Whose World? What Cup? (Day 19)

Japan in blue play Paraguay in red and white. It's just one of those days at the office, so to speak. 20 minutes into the game, the Japanese are still defending as a unit, attacking as a unit, and doing those well-trained longshot things.

I don't know why I'm watching this one when I might need the sleep to prepare myself for Spain v Portugal later. But still, whichever team wins this one, it will be their first time in the quarter-finals. Some sort of historical moment.

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Note: How does one distinguish between Uruguay and Paraguay? You could do it the geography-lesson way or you could just remember this: Uruguay has Diego Forlan and Paraguay has Roque Santa Cruz. Both are excellent creative forwards who haven't done so well in the Premier League. Santa Cruz has done better though.

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I'm wondering whether Marcus Tulio Tanaka is named after Marcus Tullio Cicero. Somehow, finding this out has become more important to me than watching the match. And MTT is such a swashbuckling samurai-looking fellow too. I bet he'd be good as a Japanese statesman some day.

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It's 0-0 at full-time. It is like watching jelly set. But with less anticipation.

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Note: Much later, it appears the Paraguayans won on penalties, 5-3. So much for the Asian contingent this year. Heh.

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Late update: Yes, he was named after Cicero. He has a Japanese-Brazilian father and an Italian-Brazilian mother! In fact, his full name is Marcus Túlio Amos Murzani Tanaka. Wow.