Japan's national soccer team head coach Takeshi Okada, right, and goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi shake hands with children as the team leaves South Africa at O.R. Tambo airport in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
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sakurasuki
....living on a jet plane...
wontond
Pretty sure it's leaving on a jet plane.
wontond
Good to see something that Japan can be happy about. Go Blue Samurai!
cactusJack
Great shot through the goalie net.
LostinNagoya
It's time to get prepared, if they want to do well in the next WC.
Badge213
Next stop the 2012 Olympics.
noirgaijin
To be honest the team did better than I thought they would, good for them.
Darren White
They did really well, and, is it just me, or did they manage to protect the players from being constantly hounded by the Japanese press this time ? The picture seems to suggest this. That would have a big effect ; not constantly having a mic shoved in your face and being asked "how do you feel ?" every 5 minutes...
I feel sorry for Okada ( the manager who never knowingly smiles ) No matter what he does ; getting Japan to qualify, getting them into the last 16 ; he never seems to get any credit, but gets all of the blame.
proudnippon
hold your heads high. Mr Okada has a big smile in this photograph
Smythe
Actually hope the team will keep themselves better then ever so that come possibly matches with others they will stand out as a good soccar team.
wanderlust
So much nicer than the England team sneaking out at daybreak to avoid their fans...
kisekicaroline
japan did a fantastic job at the world cup! i feel very grateful for all the players and staff.
Eyeblack
The English players didn't sneak out. They were carried from the pub straight onto the airplane.
islandview
@cactusJack
This is a photograph of the scene shown on Japan TV news as the team was leaving at the airport. That is not a goalie net in the foreground. It is a security fence, topped off with razor ribbon.
I am sure that Honda is smiling the most since he will likely come back to Japan as the 'favorite' of the media and the public.
cactusJack
I still think it is a goalie net.
GW
Yeah Honda is going to be able to make a ton of $$ since he aint owned by some J-team he can do CMs & the like & pocket the $$ without some J-team skimming most of it!
islandview
Why would there be a goalie net at an airport??
Here is another photo of this scene (click on the right arrow next to the photo in the link to see another photo), and even though the foreground is blurry, you can see the loops of razor ribbon near the top.
http://southafrica2010.yahoo.co.jp/photos/detail/20100630-00000117-jij_vanp-socc.view-000
The whole team are wearing their matching suits and ties. They may look more like Japanese salarymen than soccer players, but the look is dignified and they do appear to be smiling most of the time.
The title of the JT photo here is "Bye Now" but could also be "Bow Now" as the coach and player bow to receive the flowers from the 2 girls.
GW
its clearly a fence, all nice & straight & the re-inforcement rod in there certainly wudnt be in a net
Aska
It's pretty clear that the goalie net comment was a joke. I like it.
societymike
lol, the fact that you had to point that out makes it clear to me that most people here have no sense of humour.
I commend this team on their show of gratitude and their good sportsmanship.