2012 Olympics: Spain Stunned By Japan In Opener

Senegal were putting significant pressure on Great Britain throughout the second half, although Bellamy should have won a penalty after being fouled in the box by Saliou Ciss while the match was still 1-0. The refereeing error cost Great Britain, as they were hit on the break with eight minutes to go, with a corner somehow turning into a brilliant through ball by Moussa Konate, who finished coolly past Jack Butland.

It didn’t take long for the Brazilian goal parade to arrive. In the sixteenth minute, Manchester United fullback Rafael da Silva ran onto an Oscar pass intended for Hulk in the Egyptian penalty area, but did well enough for himself, taking the ball through a few defenders before slotting home at Ahmed El-Shenawi’s far post.

That first Oscar assist was more or less accidental, but the second was not. The 20-year-old ran onto a header from former Internacional teammate Leandro Damiao, nicking the ball from El-Shenawi just as the goalkeeper was about to claim. The challenged forced the midfielder wide, but instead of going for the open goal from a tight angle, Oscar looked up and caught Leandro unmarked in the centre, the striker netting coolly to make it 2-0.

It was a clear red card offence, and off Martinez went. Spain are good, but ten men against eleven is always a tough ask, and Japan were able to exploit the spaces left behind the Spanish fullbacks to set up some very good counterattacking play. Indeed, they had two chances to extend their lead in the second half, only for Kiroshi Hyotake to shoot wide of de Gea’s post each time.

That hasn’t stopped them winning in the past, of course, so it’s not time to write this team off. But they’ve made it much more difficult on themselves with this loss. Japan, meanwhile, will be thrilled. They’ve just navigated a very difficult challenge and, poor finishing aside, come out of it with flying colours.

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All matches are streaming live on NBCOlympics.com.

Consecutive losses heading into the Olympics have El Tri looking vulnerable. Maybe they aren’t going to make a deep run in the tournament after all?

But the real problem for Mexico could be at the back. Park Chu-Young is in the South Korea team as an overage player and with 25 goals to his name with the senior team, he can certainly give the Mexican defense fits. So can Kim Bo-Kyung, who will be a threat running from the midfield and challenge the El Tri central defense partnership of Hiram Mier and Diego Reyes.

Great Britain are expected to contend for a medal at the 2012 Olympics, and it would be a bit embarrassing if they didn’t get out of their group. They’re not the most talented team in their group -- that would be Uruguay -- but they’ll be expecting to have decent matchup advantages somewhere against all of their opponents. They could also be looking ahead to Uruguay, and they’re going to get burned on Thursday if they are. Senegal is a sneakily good team.

At almost every position, Senegal will be starting accomplished professionals who play regularly for good club teams, a rarity for African teams in youth competition. There is one notable exception, at goalkeeper, which isn’t surprising. In Africa, finding a goalkeeper that’s any good before he hits his late 20s is like winning the lottery. They hope to make up for that with a strong back line and athletic defensive midfielders.

Men’s football is the red-headed stepchild of the Olympic Games, especially now that baseball is gone. Unlike every other sport, in which the best athletes in the world are competing at the highest level, men’s football is an Under-23 competition with three over-age players allowed.

And perhaps even more importantly than all of their talent is the fact that this team has played together all summer in preparation for the Olympics. Menezes left senior players off of his squad for senior team friendlies earlier in the summer and has been playing with an Olympic team in both senior and under-23 friendlies since early June. In addition to being the most talented team, they will be one of the most prepared.