Japan showed their class on and off the pitch as they pulled off a stunning 2-1 victory over Germany at the World Cup.
After sensational goals from Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano completed an incredible comeback against the 2014 champions, the Samurai Blue players and staff left their dressing room spotless, while travelling supporters unselfishly cleaned the stands of the Khalifa International Stadium.
In typically classy fashion, Japan's fans stayed behind well after full-time to tidy their zone - as opposed to simply revelling in their nation's triumph and disregarding the stadium workers' gruelling post-match duties. The players and staff, meanwhile, celebrated in the dressing room but still left it in dazzling condition in a show of respect which speaks volumes about their humility.
And not only was it an immaculate sight to see the dressing room cleaned up, but the team even left behind some wonderful origami and a message of gratitude. While television cameras picked up their supporters' good work, FIFA highlighted Japan's spick and span efforts behind the scenes in a post on their Twitter account.
"After an historic victory against Germany at the #FIFAWorldCup on Match Day 4, Japan fans cleaned up their rubbish in the stadium, whilst the Samurai Blue left their changing room at Khalifa International Stadium like this," the tweet read. "Spotless. Domo Arigato (Thank you)."
It only made Japan's win more heartwarming - unless you're German, of course. Having gone behind in the first half through a Ilkay Gundogan penalty, Hajime Moriyasu's team didn't let their heads drop and staged comeback not unlike Saudi Arabia 's against Argentina the day before.
Now Japan can take a huge step towards reaching the knockout rounds beating Group E opponents Costa Rica on Sunday. The Samurai Blue will go into the clash as favourites, as Spain demolished the Central American side 7-0 on Wednesday - a comprehensive triumph which nearly threatened to overshadow Japan's heroics.
Manager Moriyasu couldn't have enough praise of his players, as he was delighted with their determination to turn the game around when the odds were stacked against them. "We are reaching the global standard. We are showing our capability from Asian football," Moriyasu affirmed.
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"They have a wonderful goalkeeper however, our players were very intelligent. When we conceded a goal, we continued. You have to be persistent, then you can go. Our team fought really hard. We need to be tough until the very last minute and then we can grab this moment. Maybe we could show that Japanese players have been building up to their true abilities."
Winning goalscorer Asano, who plays his club football in Germany with second-tier side Bochum, beamed after his super sub impact: "It is a dream come true. We knew we could do it, we had a dream like this. We watched the Saudi game and thought we can do it – then we just did it today."
Captain and former Southampton centre-back Maya Yoshida humbly added: "Big win, massive win. But it is still tough to go through. It is absolutely amazing though, we have to be humble and very careful. We present Asia and many supporters from Asia supporting us today. This is the beauty of football."
He's absolutely right.
