Japan's formal football structures are much newer, as compared to a majority of other nations in the World Cup.

But the grassroots level implementation of the sport, the inculcation into the education of children, making sure that young players play games across the calendar, formalising the operation of local leagues and their memberships and using foreign resources in the best way possible is how they did it.

Over the years, their mass culture has been used to propagate the positives values around football and how it unites communities. All of this has made football a part of Japan's identity, if not the victories over Germany and Spain.

It is the exact opposite of how the game is viewed in a host of other countries, where a process of imposition from the very top is followed.