By SHUHEI NOMURA/ Staff Writer
September 26, 2019 at 14:55 JST
KAMAISHI, Iwate Prefecture--An 8-year-old Japanese boy sang the national anthem of Uruguay ahead of its World Cup rugby match against Fiji on Sept. 25, drawing praise for his performance.
Sota Aoki from Tokyo took to the field with Uruguay's captain as a "mascot kid" for the game in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, the sole Rugby World Cup (RWC) venue in an area devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
A video posted on the RWC's official Twitter account showed Uruguay captain Juan Manuel Gaminara with his arm around Aoki's shoulder as they sang in Spanish together, along with the message "Amazing moment."
Uruguay would go on to upset Fiji in the match, 30-27. It was the country's first RWC win since defeating Georgia in 2003.
After the game, Gaminara told the media, "It was a pleasant surprise, having the child march onto the field with me and sing the national anthem together. I felt like I was in my home country.
"I want to thank the Japanese people. Arigato."
Aoki, who is part of a rugby club in Kawasaki, said: "My friends don't know much about rugby compared with baseball and football, so I wanted to show people how interesting rugby and the World Cup are."
Aoki was selected in late August to enter the stadium with the Uruguay team under the "mascot kids" program organized by RWC official sponsor Jaguar Land Rover.
He prepared for his big moment by learning the anthem by heart through watching video produced by Scrum Unison, a project established by former Japanese rugby team captain Toshiaki Hirose and others to memorize anthems of participating teams.
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