Japan vs Spain in 2012 summer Olympics
In 1936 the Japanese U-23 squad allowed 10 goals and it scored only 3 goals.
This shows that the forward line did not score many goals to advance further in
that competition. 3 goals only are not enough if you expect to reach the finals
for example.
In 1956, the Olympic Games
were hosted by Australia. The Japanese team did not do well as compared to 1936
record. It was defeated in the 1st round and that was the end of its
expectations. In that tournament the Japanese team did not score any goal and
it allowed a total of 2 goals.
In the summer Olympics of
1968, the Japanese squad did very well in its history. It won the bronze medal
just after Poland which won the silver medal and Hungary which won the gold
medal. Japan started its campaign in group A with Spain, Brazil and Nigeria.
Japan played its first match in October 14th against Nigeria. They defeated
Nigeria by 3-1, in an event which the Japanese player Kunishige Kamamoto scored
the hat trick.
Their second match was against Brazil whereby Watanabe of the Japanese
squad scored the only goal in the late minutes to equalize the match. The match
with Brazil ended at a 1-1 draw. Their 3rd tie was against Spain and it was a
goalless draw. Japan qualified for the next stage after becoming 2nd in group
just below Spain. It had a total of 4 points just one point below Spain who had
5 points.
Japan faced France in
the quarter finals and they defeated France by 3-1. This gave them a ticket to
play in the semi finals.
One of The semi-final matches
was between Hungary and Japan. Japan suffered a defeat of 0-5 from Hungary.
In October 24th 1968
Japan played against Mexico. The hosts were severely beaten by the Toyota
makers. Japan won the match by 2-0. This was the bright shine for the Japanese team.
It is my hope that one day Japan will reach the world cup final before it can
take it.
