Japan have quickly become a fan favourite at the 2022 Qatar World Cup and it has nothing to do with their play on the pitch.
The Asian powerhouse pulled off the stunning upset victory on Thursday morning when they toppled Germany 2-1 in their opening group stage encounter.
Watch the world’s best footballers every week with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. LIVE coverage from Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A, Carabao Cup, EFL & SPFL. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
The stunning win landed Japan a host of new fans, but it was what they did after the game that melted hearts.
Japanese fans won the world over after the opening game of the World Cup between Qatar and Ecuador.
Videos uploaded to social media showed fans staying behind long after the match had ended, walking around the stadium cleaning up.
Their classy act was captured on video by Bahraini influencer Omar Al-Farooq, who shared the clip with his 2.6 million followers on Instagram. It has been watched more than 7 million times.
Now the national team has followed suit.
After pulling off the upset victory, an image of the Japanese changerooms was uploaded to social media showing the room in a spotless condition.
The entire room was neat and tidy with everything packed up perfectly on the table in the middle of the room.
But if that wasn’t enough, they also left behind 10 origami cranes with a sign on the table reportedly says “thanks”.
It’s not the first time the nation have left the dressing room in a spotless state at a World Cup. During the 2018 World Cup in Russia, after being knocked out by Belgium the team left the room in perfect condition and left a “thank you” note in Russian on the table.
After the Asian Cup in 2019 the team tidied everything up and left a similar note, this time on the whiteboard, in English, Arabic and Japanese saying thank you.
Germany came to Qatar under huge pressure to avoid the disaster of 2018, when they failed to make it out of the group stage in Russia as World Cup holders.
Hansi Flick’s side took the lead through a first-half penalty from Ilkay Gundogan and should have been out of sight after creating a host of chances.
But Japan hung on and equalised through substitute Ritsu Doan in the 75th minute.
Takuma Asano then completed a remarkable turnaround eight minutes later, smashing the ball home to send the Japanese bench and their boisterous fans wild.
To add to the storyline, both Doan and Asano play in the German Bundesliga. “The players came together as one team, we prepared well and we stuck in there, and that’s what led to the win,” said Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu.
“Lots of our fans have come to Doha and they were behind us pushing us on. I want us to keep a level head after this and look at what we could have done better and look to win the next match.” Germany’s World Cup future is now once again on the line, with games to come in Group E against Spain and Costa Rica.
“We made it too easy for Japan. I don’t know if an easier goal has ever been scored at a World Cup,” Gundogan told Germany’s ARD TV network.
“This must not happen to us.” Thomas Mueller told Germany’s Magenta TV it was “ludicrous that we are now standing here with a defeat.” Japan meanwhile are eyeing a place in the knockout round after a dramatic comeback that scarcely looked possible at halftime.
“It’s another outrageous result here in Qatar,” commentator Martin Tyler said in near disbelief at the full time whistle. He wasn’t wrong.
