Sinclair was neither abused nor abusive. Instead, he quickly realised his mistake and - apologetically - got off the bus again.
"But what was the atmosphere amongst the Argentine players like Trevor?" he was asked.
"Well, rather quiet really."
I dare say it was. And I can vouch that five hours or so earlier it had been anything but at the Sapporo Stadium.
The teams' route into the arena takes their buses around the back of the TV compound where, with 90 minutes to go before kick-off on Friday, journalists were still scrambling for match tickets.
Isolated and scared
But we all looked up as the police outriders first led England into the stadium.
As an Englishman, it was a depressing sight, only confirming pessimism about the team's prospects.
The players were staring out of the window, apparently alone - maybe isolated - in their own thoughts. Frankly, they looked scared.
Five minutes later came the Argentine coach.
As the bus passed behind the fence, the players were clearly visible, singing, clapping and waving scarves and flags from the window.
"We're a goal down already" said a colleague, and it was hard to disagree.