Football-Japan makes semi-finals with shootout win, Spain survives fear of the end

TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) – The Japanese hosts showed nerves of steel as they beat New Zealand 4-2 in a penalty shootout to reach the men’s Olympic football semi-finals on Saturday, while that Spain survived a scare in an overtime victory over Côte d’Ivoire.

After 120 untouched minutes of play at Ibaraki Kashima Stadium, New Zealand full-back Liberato Cacace’s penalty was stopped by Kosei Tani and midfielder Clayton Lewis released his shot over the bar.

Captain Maya Yoshida has finished four of four on the spot as Japan advanced to the Olympic semi-finals for the first time since the 2012 Games in London.

Japan are the only team to maintain a perfect record in the group stage and are just one step away from securing a first medal in men’s football since winning bronze at the 1968 Games.

They next face Spain, who ended a 21-year wait to reach the bottom four with a 5-2 victory over Cote d’Ivoire.

Defending champions Brazil never jumped into high gear but did enough to beat Egypt 1-0, thanks to a first-half strike from youngster Matheus Cunha.

Brazil will then face the winners of the quarter-finals between South Korea and Mexico.

Spain, the last European team to win a gold medal in men’s football in 1992, survived a scare against Ivory Coast after Rafa Mir came off the bench to shoot a stunning hat-trick in the finals in the Miyagi stadium.

Winger Max Gradel appeared to have secured Cote d’Ivoire’s place in the bottom four when he made it 2-1 with a strike in the stoppage time, only for Mir to score almost immediately at the other end to force the extension.

The fate of Côte d’Ivoire was sealed when defender Eric Bailly, who scored his first goal in 10 minutes, went from hero to villain as he conceded a penalty with a bizarre handball inside the area.

Mikel Oyarzabal got the ball home in the 98th minute before Mir added two more goals in front of an exhausted Ivorian defense to put the result beyond doubt.

The victory secured Spain’s first semi-final appearance since winning silver at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru, edited by Christian Radnedge and Ed Osmond

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.