Doha: Japanese fans stole the spotlight at the World Cup in Qatar, even though their country’s national team has not yet played its first match in the World Cup.
Dozens of Japanese fans were present in the stands of Al-Bayt Stadium, to follow the opening ceremony of the World Cup, and to watch the first match in the 22nd edition of the World Cup, on Sunday, November 20, 2022, between the teams of Qatar— the host country and Ecuador.
Japanese fans clean the stands of the home stadium
After the end of the opening match, a large number of these fans remained in the stands and did not leave the home stadium, for a task.
A Twitter user Omar Farouk, published a video clip, commenting on it by saying, “Something you did not see at the opening of the World Cup,” attaching the comment with the flag of Japan.
The video showed a number of Japanese fans cleaning the stands, collecting water bottles, and leftovers left by the fans, after the end of the 2022 World Cup opening match, at Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor city.
Farouk said that when he was asked about the reason for removing the waste, they responded by saying, “We Japanese do not leave waste behind, and we respect the place.”
Tweeters described the Japanese audience as a sophisticated audience, considering that it provides practical lessons in everything, saying, “We respect you, and this is a message to the Arab masses.”
Japanese tradition
The Japanese, in the past too carried out such gestures. After the end of their match against Belgium, in the final eight, of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
That match ended with a severe loss in the fatal time, with two goals to three, but that did not prevent the Japanese from cleaning the stands of the Rostov Arena, to get the attention of the whole year.
That position was not the only one for the Japanese, but they did so after their national team beat Scotland 2-1, in the group stage of the Women’s World Cup, which was held in France in 2019.
The opening match of the 2022 World Cup witnessed the loss of the Qatar national team to its Ecuadorian counterpart, with two goals without a response, scored by the expert player, Ener Valencia.
