It’s all in the fight

As the matches head ever closer to the final group selection, the competition becomes tight. Japan’s Samurai Blue bagged a victory against Cameroon in its first match, and on Saturday June 19 took on Holland in the second match of Group E play. Time Out Café & Diner, on the second floor of Ebisu’s Liquidroom hosted a public viewing of the match complete with guests and a live Twitter feed.

The house was a sea of Samurai Blue fans, and to start things off Atsushi Shikano took the stage, followed by Junichi Inamoto fan club president and member Takuya (of Judy and Mary fame), who brought along his guitar to help cheer the team on with a musical performance, followed up by soccer maniacs Shogo and Isakick from 175R. With the complete quartet of soccer freaks onstage, Takuya gave a rundown on the previous match (and victory) against Cameroon and eased the jittery football lovers into the next battle on the card: Japan versus number four world-ranked Holland.

Despite team Japan playing a game that had give and take with Holland’s ‘Clockwork Orange’, it wasn’t enough to secure them a win. Nevertheless, cheers of ‘Nippon!’ roared through the café and with everyone about standing up, it would be easy to think that you might have been right there in the stadium in South Africa. However, after the clapping died off and the game started, everyone sat down, and it was the kind of atmosphere that can only be found in Tokyo.

In the first half of the game was all about Holland taking control of the ball, but not without some aggressive efforts by Samurai Blue about a half-hour in as an attempt to turn the tables. The only goal of the match was scored by Dutch star Wesley Sneijder over 50 minutes in. Despite the goal, team Japan kept it up with Shunsuke Nakamura, Shiji Okazaki and Keiji Tamada all putting their feet in to try and even up the score.

Takuya, Isakick and Atsushi Shikano, along with America Zarigani’s Tetsuya Yanagihara and Surface’s Yoshiharu Shiina’s faces oscillated between smiles of anticipation to the blush of disappointment. Takuya commented, ‘I’m afraid to say that in reality Japan’s substitute players have some ways to go, but that being said I hope they can tie up with Denmark in the next game.’

With a record of one win and one loss, the balance lies in the next match – against Denmark, who took a 2-1 victory against Cameroon on the same day. The next match is crucial, and getting into top final 16 depends on it. Liquidroom will be hosting a public viewing of the Japan-Denmark match on Thursday June 24, so if you’re looking to add your cheers to a group of soccer fans as Japan and Denmark take the pitch, this is a can’t-miss event.

Japan vs Denmark
Date: Thur June 24
Time: 12midnight open/start
Location: Liquidroom (Full details & map)
DJs: DJ Krush/ Ken Ishiii
Guest: Atsushi Shikano (Musica)
VJ: Mixnuts
Admission: Door TBA; ¥2,000 adv (plus one drink ¥500) Ticket information: Pia [P-code 816-540], Lawson [L-code 70710], E+, Liquidroom)
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