On Wednesday (November 23), during their Group E encounter against Germany, the Japanese football team won hearts of millions with their outstanding performance on the field. In support of their team, the Japanese fans even did something extraordinary that is winning the hearts of people across the world.
Japan overcame a goal deficit to defeat four-time World Cup winners Germany 2-1 in the FIFA World Cup Group E match on Wednesday at Khalifa International Stadium. After the stunning win, Japanese fans were spotted cleaning up the litter before leaving the stadium. The generous act has garnered applaud from all over the world as several video clips of the incident surfaced online and created a major buzz, especially amongst the soccer enthusiasts.
In some of the viral clips, the Japanese fans can also be seen helping the ground crew to clean up the mess inside the stadium.
Watch:
Tidying up after one of their greatest #FIFAWorldCup wins 👏
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 24, 2022
Huge respect to these Japanese fans 🙌 #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/RVwLwykPeq
The world has seen Japanese fans acting in the same manner before. In fact, they have kept the same admirable conduct in earlier editions of the tournament as well.
Speaking of the match, Japan defeated Germany in a remarkable victory. The Asian team was down by one goal to none at the break, but they didn't let their guard down and came out firing in the second half to pull off an incredible comeback and defeat the Germans.
Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano scored goals for the Japanese squad, while Ilkay Gündoan converted a penalty kick into a goal for Germany in the first half.
Japan increased their hopes of making it to the Round of 16 of the 2017 FIFA World Cup with a victory over Hansi Flick's team. Japan will advance to the Round of 16 if they defeat Costa Rica on Sunday (November 27) and Germany loses or ties their match against Spain. In that scenario, they would have six points, which neither Germany nor Costa Rica could match.
On the other hand, the match on Wednesday was held the day following Argentina's shocking 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia. In an apparent response to FIFA for stopping plans to wear armbands to protest prejudice in the host nation Qatar, Germany's players covered their mouths during the team photo before Wednesday's game.
Germany's sports minister Nancy Faeser attended the game at the Khalifa International Stadium and was seated next to Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, while sporting the identical OneLove armband that FIFA had forbade with fears of repercussions.
