Comment: Soccer fever in S. Korea but missing in Japan

They said that there is a World Cup being held in Asia. Co-hosted by Japan and South Korea, they also say. I'm pretty sure about South Korea, but Japan had a tough time trying to prove to me that soccer's biggest event was in town.

Why so? There were no tell tale signs that Osaka was getting ready to host a quarterfinal (Senegal-Turkey) on Saturday.

As for souvenir shops? Only one in the city and a few near the stadium. Bad news.

But then again this is Japan. True the World Cup is here but there are other things to be done, and done fast - life has got to move on.

The 50,000 odd fans who gathered at the stadium, before the quarterfinal in Osaka, were not reflective of the nations cumulative interest in the big deal that was being made by the rest of the world. The Japanese fans just looked on as the waiters from the Turkish restaurant in Osaka chanted out songs to their Senegalese counterparts. The match almost echoed their feelings of boredom.

Almost every Japanese has got an agenda and he hopes to fulfil it within 24 hours.

The glory days of the Japanese bubble has long since burst. Recession has set in and yet people are asking: why Japan? Because it is still the world's default setting for the future.

The Japanese, to quite a few of us, are still the trailblazers. This is the first time that a World Cup is being co-hosted. The continent has acquitted itself well but more so South Korea than Japan.

It was asked how it would all work when the powerbrokers in Fifa sat down to chalk out a glorious plan of conducting soccer's greatest event.

It must be mentioned here that the megalomanical ex-President of Fifa may have been right in his decision - whatever his motives. Here was the man who grabbed the 1986 World Cup from Colombia and gave it to Mexico to host for the second time in 16 years.

Havelange wanted Japan to host but his detractors pencilled in South Korea as co-hosts. Perhaps on fact, the boys in Seoul have a stronger claim: they have participated in every World Cup since 1854. Not so Japan.

Culturally and historically too Japan and South Korea have hardly been the best of friends. But so far so good. South Korea has been winning the brownie points both on and off the field.

As for the other co-host, they may not yet know it, but the residents of Japan have put out a couple of pointers for the marketing agents to ponder over in the future.

Fifa possess a potent force in the form of the World Cup. The Japanese may have missed their chance to temper its edges by dishing out a little bit of their traditional efficiency, sense of organisation and enthusiasm.

There was a time when they had a yen for these things.