Brazil to play Spain in football final

TOKYO: Defending champions Brazil will face Spain for the Olympic gold medal in men’s football on Saturday.

Spain beat hosts Japan 1-0 Tuesday with Marco Asensio scoring a curling shot in the 115th minute in Saitama. Brazil were taken to penalties by Mexico, winning the shootout 4-1 after a scoreless draw in Kashima.

Brazil, who won their first Olympic title at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games in a penalty shootout with Germany, had to struggle against Mexico, who beat them to win gold at London 2012.

Brazil goalkeeper Santos stopped Mexico’s first penalty from Eduardo Aguirre, and Johan Vasquez’s attempt then hit the post. Reinier converted the winning kick for Brazil.

“Playing the final of the Olympics is a dream,” said Brazil coach Andre Jardine. “The film I also saw tonight was the film of life... Everything we’ve gone through. Although we didn’t win in the 90 minutes, we took more risks.”

Japan had matched Spain throughout the game, playing with creativity and invention going forward and tenacity without the ball and they were five minutes away from taking the match to a penalty shootout.

But Real Madrid winger Asensio off the bench as a substitute and curled in a terrific strike, sending Spain through to a first Olympic final since they finished runners-up at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

Mexico will play Japan for the bronze medal in Saitama on Friday. The gold-medal match is set for Saturday in Yokohama.

Medals table

After Tuesday’s events

(Tabulated under gold, silver, bronze, total):

China 32 21 16 69

United States 24 28 21 73

Japan 19 6 11 36

Australia 14 4 15 33

Russian OC 13 21 18 52

Great Britain 13 17 13 43

Germany 8 8 14 30

France 6 10 8 24