There were no tears, no histrionics — just streams of weary, despondent Samurai Blue fans trudging out of bars and into the rain-slicked streets of Tokyo early Tuesday morning as Japan’s World Cup dream came to a disappointing end.
After a night that began with optimism and was boosted by a well-deserved goal just before the halftime whistle, Japan seemed to run out of steam as extra time dragged into penalties, missing three out of four spot kicks and handing Croatia — finalists in 2018 — passage into the quarterfinals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
“I’m disappointed that we lost, but the Samurai Blue did very well,” said 22-year-old Kanta Mukunashi, one of several young fans waiting in the rain in Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood for the trains to start running. “We just didn’t have any luck (with the penalties) and that is why we lost.”