Asensio’s overtime goal sent Spain to the championship game.
After beating the host nation Japan 1-0 in overtime, Spain advanced to their first men’s Olympic football final since Sydney in 2000.
M. Asensio Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
On Saturday, Real Madrid’s Marco Asensio proved to be the deciding factor when he curled the game-winning goal past Koshei Tani in the 116th minute. They will now face the defending winners, Brazil.
The Referee’s Penalty call is Overturned by VAR:
Mikel Merino missed the game’s first scoring opportunity on a deflected header, and then Rafa Mir, whose hat trick sent his team to the semifinals, missed a sitter when he poked the ball into Tani’s knees in goal.
After missing a penalty in the first half, Merino believed he had made up for it in the second, but VAR ruled that Maya Yoshida had touched the ball first.
The game went into overtime, where Mikel Oyarzabal wasted the final chance for both teams until Daizen Maeda agonisingly headed the ball over Unai Simon’s goal.
Soon after, Japan’s hearts were broken when, with only four minutes remaining, substitute Asensio displayed his quality by gently bending the ball into the bottom left corner.
Conclusion
Even if the outcome would have been different if Koji Miyoshi hadn’t had his shot blocked just before Asensio scored the game-winning goal, Japan will have to settle for a bronze medal match against Mexico on Friday.
With a roster that included six veterans from Euro 2020, Spain is seeking to duplicate the feats that earned them gold in Barcelona in 1992 and improve on their silver medal performance in Sydney in 2000.