As a journalist who covered Asian football, I wanted Japan to win and have a good FIFA World Cup to show that the success of 2002 was not solely down to home advantage.
Australia had only just joined the AFC and qualified for Germany through Oceania, but two of their players were also representing my hometown club Blackburn Rovers.
It was hard not to feel proud that Brett Emerton and Lucas Neill were two Rovers on the world’s biggest stage.
It seemed a far cry from the summer of 2001 when Neill arrived at Ewood Park with the club back in the Premier League after two years in the second tier.
Emerton joined Blackburn two years later from Feyenoord after a high-profile transfer battle with Newcastle United.
He was an eagerly-awaited signing but Neill was different, a low-key capture from Millwall for around A$1.2 million.
Neill spent over five years in East Lancashire and established himself as a highly-respected defender in the Premier League.
The views
Ian Herbert is a Blackburn Rovers columnist for the Accrington Observer and hosts a podcast at supporters site BRFCS.com.
The team of 2001 under Graeme Souness wasn’t quite Kenny Dalglish’s Premier League title-winning team of 1995 but Souness was building an exciting young team featuring the likes of Damian Duff, David Dunn and Matt Jansen.
The Rovers were to go on and win the League Cup in 2002 and finish sixth in 2003.
“I was a big fan of Neill,” Herbert told The World Game.
“I thought he was one of the best signings in the post-Dalglish era, pound for pound.
"I had a running gag as it were with the chap next to me that there should be a running total on the Jack Walker Stand roof showing the latest Lucas Neill transfer valuation, as each performance seemed to add value.
"If he scored a penalty or launched a fierce tackle it was met with ‘...his value has just gone up £20k on the Lucas Neill Transfer-o-meter’.”
Personally, my happiest memory of Neill came in the early hours of a Seoul morning in 2006, when he stepped up to score a penalty against Manchester United and put the Rovers 3-1 up in a game they went on to win 4-3.
It was the coolest penalty - with just two steps taken - you will ever see and his triumphant face was a picture as he turned around to celebrate with teammates.
“I think the problem with defenders is that the stuff they do tends to go under the radar and Neill was a prime case in point,” Herbert said.
“He was quietly effective. When he wasn’t there, we didn’t look anything like as solid. It’s a pity he isn’t thought of as fondly as say Berg who left for similar reasons, but came back and added to his goodwill.”
"Berg" is Henning Berg, the Norwegian defender who helped Rovers to the Premier League title and then joined Manchester United for a hefty fee of £5 million (A$9.6 million) in 1997.
He came back to Ewood in 2000 and had three more successful years.
Neill’s departure was a bitter and controversial one and by the time he was starring at the 2006 World Cup, it was obvious that he would be making a move away from Blackburn before long.
“I think there was always a sense he was destined for bigger and better things," Herbert said.
"When he started to run down his contract I was disappointed but recognised that the opportunity to join Liverpool doesn’t come around every day so fair play to him. It was a case of ‘off you go with our best wishes'.”
The decision to join a struggling West Ham in January 2007 was met with incredulity in England and did not go down well at Blackburn.
“It left something of a sour taste and when he came back he got a ‘mixed reception’ shall we say," he added.
"That said, let us never forget that we are the fans that booed Alan Shearer when he came back so the precedent was truly set.”
It was a little harsh on Neill, who had been a fine servant for the club, but there was still plenty of football to be played at West Ham, Everton and then around the world.
It would be a shame if he was lost to the world of football, according to Herbert.
“I always thought he’d make a decent manager but he hasn’t pursued that path," he said.
