The possibility exists that Tuesday's Rakuten Cup match between Barcelona and Chelsea was being considered by some influential soccer figure or another as an audition for Japan's inclusion in the increasingly popular International Champions Cup, the international preseason tournament that is currently taking place across six countries on three continents.
If that's the case, it's hard to argue that the performance was good enough for a callback.
The first-ever match between two European sides in Japan, which finished 2-1 in favor of the Premier League representatives, would have struggled under normal circumstances to match the last four months of Rakuten-generated hype.