Everyone was talking about the “fair play” of the Japanese outside the field. For the “noble competition” of the fans in the Doha stadiums, who, instead of leaving at the final whistle and continuing the celebration, remained in the stadium and collected garbage from the stands, at the same time the team players “lit up” the dressing room, leaving their unwashed clothes folded “on place”, like origami on the bench, as a souvenir from the kindest team that set foot in Qatar this year. On the other side of Asia, the Japanese celebrated wholeheartedly on the streets of Tokyo, but only when they had a green light for pedestrians.

All these were “meteorties” of the struggle between in Germany and Japan in the group stage, in which the “samurai” achieved the “impossible”: beat a strong team like Germany, answering a goal from Gundogan with a goal from Doan, and then another from Asano, achieving a triumphant 1-2.

And after the “impossible” came the “miracle”. The Japanese, the underdog team that responds to football kangaroo haircuts with unfortunate platinum cups, they defeated another behemoth, Spain.

“Furia Roja” entered the field, wanting to show “who’s in charge here”, with mora send the ball into the net in the 11th minute and “fix” (that they knew) the match from the very first minutes.

And then came the second half. The Samurai sharpened their swords and had already scored two goals by the 51st minute, with Doan and Tanaka quickly changing the score. Japan took first place in their group, leaving behind Spain, Germany and Costa Rica.

While the Japanese were making history at the Khalifa International Stadium, the night promises to be a thriller about what is happening at the Al-Bayt Stadium and the match between in Costa Rica and Germany.

Seriously, maybe everyone will calm down for a second 😵‍💫

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 1, 2022

For 3 minutes everything hung in the air: Japan and Costa Rica each scored 2 goals, while Spain and Germany scored 1 each. For a while, the “small” countries left the “big” ones out of the next phase.

But how; Even FIFA couldn’t believe the roller coaster going on in two parallel windows (tough night for those suffering from football FOMO) tweeting: “Really, can everyone calm down for a second?”

Finally, at the final whistle, the score was written. 1-2 in favor of the Japanese and 2-4 in favor of the Germans, and so they took the first two places in the group Japan and Spain get a ticket to the 1/8 finals. Japan makes history and history is made with Stephanie Frapar, who became the first female referee to boo a World Cup match in Al Beit.

All the world on Thursday night rightfully fell on Blue Samurai. Yes, Japan can now say that it has beaten two countries that have won the World Cup in the past. And not only that, but, despite the enslaving politeness, they managed to put the most controversial goal of this year’s World Cup so far at the 51st minute. Not only because he was the one who sent Germany out, but also because, no matter how many times you watch it on replay, the ball insists on showing how far it flies before it reaches Tanaka’s feet, which rightly leads some people to conjure up images like the one below.

The new flag of Japan. #Japan pic.twitter.com/KBHOP8wZoF

— Not match of the day (@NOT_MOTD) December 1, 2022

But these are beautiful paradoxes of football. Win 4-2 and be eliminated from the 1/8 finals. Lose and move on. Score an important goal, making the whole planet question what it sees. Be a “safe” team and lead the group. To give your fans such fresh and strong joy precisely because it was not a given. To give everyone else the roller coaster night that anyone who has ever fallen in love with football wants to live forever.