2002

So then, it’s goodbye to Korea… the Ball is moving on today, and there’s just enough time to write a fond farewell to a country we have really enjoyed visiting. I will miss Korea very much - the people have been generous, hospitable, and I’ve loved their enthusiasm for all things football-related.

I’ll be cheering for you on Saturday…

What the hell are we going to do?

Unbelievable!

“We learnt that it’s not the winning that counts. Wherever you go, playing football can be used to improve diplomatic relations and promote peace.”
- an ex North Korean footballer talking about his team at the World Cup in England in 1966

But the winning sure does feel good…

Be the Reds!

The atmosphere in Seoul is electrifying again tonight, with seemingly the entire population working themselves into a frenzy in anticipation of tonight’s big match - everyone is uniformly dressed in “Be the Reds” t-shirts (despite the team playing in pink) and starting on the soju early. We were going to go to City Hall to see the game, but then realised that we’d only be able to see the crowds - who have been gathering there since lunchtime…

Joe Docherty, one of ‘The Arklow Jesters’ in full regalia

Our guesthouse is currently full of Irish, who have descended on the place in force to support their team. Before the game, as they prepared for the confrontation with Spain, all was smiles and optimism…

There is nothing like the World Cup to bring out the xenophobe in even the most enlightened of us. The classic always used to be that African teams were “defensively naive,” with additions, famously from Big Ron who was standing in for HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. With a new century comes another classic. Orientals are short. During a Reith Lecture I heard on the radio the other day, one that was occasionally interrupted by the commentary on some match featuring the Belgiums (sic), I learnt that the entire population of the Orient, if stood on one another’s shoulders would not be as tall as Jan Koller. So join in and start slagging the world…

… and three is a magic numbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Three nil to the Engerlund!

Well, save my own nervous excitement, I am well removed at the moment from any English fervour for tonight’s game, but will be heading off shortly to an ex-pat bar in Seoul for the game and hopefully a good crowd. Could be a home from home?

“The World Cup should also be an opportunity for us to demonstrate the high standard of our information technology to the world. In this way, it will be remembered as an e-World Cup.”
- from one of Kim Dae-jung’s recent speeches

The World Cup matches are screened in the subway trains

Since we’re here running a multimedia weblog, I thought I’d take the opportunity to see what was going on in the digital world here in Korea. This is a report of my discoveries so far.

Who’d have thought it?

FIFA must be as pleased as the supporters - three countries where football is still in its infancy are through to the second round. Can’t be bad for the competition. Or the advertising revenue, either, come to that…