final whistle had blown in the fixture between Japan and Croatia. The highlights were, very literally, the two goals, and nothing more. No missed shots, none of Australia’s multitude of almost goals. But, at least we, the viewing public had been able to see the goals in that match. I would have thought, that as a neighbour Korea would have generated more interest amongst the Japanese media. Either as a derby rival, or as a fellow Asian team, surely the spotlight would at some point have turned to the progress of their neighbours to the west. But no, there was no mention. Even for the sake of journalistic professionalism, it should normally be safe to assume that for an event as large as the World Cup references would be made to all the matches. Alas, it seems that I am mistaken.
