It really was the game of luck, a Full(er) house came out and Gonda was a surprise (Japan-Costa Rica chronicle)

Special Envoy of the Observer in Doha, Qatar

It is a world apart, one that is unparalleled and even a comparison can be overstated. As a general rule, on the way to any stadium on match days in this World Cup, anyone’s head automatically falls to the rhythm of the songs, the horns, with a little more misfortune from the drums. It’s not bad, on the contrary, at least there you can feel the real football of a World Cup that has its somewhat artificial parts. In the case of the Japanese, going on a date is just going. With flags, with painted faces, with sweaters, with smiles to give away and sell, with photographs on everything that touches those mobiles that only need to serve coffee. With everything but noise. It really is a world of its own, which comes to life a bit near the entrances where a supporting phalanx begins to yell. “Ni-ppon, Ni-ppon, Ni-ppon, Ni-ppon” and everyone else reacts but being careful not to disturb anyone.

Do not think that they do not support the team, on the contrary. Wow, they had a giant flag of the country with hundreds of signatures from the fans in attendance, they had sort of organized cheerleaders centered in a side area like some old-fashioned pawn setting the pace for the remaining Japanese. scattered around the stadium. In the end, as you know, help collect the rubbish, check that everything is as it was when they arrived and then leave the premises. Again, a world apart. And a world that in a certain way is reflected in the team, a soccer project of order and harmony that managed to turn around after the disadvantage against Germany and could take an almost decisive step with Costa Rica.

on the side of ticos, the much smaller number of supporters in favor of the team in relation to the match with Spain showed what it felt like: a total blow. The World Cup was far from over, but the way in which Luis Suárez’s team did not know how to respond to the attack on La Roja left marks on a team that remained almost totally closed to the press between training sessions and speeches by the players, with the exception of the Mandatory FIFA conferences (Bryan Ruíz made a name for himself there and talked about the mixed zone of the game with the Spanish and little else). There wasn’t much to improve, it was almost everything. And with the question of self-pride in the middle.

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