In the final round of the Paris Olympic men’s football group stage, Japan defeated Israel 1-0 and secured first place in Group D with a perfect record of wins.
In the quarterfinals, the Japanese team will face Spain, who finished second in Group C. This marks the consecutive tournament where the two teams meet after their semi-final clash in the Tokyo Olympics.
The Japanese media outlet, “Hochi News,” points out that Spain, the European champions, is one of the few European teams that takes the Olympics seriously. Several players from Spain’s victorious Euro squad this summer, such as Pedri, Olmo, and Unai Simón, also participated in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
In this Olympic tournament, Spain achieved a record of two wins and one loss in the group stage. They lost 1-2 to Egypt in the third round, finishing second in their group, but they had already secured their spot in the next round after winning 2-1 against Uzbekistan in the first match and 3-1 against the Dominican Republic in the second. Although their group stage opponents were relatively weak, Spain had already secured their advancement by the second round.
In the match against Egypt, Spain made significant changes to their starting lineup, rotating out ten key players to conserve strength for the knockout stages.
Spain has made full use of the three overage player slots in this Olympic tournament. Players like Aitor Miranda from Betis, Sergio Gómez from Manchester City, and Abel Ruiz from Braga have become key players and performed exceptionally well. Eric García from Barcelona is participating in his second Olympics; he played against Japan in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
In the semi-finals of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Japan faced Spain. The match ended 0-0 and went into extra time. Japan relied on strong defensive efforts from overage players such as Maya Yoshida, Hiroki Sakai, and Wataru Endo to hold off Spain’s attacks. However, in the 10th minute of the second half of extra time, Spanish overage player Marco Asensio scored with his left foot, securing the decisive goal.
If Spain wins in the quarterfinals, they will face the winner of the Morocco versus USA match in the semi-finals.
