World Cup 2018: 3 things we should learn from Japan and its fans

#2 The fight to win attitude

The Blue Samurais looked like causing yet another upset at one point

Japan was very much criticised for refusing to make a forward pass in the final minutes of their final group stage against Poland despite trailing by one goal. However, what they did in the pre-quarters against Belgium was completely different.

They were aware of Belgium's flaws and knew exactly where to strike. They made sure that the team's defence was intact and were clinical when they got their chance.

Japan didn't stop once Genki Haraguchi gave his side the lead. They kept looking for the right opportunity to strike again and within no time they did. Just after four minutes of the first goal, Takashi Inui doubled the side's lead with an exceptional strike.

In a match where many had written of Japan even before the kick-off, it seemed that they were going to cause some serious upset and that too in a very convincing manner. However, a timely double substitution and a goal put Belgium right back in the game.

Another five minutes were all it took for the Red Devils to equalise. It seemed better for Japan to defend hard and see off the ninety minutes. Astonishingly they didn't.

Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa, two of Japan's most experienced players, received a lot of stick for trying to go for a cross into the Belgium box rather than keeping the ball and waiting for the final whistle when the Asian side got a last minute corner.

That corner was received as a result of Thibaut Courtois making a solid save to deny an equally good freekick from Honda. Even this decision by the Japanese international was criticised as many think it would have been a smarter option to keep possession of the ball than trying to score.

However, the attitude of Honda and co need to be praised rather than condemned. What the audience wanted (and expected) from them was to let the time pass by and try to get the game to penalties. But what they did at that moment was what any big team would have done. They believed they could score. They believed they could beat one of the best teams in the world and that should make Asia proud.