Japan shocks Spain 1-0 in men's Olympic soccer opener

It's a mystery why Britain made a team for this too.

Very mysterious. It would make far more sense for the host nation to skip the tournament.

Yeah, I read the title. Perhaps you were more shocked than most, huh?

No. Because stuff like that happens in sport.

Anyway, Olympic football is dull. It's under 23 football with a couple of older players. Dull.

It's a mystery why Britain made a team for this too.

Well done, Kirin Blue Samurai Jr! The mind boggles as to how dominant Japan may be in the next couple of decades in soccer with all these world-class kids coming through. Dare I say it, but they have the chance to basically become the next Brazil. And they managed to annihilate Spain without the great Kagawa. I'd imagine the sponsors product would be flowing pretty freely in the team right now!

Congrats to the Japanese team, I was at the game at Hampden, Spain started the game the better team, then broke apart. Japan should have been 6+ up by the end of it!

Spain fielded a stellar cast including three from this summer's Euro-winning team, Juan Mata, Jordi Alba and Javi Martinez..... Go Japan you were great!!!

Hurrah! Gambarre nippon.a good start. Keep it up to the finals.

Let us not forget that Spain won the Uefa u-21 championship last year. Those players, such as Adrian - the tournament's leading scorer, are on the current u-23 team.

in the end they beat Spain in a competitive match...might have been lucky but thats the game. any country that did would be entitled to be happy. having said that the should have won 5-0.as usual a lack of sense and composure in front of goal nearly cost them.If it had been the other way round the spanish would have scored all those chances. I love football and have been here 15 years and notice the japanese are very skillful.what they lack is a bit of instinct to put both chances and other teams to the kill. In true japanese style the have a system that works and it works most of the time.They wont win it though as they lack that extra X factor but why not enjoy it As a football snob I never rated the olympics as a tournament but it is enjoyable as the players seem to enjoy themselves more and there are less theatrics than in the world cup /Euros. Isnt the olympics about watching the events and enjoying the moment and the joy you can get from the unexpected. So yeah for sure the real spain would beat the real japan team but in this case the underdog won and they won in a pleasant way the didnt play dirty they didnt time waste etc so fair play Japan in many ways

Congaratulation! Japan

Great stuff, I hope they go all the way!

Japan beats Spain in soccer, unbelievable.............

WoW - the samurais rock big time! This must be the biggest life achievement of Mr Zaccharoni! Way to go, Japan!

Very promising start!

Missed the opening goal, but congrats to Japan. Was shocked to turn on the TV when I did and see Japan winning against Spain. Hopefully they keep playing like this and provide more upsets. Spain had some AWESOME ball control through what I DID manage to see, but they couldn't get close enough to the net, which is testament to Japan's defense.

Good games so far!

Well done Japan's B team! Hope for the future...

Must have been shocking for Spain, but probably just what they needed to get revved up.

Three of Spain's A team (Euro) are included this team, though they might not have been on the ground yesterday.... don't forget that this is also Japan's B-team too...I think they should be congratulated!!! Japan could have included Kagawa and top players but they didn't. Yoshida as a senior member played a fanatstic game last night. Good job guys!!

They beat the world champions, really a shock. Well, this proves that there's more than a hairdo when J-men enter the field.

Actually no. Spain won the Euro 2012. None of those players in that competition can play in the Olympics. Also only three players are allowed to be over 23. So Japan beat Spain's B team. Still a good game and result.

"Japan Shocks Spain..." is not a good title because it underestimates the Beautiful Games the Japanese have been playing for some years now. So, "Japan Beats Spain..." would have been a fair title. Good Job The Samurai Blue!

WOW, did a couple of the J-ladies side sneak in there & give the men a needed boost!

Congratulation to Japan. Japan team has done German team has never done before. On the contrast to Japan, Germany has never beaten Spain since 2008. Germany has never beaten Italy in major tournaments from 1932. It is a regular semi finalist. However it is not good enough for final. It is true that Olympic soccer is inferior than World cup or Euro Championship. However it is stepping stone for next big World cup for Japan Man team. Woman team has already won the world cup. Therefore Japan man team has to learn from woman team.

Hopefully Japan may reach to quater final in 2014 world cup. However Spain and Italy has never performed their best in Group stage. They will display her their best in knock off stage. Unlikely that Japan will get the gold medal in Olympic.

A shocker indeed!!! Well done!!!

Spain had 65% possession, Japan 35%. Yet Japan had 12 shots (5 on goal) while limiting Spain to 6 (3 shots on goal). granted, 10 vs 11. but Japan defended amazingly and Nagai especially was quick and gave Spain nightmares in the back. Their counterattacks was very effective, but wasting so many good chances. Japan victory wasn't due to just luck or a fluke, Japan played extremely well against a top team with many young prospects.

The only team that got LUCKY was Spain. If you actually watched the match you would have seen they were lucky not to end up with a hammering. This was a terrific performance by a very good Japanese side. Spain ARE European champions at this level and were obviously overly complacent from the off. If Japan had a striker who knew where the goal was, it could've been a total embarrassment.

Way to go Japan!

masterbape, papigiulio : ever heard of Mata, Alba, Martínez? They all played for Spain when they won the Euro 2012. Does Japan have Honda, Kagawa, Nagatomo on their team?

I guess it was worth flying Business Class after all...

Japan's defense deserves the credit, they stayed in their lanes in front of goal. I don't think Spain had even one decent look at goal. It's not often you botch three golden scoring changes, like Japan did,and still win.

Good. No I will never hear the end of how great the Japanese football team is. Smugly smiling co-workers will look soo proud and think these boys are the cream of the crop when in reality they just got lucky. Or maybe it's got something to do with the hair after all...?

the Spanish team is the under-23's

So is the Japanese team.

So this is NOT the actual team that won the WC and EC then yes I find it weird people are saying that Japan beat the strongest team.

But still a win is a win.

Which country are they fighting next?

Very pleased with the result,beat them at their own game,maybe Spain might wake up　soon...

" A champion team, will beat a team of champions" Always..

"If Japan plays 10 games against them, Japan will lose nine games."

Less drivel, more dribble, please!

Didn't watch it but what I do know is that we'll never hear the end of it and there'll be endless replays on TV - one reason why I sold that TV of mine a few years back. I'd rather watch Japanese teams while I'm abroad.

Look at the other results. Britain and Senegal drew 1-1, Switzerland and Gabon drew 1-1. This is a tournament which included Iraq and Nigeria as medal winners in the last 2 Olympics. Anything can happen! Especially when a lot of the top nations cannot compete.

Probie

Yeah, I read the title. Perhaps you were more shocked than most, huh?

Did you read the article?

beating medal favorites Spain 1-0 with pace and guile in a match that could have ended in a rout had the finishing been more accurate.

You'd better stick to Ice Hockey.

Great that they won. They fully deserved it. The only regret is that they could have made even stronger worldwide impact if they successfully executed all those other golden scoring opportunities winning 4-0. Alex Morgan in her tweet criticizes those finishing misses saying they were "just embarrassing".

As good a win as it was, the Spanish team is the under-23's and not the team that has been dominant on the international scene for the past few years.

Still, a good win nonetheless.

It was an entertaining game. I'm no football expert but I have to agree with mrkobayashi. For the last 15 or so minutes Spain was in a panic. With a bit more accuracy Japan could have easily won 3-0.

tmarie Jul. 27, 2012 - 08:06AM JST They played well. Spain looked like a bunch of prima donnas and deserved the lose. Hoping the women and the men do well.

Right now, Spain soccer team is better than everybody. If Japan plays 10 games against them, Japan will lose nine games. If Japan win or draw, it means everything went perfectly for your side. Spain's style is a demanding, disciplined on ball control, excellent passing and technical skills. Japan cannot carry Spain's jock strap.

timtak, it was on NHK from 10pm. The actual game started around 10:45. I'm sure all the games will be televised.

Probie, did you watch the game? Japan was very composed and played well throughout. Spain looked, well, beatable. Not to mention the game got a little ugly in the last 10 minutes when Spain finally realized that they might lose.

Tim, it was on NHK and started around 11:30.

Oh dear...where's Probie? Because, in an earlier thread, HE said, and I quote;

Did you read the article title?

"Japan shocks Spain 1-0 in men's Olympic soccer opener"

Weak teams beat strong teams all the time in football. Never heard of the phrase "Giant Killing"? Doesn't change the fact that the Japanese team is crap.

Hey, and if we're going back to that thread then:

I hope the men enjoy it. Because they're going to get kicked all over the stadium, like every other time they play teams from outside Asia

Weird. I could have sworn they made it to the last 16 at the 2010 World Cup, losing on penalties to Paraguay. I seem to remember them hitting the bar and being extremely unlucky to lose that match. They appear to be FIFA rank 20, right now. Could it be that you have no idea what you are talking about?

The under 23 team played in the 2010 World Cup, and are the team ranked 20th then? Could it be that you have no idea what you are talking about?

I like the way you disappeared there when you looked foolish.

Mr Kobayashi What time was it on TV (or net)? Do you know when or where (net?) we can see the next match?

Spain started well but deserved to lose. Seems like they expected to win easily and had no plan B. Japan were very good and would be nice to see of they can carry on this form. They could have easily won 3 or 4 nil.

Spain controlled the ball with their passing but they never really threatened. Japan, on the other hand, squandered at least 3 chances to extend the lead. For man of the match I would recommend either Kiyotake or Yoshida, for the calming influence they had on the rest of the team.

They played well. Spain looked like a bunch of prima donnas and deserved the lose. Hoping the women and the men do well.

It's just one game. No big deal. Spain was not prepared. If Spain played Japan again, the results will be much different.

They beat the world champions, really a shock. Well, this proves that there's more than a hairdo when J-men enter the field.

Oh dear...where's Probie?

Because, in an earlier thread, HE said, and I quote;

I hope the men enjoy it. Because they're going to get kicked all over the stadium, like every other time they play teams from outside Asia

Well done Japan!

Incredible!

Nice one, Japan!

This is good news.

Was a major shock indeed!