The ball rolls on the 1st day of the year, and the 1st game is beaten 5-0 – 01/01/2024 – The World Is a Ball

January 1, 2024. Universal Fraternization Day.

In Brazil and around the world, many people are on vacation or off work. On the beach or in the countryside, people get together with family and friends to eat, drink and talk. To start the new year in a light and positive way. Some are cured of the hangover from the New Year’s Eve party.

And there are those who are playing ball. Not just in an amateur way, that little game of “married vs. single”, but at a high level.

1°/1 has dozens of football games scheduled in several countries. Brazil is not one of them – here, only on the 2nd, with the start of the São Paulo Junior Cup.

It was two in the afternoon in Tokyo (two in the morning in Brasília) when South Korean referee Kim Woo-sung’s whistle sounded for the first match of the new year.

Japan, 17th in the FIFA rankings, hosted Thailand (113th) in a friendly between Asian teams at the national stadium in the Japanese capital.

After a first half without opening the scoring, it was up to midfielder Ao Tanaka, who plays for Fortuna Düsseldorf, in Germany’s second division, to score the first goal of 2024. He finished successfully in the 5th minute of the final stage.

That goal foreshadowed a rout. The Japanese scored another four times on goal saved by goalkeeper Patiwat Khammai. Final score: 5 to 0.

A moment of localized joy for Japan that preceded one of national consternation, due to the strong earthquake that hit part of the nation this Monday.

The 1st of January football event was or will be present in 14 other countries.

England is the one that plays the most games, including one in the Premier League, the elite championship (the leader Liverpool, with Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson, hosts Newcastle, with Brazilians Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton). There are matches in seven other divisions in the land of King Charles.

The other countries with a football schedule at 1/1 are Northern Ireland, Wales (Europe), Antigua and Barbuda (Central America), Australia (Oceania), Egypt, Sierra Leone, Tanzania (Africa), Saudi Arabia, China , Yemen, Iran, Israel and United Arab Emirates (Asia).

The United Arab Emirates, in addition to youth competition games (under-19), would host the friendly between China and Hong Kong, in the capital Abu Dhabi.

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