Ibaraki: Head coach Hajime Moriyasu was left breathing a huge sigh of relief as he turned his focus to Tuesday’s Tokyo Olympics Men's Football semi-final against Spain after Japan emerged from a penalty shoot-out to see off New Zealand at Kashima Stadium.
Captain Maya Yoshida hit the decisive penalty to earn Japan a 4-2 shoot-out win over the OlyWhites after the two nations had shared a goalless 120 minutes in their quarter-final on Saturday.
"We would've liked to have scored in the 90 minutes but New Zealand are a good team and really gave us a tough game," Moriyasu said. "But we tried to keep a clean sheet and go for victory and that has led to this penalty shoot-out win. .....
EAST ASIAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION
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10MA TOPICS! [JAPAN FA] [Olympic Games] Moriyasu shifts Japan's focus to Spain after New Zealand nail-biter
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