NATIONS - Olympic Games football finals are now defined

It was a wild couple of hard fought games that defined the two finals for a medal in football at the Olympic games in Tokyo. In the end, it will be Spain and Brazil who will contend for the gold, while Mexico and Japan will face each other once more with a bronze medal on the line.

In the first semifinal, Mexico and Brazil faced off in a match that saw Brazil mantain most of the possession, but in the first half both teams had a couple of clear-cut chances to open the score but wasted them. The second half saw a very phisycal game that was often truncated by the refree's repeated whistles for the multitude of fouls that never allowed the game to flow freely like it had in the first half. Brazil still kept most of the possession but Mexico was able to fend off the verdeoro attacks and take the game to extra-time and then penalties, as both teams appeared fatigued after an intense 120 minutes of sparring. From the penalty spot, it was Brazil who kept their cool, as their players converted all their tries superbly, with Ochoa that guessed right on all of them but was not able to save any. Mexico, for their part, had a horrible time, converting just 1 out of 3 penalties and sealing their fate to the bronze medal match.

In the other semifinal, Japan and Spain confronted each other on the pitch, in another really tense match that saw Spain had the best chances, but with the hosts not afraid to match the more renowned Spaniards step for step. The match necessitated extra-time after the full 90 had gone scoreless, and when it looked like it was headed to penalties, Spain's Marco Asensio scored the decisive goal 5 minutes from time, sending la furia roja to the gold medal match and the hosts to a rematch with Mexico for the bronze.