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© 2015 AFPJapanese soccer fans turn to drink as Nadeshiko sink
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© 2015 AFP
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some14some
Whether Nadeshiko or Nikkei...Nippon goes for Nodogoshi (Kirin Beer) (!)
Richard E Semelka Jr.
Hey, second place in world cup is a very proud thing, how can any countrymen hang their heads over that? I would hope the Japan's women soccer team will get a hero's parade and welcome back!
Yubaru
Nodogoshi is definitely not beer! It may be made by Kirin but please dont call it beer. Even the cans have liqueur written on them.
Can't blame them for drowning their sorrows over a drink or two.
I agree! The women's team did a great job and the entire country should be proud, the American's were just the better team today. Nothing to be ashamed about.
Tessa
Why do they do that? Are they really fooling anyone?
Yes, I agree.
M3M3M3
Wow, what a reaction from that woman! It reminds me of the painting 'the scream' by Edvard Munch. Some people in Japan take these things way too seriously. At least it's good to see the woman in pink is able to laugh about it.
YongYang
That's the best Japanese horror film since, The Ring.
lationz
Classic. Why am I not surprised.
smithinjapan
"Japan did salvage a measure of pride, and Yuki Ogimi’s goal was replayed over and over on Japanese TV after the match, giving the impression the Nadeshiko—named after a frilly pink carnation—had won the game."
One of the many, many problems with the media here when it comes to coverage of things Japan in international forums.
As for Kataoka -- I can understand the desire to wallow in a drink after something miserable, but even for a barrista she's hitting the hooch pretty hard long before most countries even start selling drinks. She'd probably be downing the drinks just as much if Japan had won and say it's celebration. In any case all these people boozing so hard on a Monday morning?? Sheesh.
"American Katie Harding suppressed the urge to gloat."
How do they know she had an 'urge to gloat'? Why not just say she was somewhat humble? That's total misplaced feelings -- I've had more than one person ask me today, in a rather snide manner, "Are you GLAD the US won?", to which I replied that of the two teams I had hoped more that Japan would win, given that Canada already lost out and I have no particular affinity for the US team (I have a lot more now, though, after seeing that hat-trick!).
genjuro
@Richard Agreed. Nothing to be ashamed of and everything to be proud of.
A caption for the top photo could be: "Why, American people!"
Yubaru
Ain't just Japan, plenty of folks take their soccer seriously, at least these folks didn't start riots.
sillygirl
Silver is not too shabby.
Wc626
5-0. That would've been embarrassing.
SimondB
All good teams come to an end and have to be rebuilt. Japan woman's team have been superb for the last 8 years. But now it is time to move some players on, introduce some new blood and rebuild. If you look back at great teams they seemed invincible at the time, although now referring to men's teams, look back at the unbeatable of the 70's Leeds Unt (now languishing in lower leagues), Liverpool in the 80's, Man Unt late 90's and well into 2000's. All of them eventually came to an end.
Well done Japan. Review, rebuild and come back again.
Shumatsu_Samurai
I guess it's because they never seemed to have a chance and were overpowered. 2-5 isn't a good scoreline for your team.
If it had been 1-2 and had been close to equalising by full time, reactions might have been better. But it's never fun to see your team demolished.
JeffLee
I quite often see Japanese knocking aback booze early in the mornings. Weird. Check out a JAL lounge at an airport or a gyudon place at 6 a.m.
itsonlyrocknroll
What an awful start to the week. I moved on to vodka martinis for medicinal purposes as Japan were getting battered...... What a cowardly custard , if in doubt and before 08:00, an absolutely filthy Martini cocktail, Gin not Vodka 4/5 ounces of gin with 1 to 1/2 ounce olive juice for filthy and don't waste time with a silly boy shaker, make sure it of the correct size and a serious 30 second shake, at least two firm olive and chill the glass.....
Kaerimashita
Shocking. Early morning drinking!! no wonder the country is in such a mess!!
tinawatanabe
Now I know you are an American. I think American fans are the worst.
A.N. Other
Turn to drink? Let's hope they learn to suck it up!
Kazuaki Shimazaki
I agree, but please note the little text at the bottom. This is from AFP, not a Japanese newspaper. So any fault in that regard should be directed elsewhere.
gokai_wo_maneku
On a talk TV show, some talents were talking about the average age of Nadeshiko being 29 and the US team being 23. They were saying things meant to be funny but are actually age discriminatory. Is there actually information about the average ages of the teams?
Texas A&M Aggie
The final turned into a drinking contest here in Texas. Five shots of Jack Daniels (actually, it was six since America spotted Japan one point in an attempt to make things more interesting) had me rocking by the end of the game. The difference being I was not drinking in the middle of the morning ......
YongYang
Wherever you are if it's a big occasion, have a drink whatever the time. It's not the Prohibition Era here, there or anywhere. In the 19th century Americans drank ALL the time, water being dangerous and plenty of my North American cousins get cracking the beers in the morning when it's time to enjoy something.
Guy_Jean_Dailleult
@JeffLee Why are you in a gyudon place at 6AM?
As for the game, you really don't have any chance if you make such ridiculous mistakes as on the 3rd and 4th US goals. Great win for the Americans, but you can't really make any judgements from such a game.
TorafusuTorasan
"America spotted Japan one point"
Don't think any team ever wants an own goal. The Americans were going for shutouts in every game.
@gokai, the starters are a bit older. Think of Ogimi's age compared to her teammate/ younger sister Asano Nagasato (26 years old).
KevinMcgue
If they had won, the headline would be "Japanese Soccer Fans Drink a Toast to Nadeshiko Win."
YongYang
@Tex, yes, but the time zone dictated what time you were drinking, if the finals had been held in South Africa?
Richard Wood
Even though Japan lost, the fact remains; Japan and USA ended with identical World Cup wins/loses at 6-1.
nath
Now I know why the trains smelled so bad this morning when I was going surfing. Everyone was drunk. The stairwells in the stations were disgusting.
All of this due to a soccer game.
sandiegoluv
I am going with SmithinJapan here, the Japanese media will do anything to appease the Japanese fans, even playing time and time again that ONE goal that could actually be attributed to them. This is what makes me sick about this country that prides itself on inconvenient truth to satisfy it patrons.
"American Katie Harding suppressed the urge to gloat."
What utter nonsense and why add to something that you do not even know. No, she had no desire to gloat. She was happy to win. Give it up!
And as SmithinJapan was said;
Hey, he is Canadian and I am American. I had people ask me the same question in the same manner and thought at the time, I really did not care who won and wanted the better team, but after that first couple of excuse making implications, I was happy they lost. Why? Because of the snide remark that was followed quite a number of times with the ultimate insult, the US team was too big and strong for the Japanese with the implication that the Japanese had technique while the US used brute force. NONSENSE. THE USA had a lot of technique. They were just better today.
smithinjapan
KevinMcGue: "If they had won, the headline would be "Japanese Soccer Fans Drink a Toast to Nadeshiko Win.""
Exactly my point earlier! The bartender mentioned in the article, and the fans most certainly would NOT have stopped in celebration. There is a serious problem here.
Richard Wood: "Even though Japan lost, the fact remains; Japan and USA ended with identical World Cup wins/loses at 6-1."
A very good point, and it should help take the sting out of the massacre a bit. And look at teams like Brazil, who allowed ZERO goals on net and had a perfect record until they let in ONE goal and lost it all -- that's just the way it is sometimes, and all of the teams who made it, especially past the first round, should be proud, and Japan finished second only to the US!
wtfjapan
unfortunaetly most people forget who won the silver medal, unless its the country that actually won it
Disillusioned
The Japanese are far from graceful in defeat. Many of the Japanese people I spoke to today could only condemn and belittle their team. They made to the final! They deserve your praise! Stop being so damn selfish and praise your most successful international soccer team!
Yubaru
And just how sure are you of this? AFP is a French company that operates all over the world and has an office...tadaa...in Ginza. So please tell me why this press outlet is "not" Japanese?
kokudoShawn
"Even though Japan lost, the fact remains; Japan and USA ended with identical World Cup wins/loses at 6-1."
Actually no Richard. The US finished 6-0-1 (WLT) and Japan finished 6-1-0. The US did not lose any games.
Michelle Klein-Hass
I love both teams. Nadeshiko had a great run and THEY DID NOT GIVE UP. I agree with "Disillusioned" that they deserve much respect. They have almost identical records (AFP didn't do their homework) and they both played their hearts out. And between 2011 and 2015 the makings of an epic rivalry has set up. This is HUGE! France 2019 is going to be a great time for fans of each team and weird people like me that love both. Yeah, I'm an American, but I fell in love with the plucky Nadeshiko squad in 2011 and I would have been happy if they had won again in 2015. Footie fandom is built on great rivalries, although some in Europe get downright ugly. Maybe fans of Nadeshiko and the women of Team USA can show the world how a FRIENDLY rivalry can happen. Ganbatte Nihon 2019!
Thunderbird2
I think the urge to gloat is strong...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33405094
Some of the reactions remind me of headlines of the Sun whenever the England football team beat Germany - which isn't that often. Seems like some American fans are of the same low brow mentality as Sun readers.
smithinjapan
Thunderbird2: You should note that in your link it also points out MANY were quick to condemn the moronic remarks relating the victory to "revenge for Pearl Harbor", etc., and that it was only a select few that made such foolish remarks. They're not only moronic, but obviously very insensitive (especially the atomic bombing remarks). I have no doubt the urge to gloat is as strong as the stupidity to not be able to control it. Doesn't mean that a lot of people are gloating. In fact, the only really bitter or jaded comments, or suggestions of gloating (when it is most often not there) comes from Japanese fans who have to live with the fact that they are not the best or the champions, despite them finishing above every other team in the world after the US.
annemarie08
Funny headline, re. turning to drink. It's only soccer people. I like it myself but still it's only soccer/football whatever you like to call it.
Kevin McGue's point was on the ball (pun intended). if it's a bad result, they're alcoholics. If good, they're toasting the team.
Surprised to hear they were drinking that early in the morning.
lucabrasi
Only three beers before 7.30?
Bloody amateurs....
WesternerJapan87
Japan got demolished by the USA. It was a big humiliation. Nadeshiko are faster due to their short legs, however they lack stamina as they need to expend more energy the further they run due to their height disadvantage.
tonttu2012
Has Mafoka ever played soccer herself? I used to play soccer when I was I high school. I am not interested in FIFA any longer.
lucabrasi
In the same way that a centipede is faster than an ostrich???
Serrano
“That was brutal,” said Kataoka, 27, a barista who looked in need of a double espresso. "
Har!
“What an awful start to the week."
Watching a soccer game is an awful way to start the week? Cripes...
heynong
Among the sport fans, I admired most about English Soccer fans! Whether they won and lost, there will be celebration with drinks. No matter they were in South Africa or Brazil. They are heavy drinkers and soccer worshippers. Some English fans have become German fans during 2014 Men soccer World Cup due to early exit of England.
When Canadians won Hockey World Cup against USA, there were many early morning drinks too. Hockey is so popular in Canada as baseball in Japan and soccer in Brazil.
Even US women team have won the World Cup, many older generation of Americans do not make the fuss about it. Some of my Yankee friends will wait until Super Bowl for opening their favorite bottles. Soccer is less exciting game in U.S.A unlike die-hard Japanese fans.
Japanese fans should party like English fans with joys. After all it was just the game. Grown ups will accept their cruel fate with dignity and grace. Drinking too much Beers are showing bitterness.
lucabrasi
@Serrano
Depends very much who you're watching. If it's Carlisle, Preston or Coventry then yes. Bloody awful....
jerseyboy
One goal, plus an own goal, is hardly "a measure of pride". Not when the opponent has exposed all your weaknesses and hung 5 great goals on the board. And glad to see that nothing has changed with Japanese media since I left. Objectivity and true journalism go out the door whenever Japan is involved in anything.
Thunderbird2
Smith... I DID say SOME
lucabrasi
@ heynong
Seriously, my friend. That's straightforward alcoholism. Win, lose, draw or game cancelled, it's always time for a beer....
WesternerJapan87
I meant the Japanese team has shorter legs giving them a lower center of gravity meaning that it gives them an advantage when maneuvering.
lucabrasi
@Westerner
Sure. Not the same as "faster", though : )
DaDude
I guess you've never been to Eastern Europe.
AlexCook
Sometimes you have to drink the pain away.
Kazuaki Shimazaki
You just said it, it is a French company. It undoubtedly has some Japanese workers in its branch office, but how this got presented was decided by the French, so why is it that even the "gloat" comment got attributed to a Japanese negativity.
If anything, the article was hardly generous to the Japanese, calling them "salvaging" a measure of pride and the title was "Japanese soccer fans turn to drink as Nadeshiko sink", which is again hardly flattering about Japanese. So why is everything attributed to the way Japanese portray anything?
lucabrasi
@syzyguy
Ha! You're clearly not a Coventry City fan.... : (
Dylan Otoshiro
I think the Ladies did bloody well and Japan should be proud!
BurakuminDes
lucabrasi: "Depends very much who you're watching. If it's Carlisle, Preston or Coventry then yes. Bloody awful...."
@ lucabrasi - you are on fire tonight, son!
lucabrasi
@Dylan
Yep. As Ron Atkinson would say
"The lasses done admirable, Brian."
Saketown
The Japanese are gonna have to face it sooner or later that if they want to Win these Soccer/Football Games against these Tall & Big Gaijins, then they may want to put all that "Visual Nationalism" aside and start mixing in some of those "Hafu's" onto their teams (Half European - Half Japanese or Half African - Half Japanese).
They need Bigger Players. I mean look at the size and body mass differences between the Japanese players and the Americans - The Japanese just got steamrolled out there.
Technique works great and all that fancy foot-work, but what can do when some 6'1" Wall of Ragging Gaijins come charging at you with their own techniques?
You get kicked & knocked to the ground or that short goalie watches the ball fly past her after being kicked off a leg that is 3 Feet longer than hers.
Anyway, Excellent Effort to The Japanese, but I sort of knew this outcome.
lucabrasi
@Brakumin
Thank you! Just my favourite three teams....
melonbarmonster
eh so over dramatic. The Women's NT is still about 3 times better than the Men's NT.
vietNetter
Saketown, you made a very critical point. Japanese coach believes in "pure" Japanese style, I guess. Japanese people rather see Japanese win with Japanese style than with a mixing style.
Wc626
No doubt.
Yup. Gotta let the nail stick up. Don't hammer it down. Team "harmony" works but individual "valor" sure does have it's virtues. LoL, ask team USA & Carli Lloyd-
Shumatsu_Samurai
Hold on a minute, they got through to the finals this year and for the Olympics, and they won in 2011. If having "short" players = automatic fail, how were those achievements possible?
Perhaps the team would benefit from having some bigger players, but are many available and are they actually good at football? Sure mixed-race women tend to be taller on average, but if they don't want to play professional football or aren't good enough, it's a moot point.
I would just encourage the coach(es) to pick the best players.
Yubaru
Oh, the "token" argument to place the blame on someone other than a Japanese person. Right, the comment was unnecessary, and it was atypical of a JAPANESE writer to down play the accomplishments of their opponent and make the victor or the "foreigner" here to be the bad guy. Very typical of Japanese press and media.
AFP's offices are run locally by Japanese with little interference from the "home" office. They are operating in over 150 countries world wide and use local people-power for gathering their news and writing their articles.
ebisen
I like bad losers, being one myself :) . Next time!
bpsitrep
It the best of times, it was worst of times. I'm proud for the Japanese ladies for making it to the final game. I'm upset at the Coaching most of all for the loss. I am so now looking forward to the 2016 Olympics and what should be some great soccer games.
Sasakikojiro2
gokai_wo_maneku -- Typical Talent Comments. Regarding age:
The United States and Japan are the two oldest teams in Women's World Cup history. The U.S. has an average age of 29.4 years, and Japan's average age is 28.3 years.
Between the two rosters, 31 players are back from the 2011 Women's World Cup, including 24 who played in the final. All four players who scored in the 2011 final could play Sunday: Alex Morgan and Wambach for the U.S., and Aya Miyama and Homare Sawa for Japan.