Nothing can beat the impression of leaving the place neat and clean before leaving and that’s what Senegalese and Japanese fans did after they celebrated their World Cup wins. To leave a finest first impression, when you visit someone’s house, the rule of thumb is to take the plate to the kitchen and then wash it.
The fans of these two nations followed the rule when they watched their teams playing at the Fifa World Cup Russia. After watching their team winning their opening matches, the fans stayed in the stadium to clean the mess they created during the match. In their opening matches, Japan beat Colombia by 2-1 and similarly, Senegal beat Poland by 2-1. Instead of going to the bars, the fans of the nations decided to stay back to clear the mess.
Senegal fans cleaning up their part of the stadium after their victory against Poland is the best thing you’ll see today👏🇸🇳 pic.twitter.com/nhojG0CHaU
— PF | World Cup🏆 (@PurelyFootball) June 19, 2018
The step was highly praised on the social media as the fans showed the humble nature while cleaning the mess. In their match against Poland, Senegal team took advantage from the opponent’s mistakes and scored twice. After the match, Aliou Cisse, the Senegal coach said that he is proud of his boys for putting a tremendous display on the pitch. Japan then followed Senegal in cleaning the mess after their team defeated Colombia.
Before the match, fans came with a lot of rubbish bags and after the match, they picked those bags and made the surface as clean as it was when they arrived at the stadium.
This is my favourite moment of the World Cup so far; Japan fans picking up litter after their victory vs Columbia. The lessons in life we can take from the game. Why I support 🇯🇵 #class✅#respect✅#WorldCup pic.twitter.com/FyYLhAGDbi
— Christopher McKaig (@Coachmckaig) June 19, 2018
In an interview to BBC, Scott McIntyre, a Japanese journalist said that it’s not a football culture but the Japanese culture. Scott further said that everyone knows that football reflects the culture of a nation and that’s what Japanese culture is all about.
Japanese culture involves keeping things neat and clean, the journalist added. Many people applauded the act and expressed that every nation should follow this practice. The journalist wasn’t surprised with this act as he was already aware of the good nature of Samurai Blue fans.
A Nigerian fan took this act to next level as he tagged the Nigerian team and said that if actions like this bring victory, then it should only make sense to clean the whole stadium. Japanese fans went wild when their team beat Colombia which secured the first victory against a South American team.
After beating Colombia, the fans remained seated in the stadium and started cleaning rows and the stadium seats. Senegal fans were seen copying this habit from the Japanese but it was Samurai Blue fans who pioneered this habit. Many foreign fans who came to Russia were surprised by this act.
Mr. McIntyre further said people often throw a bottle or a piece of garbage and then get a tap on the back from the Japanese who told them to pick it up or take it home, but not leave the trash here.
A professor of sociology Scott North explained this habit in a simple way. He said that Japanese kids are taught to clean their classrooms and halls from the early days and that’s the thing that makes them clean a football stadium. After that this childhood learning becomes a habit for them, the professor continued. He further said that there is no better stage other than the World Cup to demonstrate the passion to keep the planet alive.
Cleaning up at the events like World Cup is the way Japanese fans demonstrate pride of their nation. McIntyre then added that it does not mean that other countries have less passion than the Japanese but it simply teaches others about the duty they must perform in order to keep the planet clean.
He further said that, to many people, this looks boring but that’s how Japanese show their tradition and respect for the beautiful game of football. In the end, the journalist said that this is the beauty of football that it brings people from different nations to come together and then share good things like this.