JAPAN: FEMALE SOCCER FANS DECIDE THAT THE ITALIAN FOOTBALL TEAM ARE THE BEATS LOOKING OF THE WORLD CUP SQUADS

Record ID: 251076

  • Title: JAPAN: FEMALE SOCCER FANS DECIDE THAT THE ITALIAN FOOTBALL TEAM ARE THE BEATS LOOKING OF THE WORLD CUP SQUADS
  • Date: 28th May 2002
  • Summary: SENDAI, ITALY (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. ITALIAN TEAM BUS ARRIVING FOR TRAINING SESSION 2. FANS CHEERING 3. FEMALE FANS HOLDING UP PICTURES OF ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO AND FILIPPO INZAGHI 4. FEMALE TV PRESENTER SMILING AS TEAM GOES BY 5. ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO TRAINING 6. FRANCESCO TOTTI TRAINING 7. FILIPPO INZAGHI JOGGING 8. FEMALE FANS WAITING OUTSIDE 'CASA AZZURI' 9. CHRISTIAN VIERI SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS 10. FEMALE FANS LAUGHING 11. PAOLO MALDINI SIGNING AUTOGRAPH 12. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) FEMALE FAN SAYING: "I actually wanted to see Inzaghi but it was only Vieri so I got his autograph for my husband." 13. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) FEMALE FAN SAYING: "I love all the Italian soccer team - they are fantastic - and today I got the captain Maldini's autograph." TOKYO, JAPAN (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 14. FEMALE FANS IN SOCCER SHOP LOOKING AT ITALIAN TEAM SHIRTS 15. WORLD CUP FOOTBALL IN BOOK SHOP SALES DISPLAY/WOMEN LOOKING AT BOOKS 16. PICTURE BOOK OF ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO 17. WOMAN LEAFING THROUGH BOOK 18. TWO WOMEN READING BOOKS - ONE ON BECKHAM, ONE ON DEL PIERO 19. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) WOMAN IN BOOKSHOP GIGGLING AND SAYING: "Well I actually like Beckham the best because he looks so nice." 20. BOOK ABOUT DAVID BECKHAM DISPLAYED PROMINENTLY ON BOOK SHELF Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 12th June 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SENDAI AND TOKYO, JAPAN
  • Country: Japan
  • Reuters ID: LVA5QZKREZPXDMK2101EIOT322HT
  • Story Text: Although a ball has not yet been kicked in competition
    at this year's World Cup, Korea/Japan 2002 has already crowned
    the Italian team as champions in a unique sub-category - they
    are the best looking.



    The flowing locks, chiselled features and athletic
    physiques of Italy's football squad have set many Japanese
    women's hearts aflutter.

    Attacking midielder Francesco Totti and small but
    perfectly formed striker Alessandro del Piero are top of the
    pops with most female fans - although the dark and often
    brooding Filippo Inzaghi and the hulking form of Christian
    Vieri also strike a chord.

    The Japanese media has christened the team - and this is a
    direct translation - "The 'do-able' men" and have stationed
    female TV reporters at the team's training camp in Sendai from
    where they file reports which have little to do with 4-4-2 or
    tweaked tendons.

    Outside the camp and at the 'Casa Azzuri' where Italian
    players come to talk to the press, a band of loyal female
    followers waits nervously for a glimpse, or better still an
    autograph, from one of these superstars.

    "I actually wanted to see Inzaghi but it was only Vieri so
    I got his autograph for my husband," said one breathless
    female fan after the Inter striker had signed a replica shirt
    for her.

    Her friend managed to snare captain Paolo Maldini to sign
    an Italian flag.

    "I love all the Italian soccer team - they are fantastic -
    and today I got the captain Maldini's autograph," she gushed
    as the television cameras rolled.

    The Italian team, like many World Cup teams, has been
    keeping its distance from the fans - cloistered in their five
    star hotels and being ferried by bus to and from the training
    field.

    Its easy to understand why - Francesco Totti was mobbed by
    admirers when he tried a quiet shopping trip at a mall in
    Sendai and had to high-tail it in a taxi.

    While the Azzuri are nowhwere near as 'big as the Beatles'
    their presence has boosted shirt sales in some Tokyo sporting
    goods stores.

    The Italian team may be the latest sensation amongst
    female fans, but individual players from other World Cup teams
    need not dispair. England's David Beckham in particular is
    offering tough competition to the Italians.

    "Well I actually like Beckham the best because he looks so
    nice," said one fan.



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