Here in Saitama City lots of different soccer matches and other events have taken place since Saitama Stadium 2002 was built. The biggest of these is the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which is being co-hosted by Japan and South Korea. A match that I was particularly interested in was Japan vs. Belgium. I did not have tickets for the game, so I just went to see what was happening around the stadium. Two hours before kick-off, the area was very crowded. I noticed that the Belgian fans were tall and were wearing bright, extravagant costumes. Japanese fans were taking photos with the Belgians. I was a little scared, but I decided to talk to one of the Belgian fans. I am not good at English, but I went up to one of them and spoke anyway.

"Excuse me," I said.
"Hello, Japanese boy. What is it?"
"Can I have a Belgian flag?"
"No, sorry."
"OK, I see. Good luck to Belgium."
"Thank you."

Former Cameroon player Roger Milla is going to come to our school to coach the soccer club, so I'm going to try and ask him questions without getting nervous. I'll report on his visit and what he taught us next time.