Spain beat Japan in the men’s football quarter-finals of the Paris 2024 Olympics with two super goals from Fermin Lopez.

The second quarter-final match of the men’s football event of the Paris 2024 Olympics was a match between Japan and Spain. The Asian representatives played fairly and had equal ball possession to their opponents. In the first few minutes, Spain was a bit behind Japan but they quickly took control of the situation.

In the 11th minute, from Baena’s effort, Fermin Lopez fired a classy long-range shot to open the score for Spain. Unexpectedly losing, Japan pushed up their formation to find an equalizer. Fujita’s appearance in the middle of the field helped the team from the land of the rising sun dominate the ball dispute.

Fermin Lopez shines.

However, Spain, regardless of their level, still possesses the ability to play short balls. Cubarsi and his teammates prevented Japan from creating many dangerous opportunities towards Arnau Tenas’ goal. In the 40th minute, Hosoya pressed and turned to score against Spain, but he was offside when receiving the ball from his teammate. The first half ended with the advantage for the European representative.

In the second half, Japan pushed up their attack formation again. Spain was in no hurry and calmly waited for the opportunity to counterattack. Every time Japan exposed gaps in their defense, Spain made the opponent’s goal unstable.

In the 74th minute, from a corner kick by his teammate, Fermin Lopez still controlled the ball and shot beautifully from a distance to raise the score to 2-0 for Spain. At this point, Japan’s hope was running out. However, this was still an unlucky match for the team. They still had chances to score, but after the strikers’ shots, the ball often hit the crossbar and the goalpost.

In the 85th minute, Abel Ruiz scored from close range to seal a 3-0 victory for Spain. Japan was eliminated from the quarter-finals of the men’s football event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.