A second-half blunder from Japan goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi handed three points to Millwall as Portsmouth went down 1-0 away to the Lions in the English First Division on Thursday.
Kawaguchi got caught in a defensive mix-up with Carl Tiler and failed to punch a high ball clear, allowing Republic of Ireland Under-21 international Richard Sadlier to blaze the ball into the roof of the net in the 79th minute for his 11th goal of the season.
Spare tickets?
A limited number of World Cup tickets may be available to the general public in Japan starting Sunday, once the ongoing sales period for registered-people closes Saturday, the Japanese World Cup Organizing Committee announced Friday.
JAWOC had, by the end of Friday, sold 55,000 tickets out of a possible 91,300 seats. Tickets for all the games featuring England and Japan have been sold out, in addition to all the games in the knockout stages.
Ticket availability can be checked by calling JAWOC Ticket Second Round Sales Office at 0180-993-531 (round-the-clock taped message service in English and Japanese, not accessible from mobile phones) and the JAWOC Web site (www.jawoc.or.jp)
If tickets do become available, they can be purchased from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Dec. 16-25, by calling 0570-06-2002 (#9802 from mobile phones) for regular seats and (03) 3287-5599 for wheelchair users. For details, call JAWOC Ticket Center at (03) 3287-1199.
No contract for Santos
Veteran Brazilian midfielder Santos will not be playing at Vissel Kobe next year. The club have not offered a new contract to the 41-year-old, who has also played for Kashima Antlers and Shimizu S-Pulse in a nine-year career in Japan.