Japanese fans complained that their team lost 3-1 on penalties to Croatia at the World Cup in Qatar, dashing their dreams of progressing to the quarter-finals.
Some Japanese fans watched the match in a sports bar in the capital, Tokyo, and the rain and midnight didn’t stop them from staying out.
Fans had hoped Japan would reach the quarterfinals for the first time, but were very disappointed.
“My heart broke,” university student Shun Hasegawa, 21, said tearfully as he described the moment Japan lost on penalties.
“The penalty shootout decided the match. Japan had an equal chance of winning or losing. I think the penalty shootout is like playing a lottery. It breaks my heart every time I remember Japan had 50% chance to win”.
Before that, the Japanese celebrated madly for their side’s lead through Daisen Maeda in the 43rd minute before Ivan Perisic equalized with a header 10 minutes into the second half, but the sides remained level for the rest of the grueling 120 minutes. encounter.
Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Levakovic saved three penalty shots as his side earned a 3-1 victory over Japan on penalties to advance to the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup for the third time.
Levakovic saved attempts by Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma and Maya Yoshida in the penalty shootout before sending Japan goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda’s Mario Pasalic the wrong way to set up a match for the Croatia national team in the quarter-finals with Brazil.
“It was so much fun watching the match from start to finish,” said Ryusuke Kabe, 35. “I’ll never forget it.
“Every player gave their all and we are very satisfied with the team’s performance.”
Japan came from behind impressively to beat 2010 champions Spain 2-1 to reach the knockout stages for the fourth time after starting the tournament with another surprise win over Germany before losing to Costa Rica.
