It's twenty minutes before England's opening World Cup game at Saitama Stadium and I'm sitting almost directly behind the goal, sacred posts that I'm hoping Michael Owen will tune his gold-plated radar into the moment he walks onto the pitch.
Nervousness sets me off chatting with a nearby couple who, like thousands of others, have traveled halfway round the globe to cheer for their country. It turns out they will only be in Japan long enough to see England's three first-round matches. Then, it's a plane to Heathrow and a train back to Berkshire.
"After that we'll have to watch it on the TV," says one.
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