Japan fans clean up after the penalty shootout as Japan are eliminated from the World Cup. (REUTERS)
Although the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 journey for Samurai Blue ended, the Japan’s team and its fans won hearts of many across the nation.
From cleaning the rubbish after every match at the stadium, Japan fans had already made a mark at this year’s World Cup. A truly unique trait, the cleaning tradition dates back to early days. While the sight of fans staying around to clean up may surprise many visitors, it is ordinary among the Japanese. It’s part of their culture, they said.
Not only fans are tidying up, Japan players also cleaned up their dressing room, and also left a note and an origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.
During the group matches, Japan’s win against former champion Germany, 2-1 had shocked the world, emerging what seems to be a hidden showcase of an Asian nation. Europe and South America are known to be dominating the World Cup, in fact, there is no single Asian country which reached the final or won the biggest sporting tournament.
Although Samurai Blue lost against Costa Rica, it again shocked the crowd after its dramatic win against Spain, 2-1. The comeback win resulted them to top the Group E. Japan had beaten former World Cup champions – Germany and Spain.
Japan winning against the two giants had everyone talking, but the most talked about is Ao Tanaka’s goal which took a lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) review if the ball was in or out. FIFA, in a video tweet explained the controversial winning goal against Spain: “Other cameras may offer misleading images but on the evidence available, the whole of the ball was not out of play.”
The most heartbreaking match was Monday’s game against Croatia which Japanese captain Maya Yoshida said: “Every day, for four years, we worked hard to break this barrier, but we couldn’t get the result we wanted. It’s really hard to take.” In a penalty shootout, Croatia defeated the Land of the Rising Sun 3-1 to go to the World Cup quarterfinals.
Japan lost in the round of 16 for the fourth time in six attempts. After the match, Coach Hajime Moriyasu of Japan bowed in gratitude to the devoted fans who traveled to Qatar to cheer for their team. Later, his photo became viral.
The Peninsula talked to some fans during the match at Al Janoub Stadium. Naoto said the match was “well played, but luck was not with us this time.”
Hirotaka, also a fan thanked the players and the coach for all the hard work they have put in. Meanwhile, Yae, a die-hard supporter of the team said she was heartbroken but still proud of the Samurai Blue. “It may not be our time, but the Samurai Blue will come out even stronger, see you again in four years!.”
The Samurai Blue brought shock, drama and even controversy to this year’s World Cup, but one thing remained as their World Cup Qatar 2022 journey ended – they brought joy and hope to everyone that the rise of the underdogs, alongside South Korea is just the beginning.
