Celebrations in the streets of Japan after historic World Cup victory

Dancing in the streets.

Sulaiman Daud | June 20, 2018, 01:44 PM

For World Cup fans, you may have watched Japan defeat Colombia 2-1 on June 19.

The Blue Samurai roared to a great start after Carlos Sánchez was sent off for a deliberate handball in the penalty box in just under three minutes.

Shinji Kagawa, the former Manchester United player, calmly converted his spot kick and the Japanese were flying high.

They were brought back down to earth when Juan Quintero scored a clever free-kick, rolling it under the "wall" of players who all jumped in anticipation of a high ball.

Japan's keeper Eiji Kawashima could not get to the ball in time, and the score was tied-up at 1-1.

Despite their disadvantage in numbers, Colombia were fighting back.

But their resistance crumbled when Yuya Osako headed home for what proved to be the winner.

History maker

This win turned out to be a milestone as well.

This was the first time in World Cup finals history that an Asian football team had managed to beat a South American team.

The previous record was 14 losses and three draws for Asian teams.

The very first game between the two groups? A draw between Chile and North Korea in the 1966 World Cup in England.

Celebrate good times

The players were happy, like midfielder Genki Haraguchi:

"Thank you. This victory was won by everyone. I want to keep fighting for Japan."

The fans back home were watching in rapt anticipation too:

"Japan's national football team yesterday. Very excited!"

Crowds gathered in schools, offices, and even the streets:

People even crowded the world-famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing to celebrate.

Apparently, they were fans leaving the bars and pubs near the intersection after the match was over.

The fans at the stadium in Russia did themselves proud too.

After the victory, they took the time to clean up after themselves.

Both fans and players can be proud of themselves.

Top image from @oono201's Twitter page.

 

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