Japan/Korea 2002!

I was going through my archives and found some from my first trip to a World Cup in Japan and Korea in 2002. These two countries were fascinating and the people absolutely amazing. I actually had a couple of girls go about 15 minutes out of their way to take me to where I was trying to go! 

Ecuador vs Italy - Ecuador's first game in a world cup EVER. For a country as small as ours this was a momentous event and I had to travel all the way to Sapporo to experience it! Unfortunately we lost 2-0. :(

Ecuador v Mexico - Ecuador's second game. Started off amazing when we scored in the 3rd minute but then it all went sour when we let Mexico come back and beat us 2-1. :(

Ecuador v Croatia - Our last game, we had nothing to lose and so went out and played like we deserved to be here. We won 1-0 and left the stadium and the world cup with our heads held high. Next time it would be different....

I got to experience the second game vs Mexico with my dad. I think it was a dream come true for both of us in many ways! 

These guys didn't know a lick of italian and probably didn't even know any of the players but they jumped on the italian bandwagon anyways!

After the first round games in Japan I took a flight to Korea and experienced soccer Asian style. The atmosphere for that game against Italy was amazing.

I took a chance to do some sightseeing and got to go to Deajeon and see some cool places.

After the game vs Italy my friend Cristina and I stayed up till 4am in the streets of Seoul celebrating with the whole country. For one night I was korean!