Stefan Lovgren
24 June 2002
Osaka, Japan — The Japanese newspapers, always packed with photo spreads of England's David Beckham, have devoted a great deal of coverage to the Senegalese success, especially after Japan bowed out of the tournament in the second round, also against Turkey.
With Beckham and company back home after a second round loss to four-times champions Brazil, much of the focus was on Senegalese players.
In the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's largest newspaper, Motoyuki Tanaka wrote glowingly about Senegal the day after the loss to Turkey, praising the West Africans' team spirit and dignity in Saturday's 1-0 sudden death defeat.
"Before the World Cup, Japanese people didn't know anything about African teams," says Shoichi Midoro, a sports writer at Asahi Shimbun who has written extensively about African football. "They can see the English, Italian and Spanish leagues on television, but they can't watch the African Cup," he says.
"People didn't know how good these guys are. But it's easy to see how talented a team like Senegal is."
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