Sport is cruel, and football even more so. But even though Japan lost to Belgium last night in a thrilling 3-2 comeback for the Red Devils, the Japanese showed even more class after the match.
Their dressing room was left spotless, and even more heartwarming (or heartbreaking) was the brief note left by the team.
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It read “thank you” in Russian.
“This is the Japanese dressingroom after losing to Belgium in the 94’ minute,” tweeted a FIFA official.
“Thanked their fans in the stadium, cleaned up everything (bench and dressingroom) and spoke to media. Even left note with ‘thank you’ in Russian. What an example for all teams!! Privilege to work with!”
The tweet was later deleted, but received over 44 000 retweets and 78 000 likes prior.
The image also found its way onto Reddit, where it’s currently heading the Front Page with 23 000 positive karma and over 860 comments.
Japanese team leaves a “thank you” note in Russian inside their locker room despite their heartbreaking 2-3 defeat to Belgium. from r/pics
The World Cup continues tonight as England play Colombia and Sweden face Switzerland in the final two round of 16 matches.
Feature image: screenshot, Priscilla Janssens via Twitter/Google Cache