Asensio gives Spain a place in the men's Olympic final

Spain have made it through to the men's Olympic football final after beating Japan 1-0 in extra-time. Nobody managed to score, or even create any dangerous chances, until Marco Asensio took advantage of a defensive lapse to send his left-footed shot into the back of the net. Spain fought throughout the match to win and were better, although Japan also had chances to win. 

There was no clear favourite for this match, because Japan are the hosts and had not lost a match yet and also because Spain had not been playing well. However, the individual quality of Luis de la Fuente's players settled the match for the Europeans.

Japan tried to take the initiative on several occasions during the match, but Spain dominated ball possession. It was a game with few chances, except in extra-time, but it should be noted that the first shot on target for both teams came in the second half. 

Few chances, but quite good. Spain had 6 shots on target and could only score one, that was because Japan's goalkeeper Tani Kosei had a great game. Japan only had one shot at Unai Simon's goal, who also had a good game, but he had less work to do than his opposite number. 

The match went into extra-time and that's when it started to get a bit livelier. A lot of suffering for both sets of fans until the 115th minute, Marco Asensio managed to score a great goal with his left foot which was out of Kosei's reach and that single goal gave Spain the victory.

The final will be on 7th August against Brazil, the reigning Olympic gold medallists from Rio 2016. The match will take place at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama and both teams will be fighting for the gold medal, yet they are already guaranteed a medal for their country. 

 

August 3, 2021