Pre-game update: Japan vs. Australia

It is a matter of hours before the highly anticipated World Cup match between Japan and Australia. As What Japan Thinks reported last month, 70% of Japanese people will be watching the match at home tonight. Media hype and excitement has been building up for weeks, reporting on every time Japan’s players ate a sandwich or took a shit. Japan national team goods are being sold in almost every store and fans can be seen walking the streets in samurai blue apparel.
The game begins around 10:00PM, which means there will be a lot of tired Japanese people heading into the office tomorrow morning. Will they be happy or depressed? I have no idea, but here are a few links that might be helpful:

Article 1: Nakamura believes that the Aussies’ “physical approach” is dirty

Article 2: Hot & humid weather will be good for the Japanese players, who are used to playing in the oppressive heat of Japan.

Article 3: Japanese players are afraid of tall Aussies!

Article 4: The results of a soccer match between Japanese ants and Brazilian ants

Article 5: A pretty comprehensive pre-game article on the Australia/Japan matchup drama

I’m no expert on soccer, but the fourth article seems to give a clear prediction of tonight’s match. Ants will push a large ball of crap back and forth for a long time, accomplishing nothing but entertaining many.

I’ll probably go to sleep before the match is over, so I won’t have anything else to say on this match until the morning.