Comments on: The Yokohamarama

By: Hits and Misses of 2009 | loneleeplanet

Hits and Misses of 2009 | loneleeplanet — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:05:59 +0000

[...] The Yokohamarama [...]

By: reesan

reesan — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:02:16 +0000

Hi PudgyM, thanks for your comment.

I wish that I could have received it before last Wednesday, probably would have saved valuable drinking time on the shorter route to the Stadium.

Regarding the stadiums name, I hear you regarding Nissan not being a FIFA sponsor. I just think that the *alternate* name could be better. To avoid any confusion.

Back in 2003 New Zealand lost the right to co-host the 2003 Rugby World Cup with Australia and, as I understand it, was due to a disagreement over ground signage rights between the IRC and local sponsors. Therefore, I do understand the need to be creative in such circumstances when stadiums have sold their naming rights.

But to have a ‘Yokohama Stadium’ and an ‘International Stadium Yokohama’ both in Yokohama seemed, well, to lack imagination.

I didn’t catch the USA v Mexico game but I caught the result. A good result for you guys!

By: PudgyM29

PudgyM29 — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:34:08 +0000

You exited at the wrong stop.
The Kozukue station is closer to International Stadium Yokohama.
The cheapest and swiftest route from Tokyo to Yokohama is the Tokyu Minatomirai line from Shibuya to Kikuna, and the JR Yokohama line from there to Kozukue.
I’ve covered the F.I.F.A. Club World Cup the last four years, including the Final in Yokohama.
I’ll refer to the facility as “Nissan International Stadium” the day *I* get a check from Nissan.
Anyhow, Nissan is not a F.I.F.A. sponsor (Toyota and Hyundai are); so that’s really why F.I.F.A. doesn’t respect the ‘popular’ stadium name.
This match was actually televised here in North America (in English). I saw it. Yeah – it was pretty much a textbook zero-zero match. In other words, not one you would want a prospective soccer fan to view. (Show him | her the Manchester United v. Gamba Osaka match instead.)

And we beat Mexico by 2-zero in Columbus, OH., even though it was not as cold as we were hoping.
Let’s see how many pollsters still vote Mexico ahead of us in the next F.I.F.A. rankings.

By: reesan

reesan — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 23:15:17 +0000

Nunnster, yes it was a joke. I’m not being traitorous.

Aside from stature, there are probably a few other attributes that I am missing that would have given them a sniff that they had an imposter in their midst.

One of my mates with me on the night was a Kiwi (yes, I use the term ‘mate’ loosely, he is a Kiwi). He’s a big Rugby fan and was going to wear his All Blacks get up. He had second thoughts when I told him that we will be sitting in the Aussie supporters section of the statdium.

By: reesan

reesan — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 23:03:32 +0000

Hi Hao, thanks for your comments. It is probaby a good thing for the Japaroo, just like you, he gets to grow up with an affinity with two sides. Must be a difficult choice when they play each other though.

The other Australian supporters on the night did their best to convert him to the Green and Gold side teaching him ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie’ chants (and a few other chants that his mum had to cover his ears for). Even one guy gave him a full-sized Australian flag after the match as we were leaving the stadium.

By: Nunnster

Nunnster — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:34:03 +0000

In your report you say; “I didn’t wear any green and gold just in case Australia lost I needed to quickly blend in with the Japanese supporters.”

I’m quite certain that you are joking about not wanting to be recognised as an Aussie, but at 185cm and pushing 100kgs, your efforts to blend into a Japanese crowd would be akin to a pelican trying to blend into a flock of seagulls. How much sake were you drinking?

By: Hao

Hao — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:20:37 +0000

LOL @ blending in with Japan in case Australia lost! I share the same feelings as your kid the Japaroo, on the 2002 World Cup I didn’t know if I should root for China or Costa Rica! Costa Rica won though ^^

Nice pictures, I love those huge flags! Cheers~