“More than just a game” – Japan & India’s U17 Football Teams Praised For Cleaning Stadium After Match

The 2023 U-17 Asian Cup is currently underway in Thailand, with football fans being treated to a spectacular goal fest yesterday when the Indian U-17 team faced their Japanese counterparts in the last 16 playoffs.

Of course, the Japanese team, three-time champions of the competition, were clear favourites and ended up victorious but the Indian team never gave up throughout the match.

Japan ended up winning 8-4 and the final score pretty much sums up the entertaining encounter; a match that would long be remembered by both teams’ fans and by neutrals.

While the match itself is headline-worthy, what happened after the match also caught the attention of the global world as both U-17 teams show great sportsmanship and exemplary behaviour off the field.

As shared by the official IFTWC – Indian Football Twitter account, both U-17 national teams showed that football is more than just a game and worked together to ensure the stadium was clean before leaving.

In a photo, players from the enthralling match forego competitiveness on the field and joined forces to collect used water bottles throughout the stadium.

Of course, this is not something new for Japan, as the country’s senior national team and fans have always been known to clean up the venue they’re at after the matches.

Awesome! Let’s hope that something like this would be followed by other sports teams out there <3

What do you guys think? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

Also read: Special Fan’s ‘Siuu’ Cheer for Harimau Malaya Makes Crowd Roar in Excitement at T’ganu Stadium