# World Cup Finals - Author: Joichi Ito - Date: 2002-06-30T23:00:04Z We just got back from the World Cup finals. I had a very difficult time choosing which team to back. I know more Germans than Brazilians, but the Brazilians seemed nicer and more fun. They were also more likely to win. Mizuka definitely wanted to cheer for Brazil so that settled it. We had front row seats on the second story. My Hasselblad didn't really work from where we were. The lense was too dark and my film was too slow... They were out of the "Sky Box" seats, but I figured that hanging out with the real fans would be fun. Unfortunately, we ended up sitting with a bunch of rowdy Brits. They seemed to think that I didn't understand English. They gabbed on about all kinds of things that I won't post here, but when Mizuka left to get us some drinks, I told them them what I thought about their behavior. Actually I was quite upset and it was ruining my experience. I said that I thought they were really rude and that I bet that they were fixed income dealers from England. Interestingly enough, one was! Later, one of the guys behind me was cheering for Germany and the rest of they guys said that they would all punch him when Brazil scored. I told the guy I would punch him too. He laughed. When Brazil scored their first goal, I turned around and punched him quite hard. He was noticably upset, but I guess he didn't have the guts to really start a fight so we shook hands and let it go. Anyway, they were quieter after that and everyone around us had more fun, I think. Brazil won as expected and they went running around thanking their fans, which was nice. We quickly escaped the scene and were able to catch a taxi to get onto the highway before they shut it down to let the emperor drive back. 30 minutes later, Mizuka and I were eating and drinking near our house at Mitate where everyone had just finished watching on TV. We got a warm welcome from the staff and service the best we had experienced. The staff said that they cried when Renaldo scored his goal... And now it's back to normal for Tokyo and Brazil is on the brink of banruptcy... --- #### Categories Joi's Diary, Photo