Mexico’s Olympic Soccer Team Advances to Gold Medal Match

Mexico's Men Olympic Soccer team defeated Japan 3-1 to advance to their first ever appearance in an Olympic soccer final. Mexico’s well-rounded side, headed by an intimidating offense, proved to be too much for the Japanese side this afternoon in London.

Yuki Otsu helped Japan get on the scoreboard first with a goal in the 12th minute thanks to a powerful shot from the top of the box. Later in the first half, Marco Fabian evened the score by converting on a header from a Mexico corner in the 31st minute.

In the second half, Oribe Peralta capitalized on a defensive error from Japan to net in Mexico’s second goal in the 65th minute. A back and forth fight ensued between the two sides until substitute Javier Cortes secured his team’s victory with a composed finish in stoppage time.

After earning a spot in the final match, Mexico will face Brazil for the Gold medal. For the first time in Olympic history, Mexico has a guaranteed medal in soccer. The popularity of the sport and love for the team makes El Tri’s successful campaign in London quite special for the people of Mexico.

The gold medal match will take place in Wembley Stadium on Saturday, August 11th, at 3:00 pm, where the team will look to make history.

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Olympic Semifinal Preview: Mexico vs. Japan

Expectations were high for Mexico’s soccer team leading up to the 2012 Olympics Games, with most analysts predicting that they would bring home a medal. On Saturday they moved one step closer to achieving this by defeating a strong Senegalese team 4-2 in extra time of the quarterfinals.

On Tuesday’s semifinal match, Mexico will face Japan in what analysts anticipate being a strong scoring performance for both teams. Mexico has scored 7 goals in the tournament, while Japan has scored 5, three of which came in their quarterfinal game against Egypt.

Historically, Japan’s best Olympic performance came in 1968 when they earned the bronze medal. For Mexico, this marks the first time they’ve made it past the quarterfinals stage.

One of the keys to Mexico’s success has been their defense, which held South Korea, Gabon, and Switzerland to scoreless matches in the Group rounds. On offence, Mexico will rely heavily on Giovani dos Santos and Marco Fabian.  Dos Santos has been the team’s offensive anchor with 3 goals and 3 assists, essentially taking part in all but one of Mexico’s goals. While Fabian was the team’s top goal scorer leading up to the Olympics with 14 goals in 17 appearances for the U23 national team.

Both countries are expected to play possession and passing soccer, but analysts expect Mexico’s better creative ability in the midfield should give them the edge to win the game.

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