World Cup Blog

For the next 4 weeks, the Brain of Phil will be the World Cup Blog. That's because World Cup euphoria has run amok around the world once again, no more so than here in Korea (okay, maybe more so in Germany).

The early games each day don't start until 10:00 pm our time, but that's fine since we finish work by that time. On Monday, I went with the boys to OB (a beer pub) to catch the Australia-Japan match. Koreans kind of care about Australia because Guus Hiddink is their coach (and he coached Korea in 2002). Furthermore, any time Japan loses at anything is considered a great moment for Koreans. So, the 3-1 outcome in favour of Australia caused joy in this country.

Last night was Korea's opening match against Togo. My co-workers and I ventured to the only place we could find with available seating, Hot Sun, a chicken and beer restaurant (damn!). In the end, Korea won the match 2-1 on goals by Lee Chun-soo and Ahn Jung-hwan, and the decibel level rose accordingly throughout the country after each score.

So the party has once again started. And even though I'm not into soccer all that much, the World Cup is a truly fantastic spectacle if you have a rooting interest. I learned that in 2002 here in Korea, and nobody would mind if a little of that old magic rubbed off on the 2006 edition of the World Cup.