Heavy Rain + Soccer = World Cup Qualifiers Nippon vs. Bahrain

It was pouring all day but that didn't phase anyone who was going to see their beloved Nippon national soccer.. I mean football team take on Bahrain, which I must admit did not know existed until earlier last week. Saitama Stadium was packed and the 20 minute walk from the station to the stadium gave nostalgic memories of RFK stadium when I used to see the Washington Nationals back home. I sported my outdated Nakata jersey inside my rain coat and was relieved to see that not everyone was wearing the new color uniforms. As for the game itself, Nippon miraculous scored a goal in the final minutes to beat Bahrain 1 - 0 when Uchida made a header appearing to pass to his team mate to score but ended up in the back of the net. It was a great experience, if you excluded what appeared to be the endless rain that managed to pierce through my rain coat and successfully drenched my underwear. Anyways, here are some pics of the night.