Daves On Soccer

One of the wonderful things about the World Cup is that it's not only a celebration of soccer. It's also a celebration of cultural diversity, and different nations certainly react differently to getting dumped out of the cup.

Costa Rican fans were evidently upset the team lost all its games and didn't hide their disappointment. I can empathize with the Ticos' fans only to a certain extent. Realistically, how much can you expect from a team whose members nearly all play domestically? Costa Rica helped to set the tone for this World Cup with their brave, attacking style in the inaugural match. Take some pride in that Ticos.

On the other end of the spectrum are the Japanese supporters. While they harbored very real dreams of reaching the second round, the fans nevertheless gave the team a hero's welcome. And this is in spite of Japan's last minute capitulation to the overachieving (and overrated) Australians in their opening match. Seems it's possible to lose with honor, just don't smile about it.