Fans and supporters extended their appreciation and encouragement to Japan's football players on Tuesday after they exited the World Cup in a stinging shootout loss to Croatia.While the Samurai Blue were unsuccessful in their bid to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time, many people were hopeful of the team's future after earlier witnessing strong performances including thrilling comeback wins against giants Germany and Spain."I didn't expect them to come this far, and I felt their real strength," said Wataru Kakuta, 32, who was among the many businessmen in Tokyo who…READ FULL ARTICLE
