Any hangovers from England's defeat to Brazil were on hold early yesterday morning in Shizuoka, Japan.
Yes, they were out of the World Cup, but England's "Barmy Army" was on holiday and determined to enjoy itself nevertheless.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
Descending on downtown Shizuoka after Friday's match, which Brazil won 2-1, they headed for the entertainment zone near the railway station, which is full of bars, dancing girls and the usual suspects.
There they mixed with the Brazilian fans, who had just cause to celebrate. They found they had a lot in common, namely the "beautiful game" -- a phrase coined by Brazilian soccer legend Pele -- and lager.
The two tribes sang and joked with each other, entertaining and involving the locals in equal measure.
Mark, who the Taipei Times had interviewed two days earlier on a train from Narita Airport to Tokyo, was draped in the red and white of St. George and the red-white-and-blue of the Union Jack.
He was standing outside the Asian King Bar, leading a chorus, arms splayed and pointing up to the sodium-tinged night sky.
"Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves, England never, never, will be slaves," (sic) he sang, followed by the lyrically challenged classic, "We love you Eng-er-land, we love you Eng-er-land, oh, we love you Eng-ur-land, ohhhh, England we love you."
After a few beers the songs make no more sense, but are easy to chant en masse and have the virtue of not being easily forgettable.
Mark was in his element.
"F*** the match, I'm having a good time, they can't take that away from us," he said. But he was wrong.
As soccer supporters packed out the bar, stood on tables, sang and signed England shirts worn by locals, the police just down the street were getting nervous. One of them was speaking into his walky-talky and reinforcements were arriving on bicycles.
Soon after, around 2:30am, they closed the bar.
There was no trouble, just a gentle retreat -- to a food outlet over the road, into some of the massage parlors or karaoke bars that dotted the street and elsewhere.
Indonesia-based expatriate Paul Ebdale was having "the time of me life."
The middle-aged executive was dolled out in an off-white England blazer, complete with Three Lions logo, a red waist jacket and white face, with a red cross. His friend, Dr. Peter Butterworth, a geological specialist working for another Indonesian oil company, was similarly kitted out, with the addition of a frothy white hairpiece.
The pair, who originally hail from Bolton, England, said they had come to Japan just to see the England-Brazil match and would fly back to Indonesia in the morning. They had paid US$850 for their tickets for the game.
Butterworth said, "We've just come over for the crack, as soon as we knew about the game we knew we had to come, it could have been a great game."
Ebdale said, "It should have been a classic and I'm just a bit disappointed that it wasn't. Basically, it was a game of two halves and now we're sick as parrots."
They said they had arrived at the Asian King Bar earlier, when there had been just locals drinking after work. "It soon warmed up though."
Throughout the interview the pair was approached by locals wanting to pose for photos or sign their shirts.
Ebdale said he had been to the World Cup in Spain. "Basically, I do a World Cup every 20 years, but now we've got to get back to our hotels, 'cos we've got a plane to catch in the morning."
"Send us a copy of the Taipei Times [by e-mail] would you? I get a bit nervous in the morning, me wife says, if I don't get me copy."
On returning to my lodgings for the night, the Takasho Capsule Hotel, I was told by the owner Mr. Takasho that the World Cup had brought business and no bother at all.
"I have put the fans from different countries on different floors," he confided. "The English are on the fourth floor and the Brazilians are on the fifth.
"I thought it was a sensible precaution, but actually they all seem to know each other and there has been no trouble. I have been pleasantly surprised."
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