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Nagoya is a central-Japanese city of 2.2 million people. Think it would be easy to find a bar televising the Asian Champions League final, being played just a couple of hours down the road in Osaka? Think again.
After being told at two CBD sports bars they would not be showing the clash, my girlfriend and I ended up in the Australian-themed Red Rock, thinking perhaps I might find a handful of Aussie expats with which to follow the game.
Again, I was wrong.
The handful of punters perched at the bar barely raised an eyebrow when I enquired about the game.
Indeed, as I began to overhear snatches of conversation, I realized that the bartender and I were the only Australians in the establishment. Given that the game hadn’t even been on before I had arrived, I could also surmise that out of us two, I was the only one remotely interested in how the Reds would fare.
Nonetheless, I settled down determined to make the best of the historic occasion.
The optimism that had greeted the thought of the game earlier that day did not, however, take long to dissipate.
Led by Japanese international Yasuhito Endo, Gamba outplayed its opponent from start to finish in the 3-0 victory.
The gulf between the two sides – at least on Wednesday night – was all to evident, particularly when the home side attacked.
Adelaide full backs Scott Jamieson and Robert Cornthwaite were the busiest of United’s players, and not in the way in which the Reds would have wanted.
Time and again, they struggled to get to grips when confronted with their opponents at the byline.
Michihiro Yasuda was a constant scourge of Cornthwaite. The Japanese seemed to sense after just a few minutes that he would have the better of his Adelaide opponent.
Even the Japanese television station seemed to agree.
Every time Yasuda got free to deliver another cross, the cameras switched to a shot of a baffled-looking Cornthwaite.
How United seemed to miss an Endo of their own to pull the strings and slow the game down to a pace it was comfortable with!
It’s most likely candidate, Paul Reid, was consigned to the bench, presumably still hampered by injury.
Things could have been far worse for United. Goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic should have been dismissed in the final minutes for bringing down Lucas outside the area. And Endo was denied a much-deserved goal just a minute later when the Singaporean referee disallowed his pinpoint freekick due to an infringement only he seemed to spot.
At 3-0, Osaka has one hand firmly on the ACL trophy.
But Adelaide knows it can score that many at home, and will be out for revenge after being played off the park.
When the final whistle did go, I was the only one in the bar who seemed to notice. Football is meant to be the world game, but in this part of the world no-one seemed to be watching.
Perhaps for Adelaide on Wednesday, it was for the best.
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