Fri, Jun 14, 2002 page15

• Fans are more apt at samba than trouble

  SO FAR SO GOOD Warnings that the games would see drunken mayhem have so far proved false as even fans from the most bitter rivals have been partying together.

  • By Jules Quartly / STAFF REPORTER
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  They jeered and carried on singing, banging their drums even louder when two of their friends were hauled away by the police.

  At any other time, the crowd of foreigners disturbing public order until the early hours would have been locked up in South Korea, or anywhere else.

  

  Argentina.

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  But this is the World Cup and the foreigners were among Brazil's legion of fans in Seogwipo, on the island of Cheju, last week, for the game against China.

  

  Brazil.

  PHOTO: AFP

  They had arrived by plane, train, boat and automobile and after the match they "went to town." Dressed in identical yellow-and-green-trimmed tops, they carried crates of beer to the park in the center of the town.

  They put up flags and set down their big drums. They then toasted themselves and everyone else before snaking around the park in a line of over 100 people, swaying to the samba.

  

  Ecuador.

  PHOTO: AFP

  This went on for hours while a bemused posse of local police kept an eye on things. But there was no trouble, even when two foreigners got hauled out of a barbershop. They were laughing and everyone joined in, even the police.

  

  Mexico.

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  Later, the two men were allowed to return to their hotel, no damage done, and there were no reports of trouble the next day.

  On the boat to Cheju island, hundreds of fans also mixed without any sort of problems. Even English and Argentines drank together as they watched the game between their two countries.

  

  Chinese fans show support for their team ahead of the game against Turkey in Seoul yesterday. China did not win.

  PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES

  Luis from Sao Paulo loudly appealed for the British not to capsize the boat if England won, but there was no need.

  Before the World Cup there were dire warnings of warring tribes causing mayhem and destruction. So far, there has only been samba in South Korea.

  Sullivan Wang, an assistant manager at a hotel in Taipei was dressed in a Brazil shirt on the boat to Cheju island. She said she was supporting China, but was cheering England loudly on the boat.

  "I don't think it matters which team you support," she said. "I will have a good time whatever the result of the matches are. It doesn't really matter as long as we enjoy ourselves," she said.

  I had a small problem. Someone lifted my sunglasses and when I was told the next morning that "an Englishman with no hair" had taken them, I waited for him the next morning as everyone disembarked from the boat.

  I spotted the glasses on a Brazilian, however, and took them off his head. He shrugged and that was it. Apparently, they had been a gift from an Englishman. He also had a Croatian scarf and an Uncle Sam hat. They were "souvenirs," he said.

  In Taegu earlier in the week, both before and after the game between the US and South Korea, supporters from both countries cheerfully posed for photographs together outside the ground.

  Karl "the Cat" Cornwall, a soldier from Utah, said he didn't really like soccer before, but he did like the World Cup.

  "I'm used to baseball and [American] football and it's taken a while to get a hold of the game, the different styles of play and some of the details of the rules.

  "But I tell you one thing," he said, "It's a whole lot better real live than on the tube, which is kind of boring. You just don't get this kind of excitement in US sport, there isn't the same kind of national feeling and variety."

  Two Americans, both teachers and old friends, had met up for the World Cup in Taegu. They said they had been worried about hooliganism but so far had not found any.

  "We're thinking of doing this again in Germany in four years time. It's just an excuse for us. We drink a lot and go clubbing after the games," said Ryan Gaines from Arizona, who teaches in Japan.

  Fan and Zhe, two students from China on the plane from Cheju island to Taegu, said they would see all the China games. Fan, who was wearing a shirt of Spanish club Real Madrid said, "We both love football and we like traveling together. "This is a one-time opportunity and a good excuse for enjoying ourselves. Our parents are paying and we tell them it's a cultural experience."
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