Olympic Games London 2012 ~ Japan wins historic victory over Spain in men's soccer

Konnichiwa...sempena Sukan Olimpik London 2012 yg bakal dirasmikan pd 27 julai 2012 ini(harini)..di blog ni jg aku nk update mengenai sukan Olimpik..Mungkin ade yg dh tahu berita sukan menegenai pasukan Bola Sepak Jepun mengalahkan pasukan Spain,dgn kemenangan 1-0 malam tadi di Hampden Park...pehh..memg mengejutkan bukan..

Di Jepun, boleh dikatakn semua media massa & media cetak menyiarkan kemenangan tersebut...Semua sedia maklum Sepanyol merupakan pasukan JUARA DUNIA & JUARA EROPAH..Ini merupakan sejarah terbesar bola sepak Olimpik..

Yuki Otsu yg menjaringkan gol ketika menentang Sepanyol

Berita Lanjut sperti dibawah ..

GLASGOW — Japan staged the first upset of the London Olympics on Thursday, beating world and two-time European champions Spain 1-0 thanks to Yuki Otsu's first-half strike at Hampden Park.

Japan had never beaten Spain at any age group, and the win will certainly go down as one of the most historic feats for the nation at the Summer Games alongside their 1-0 victory over Brazil at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Japan have not medaled in men's soccer since the 1968 Mexico Games, where they won a bronze, and have not made it out of the group phase since Sydney 12 years ago. At the last Olympics in Beijing, they lost all three games in the first round.

The three points also put Takashi Sekizuka's side on top of Group D with Morocco and Honduras sharing the spoils in a 2-2 draw from the first match.

Japan delighted the near capacity crowd of 37,726 from the first half with an unexpectedly strong performance against one of the tournament favorites.

Spain fielded a stellar cast including three from this summer's Euro-winning team, Juan Mata, Jordi Alba and Javi Martinez. But while they saw far more time on the ball, they could never penetrate Japan's well marshaled back line.


The Spaniards had just one shot on target before halftime, Mata's solo effort in the 25th minute that FC Tokyo custodian Shuichi Gonda parried away into safety.

In stark contrast to their 2-1 win over Mexico last week, when they sat back and played the Central Americans off the break, Japan pushed up and defended aggressively from the front, with Kensuke Nagai troubling the Spain defenders with his trademark pace.

The tide turned in the 33rd minute when Japan won a corner from the right, which Takahiro Ogihara swung for the far post.

Captain and center-half Maya Yoshida drew the defense to leave Otsu unmarked before the Borussia Monchengladbach striker hit past Manchester United keeper David de Gea for his team's first goal of the Games.

The complexion of the match changed in the 40th minute when Nagai, as the last man before de Gea, was hauled down by Inigo Martinez just outside the box.

American referee Mark Geiger dealt the Real Sociedad defender a straight red card, putting Spain in a ditch they could not have imagined they would be in before kickoff.

Japan suddenly found themselves in control, creating several clear-cut opportunities — but failed to capitalize on all of them to keep Spain in the game.


Keigo Higashi drew a save from de Gea in the 50th minute before Nagai fired wide right on the run, followed by another miss by Hiroshi Kiyotake.

Japan began slowing down with about 20 minutes to go and saw right-back Hiroki Sakai come off on his own in the 73rd minute with a left-ankle injury, which does not bode well for the Morocco game.

As Japan's feet stopped moving, Spain found their second wind, putting their opponents on the backfoot but the Asian champions held on through four minutes of injury time to triumph.

Prior to Japan's win, Morocco opened the scoring in the 38th minute through an Abdelaziz Barrada volley before Jerry Bengtson leveled for Honduras on 55 minutes.

Bengtson made it 2-1 from the spot four minutes past the hour but the lead proved to be short-lived as Zakaria Labyad restored parity just three minutes later.

Morocco went down a man in the 71st minute when defender Zakarya Bergdich drew a straight red card, but Honduras failed to capitalize on the advantage before the final whistle.

Sumber : The Japan Times

p/s : Semoga berjaya juga utk atlit Malaysia yg turut bertanding Sukan Olimpik London 2012..=)