Women’s soccer was also frustrated in the quarterfinals after Japan’s men.
Japan lost 0-1 to the U.S. in the women’s soccer quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics at Parc des Princes in Paris, France, on the 3rd, allowing the winning goal in the extra time of the first half of extra time.
Women’s soccer at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, U.S.A. Japan’s best performance was in second place at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. At that time, Japan lost to the U.S. in the final.
The U.S. was still a “high wall.” Starting with 1996, the U.S. won the gold medal in Athens in 2002, followed by Beijing in 2008, and is one step closer to the hunt for gold medals.
Japan played soccer efficiently. The two teams were losing three to seven in ball occupancy ratio, but the score was tight at 13 to 15 in shooting number. Eventually, the two teams ended the first half without scoring a goal before starting overtime.
At the 17th minute of extra time in the first half of extra time, Trinity Rodman, who caught the ball from the right side of the penalty area, beat a defender and slotted the ball into the upper left corner of the net with a left-footed shot. Trinity Rodman is the daughter of Dennis Rodman, a legendary bad boy in the NBA.
Twenty-two-year-old Trinity Rodman is considered a promising future, as she was named the Rookie of the Year award in the U.S. Women’s Professional Football League, the Best 11th award, and the Women’s Young Flare award in the U.S. Soccer of the Year award. She has also been selected for the A-team in 2022.
In the case of Japanese men’s soccer, the team failed to overcome Spain’s barrier. The team was completely defeated by Spain 0 to 3. Japan suffered from losing to Spain in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics. This time again, Spain ended the tournament by being hamstrung.
The Japanese man has set his sights on a medal for the first time in 56 years since he won a bronze medal at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Under the leadership of Coach Oiwa Ko, the Japanese team has been focusing on the growth of national team players by age since two years ago. At last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games, Japan intentionally formed a team of players younger than the competition age standard. At that time, players born in 1999 or younger could participate in the Asian Games.
It was possible to include up to three wild cards (players aged 24 or older). However, Japan made efforts to secure experience by fielding only young players born in 2001-2004. Japan did not select wild card players for this year’s event as well. All entries were filled with players aged 23 or younger.
They did well. Japan advanced to the tournament as No. 1 by beating Paraguay (5-0), Mali (1-0) and Israel (1-0) in Group D. Japan displayed an air-to-air balance of seven goals and no goals lost in three matches. However, Japan packed up as soon as the tournament began. Japan bowed to Spain’s “one-level” individual skills.
Oiwa said, “We won three consecutive group league games without wild cards. We made it to the quarterfinals. There must be pros and cons, but I think it is very valuable to be able to do it only with players under the age of 23. I don’t know how long my confidence will continue because I lost. However, I hope it will be a team that remains in my mind for the rest of my soccer career.”안전놀이터
The semifinals of the Olympics have been completed. Men’s competition will be between Morocco and Spain (1 a.m. on June 6) and France and Egypt (4 a.m. on June 6). Women’s competition will be between the U.S. and Germany (1 a.m. on June 7) and Brazil-Spain (4 a.m. on June 7).