LONDON — Japan produced the first shock of the Olympic Games football competition when they stunned highly fancied Spain 1-0 at Hampden Park yesterday.
Yuki Otsu got the only goal of the match, bundling home the ball from a corner before Inigo Martinez was red carded for a professional foul to leave the Spaniards in even bigger trouble.
Ten-man Morocco held on for a 2-2 draw against Honduras yesterday in the men’s football Group D opener at the Olympics.
Morocco opened the scoring in the 39th minute with a superb volley from Abdelaziz Barrada.
Honduras equalised in the 56th with a tap-in from Jerry Bengtson, who then converted a penalty in the 65th to give the Central American team a 2-1 lead.
But Honduras’ advantage only lasted two minutes, with Morocco forward Zakaria Labyad chipping the goalkeeper from inside the area. Morocco leftback Zakarya Bergdich was then shown a straight red card in the 71st for kicking Mario Martinez in the left knee.
Honduras play Spain next, while Morocco take on Japan. Both matches are in Newcastle on Sunday.
In another match, South Korea wasted a number of scoring chances against Mexico as the two teams opened Group B at the Olympics with a 0-0 draw.
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With forward Giovani Dos Santos on the bench from the start, Mexico showed little promise of being a medal contender as their opponent dominated at St. James Park.
Both teams struggled to find their rhythm on the slippery turf, but the tempo picked up in the second half, which saw more scoring opportunities.
Koo Jacheol came close to breaking the deadlock in the 53rd minute as the South Korea captain swivelled to send a volley off the crossbar. Koo headed the game’s best chance wide in the 80th after getting free inside the box.
Uruguay beat the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in another match last night.
