It was a riot of color and singing yesterday outside International Stadium Yokohama in Japan before the big match.
Fans from every part of the globe arrived for the World Cup final and joyfully celebrated either their country, or their chosen team, and the beautiful game.
PHOTO: AP
Brazilians -- or replica Brazilians from Japan and elsewhere -- were in the majority, dressed in anything and everything that was canary yellow and green: big striped wigs, long johns, face paint, flags and masks.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
A large German contingent gathered at the nearby subway. Most of them were more than 1.8m tall and dwarfed the rest of the mainly Asian crowd, jumping up and down, chanting and blowing their horns.
A couple played the didgeridoo and there was beer everywhere, spraying in the air, or going down thirsty German throats.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
There were even Janus-faced fans dressed and painted in the colors of both teams. The Irish were represented, David Beckham's shirt was everywhere and a collection of sombreros indicated the presence of the Mexicans.
The International Stadium Yokohama was the focus of the world, reflected in the lenses and in the notebooks of more than 10,000 journalists.
Des Elliot and Tony Carter from Weymouth in England were selling shirts and scarves on the road to the stadium and were delighted to be interviewed.
"Oi, Big Alan, we're gonna be in the Times. Oi, get a load a that then," said Des -- who is in the army -- to his boss.
"We've been going back an' forth between Blighty [England] an' here, bringing over the shirts and stuff. It pays for a holiday and spending money. It's great, mate."
They said they traveled around the world for soccer matches and were selling scarves for ?3,000 (NT$842) and shirts for twice as much.
"David Beckham sells big here, he's like a god. Now, we're supporting Brazil but we don't mind selling stuff to the Germans. There's no animosity," Des said.
There had been no problems with the police or rival fans, he added
Sascha, from near Frankfurt in Germany, said he had been surprised that his team had made it so far. The chemical-plant worker said he had saved for two years to make the trip to South Korea and Japan.
"Yah, it has been worth every [German] mark to come here. I have been loving it, there has been a great atmosphere. We have been celebrating with all the fans, even the Englanders."
He said the only problem had been the Paraguay versus Germany match because so few people had gone to the game in South Korea. "It was a real shame."
Brazilian fans Marco and Albert were in a hurry to get to the stadium and hang up their banners, after spending the previous night looking for red-light areas.
The intrepid duo are "stealth" marketers, which means they need to get the names of three companies they are representing into the ground and on the TV screen.
So far they have been very successful, getting their banners past security and FIFA spotters in eight matches.
"But this is the big one. We fail here and our sponsors forget about all the other games. It is a big pressure," Marco said.
They also had three tickets for the game, which they were hoping to sell. They had bought them for US$500 apiece and were hoping to clear them at US$2,000 each.
"But things have been very slow at this World Cup, not like France [1998], when the tickets went very quick," Albert said.
"Ohh, of course, we hope that Brazil will win and of course we support Brazil, but if we lose, well. Really, we love Corinthians [of Brazil] and this is also business for us."
Brazilian Cloves Fernandez, FIFA's unofficial fans' fan, had spent the previous night carousing in his hotel and collecting lipstick kisses on his team jersey "for good luck."
Carrying his replica World Cup, nestled in the crook of his arm, he said he was looking forward to further celebrations.
A group of Irish fans on the way to the game had mock karate fights with the generally good-natured police controlling the crowds.
Eamon Doherty, from Galway, said he would be supporting Brazil, but didn't have any tickets."
"No worries, you would be surprised at how easy it is to get into these games without them," he said.
How? "That would be telling," he said.
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