Japan advances to quarters with 1-0 over Morocco

NEWCASTLE, England (AP) — Japan advanced to the quarterfinals of men's Olympic football after forward Kensuke Nagai scored an 84th-minute goal in a 1-0 win Sunday over Morocco.

Nagai received a long ball punted upfield as Morocco goalkeeper Mohamed Amsif charged off his line to try to deal with the danger. But the striker hit it over Amsif's head into an empty net.

Morocco had a late chance to equalize, but forward Zakaria Labyad's shot from close range was blocked by the Japan goalkeeper in stoppage time.

Japan tops Group D with six points and had a number of other chances to score throughout the match. The result leaves Morocco in third place with a point, behind Honduras and ahead of last-place Spain.

"I'm really glad we were able to pass to the quarterfinals," Nagai said. "We aim to go to the quarterfinals as top of the group, so we're looking ahead to the next game" against Honduras.

As in Japan's first match when it beat medal-favorite Spain 1-0 on Thursday, the team was creative and quick. But they finishing lacked precision until the goal.

After an even first half, Japan came out in attack mode in the second. Midfielder Hiroshi Kiyotake struck the crossbar in the 62nd minute as Japan pressed for the winner.

Japan coach Takashi Sekizuka was thrilled about advancing, jumping up and down when Nagai scored. But he conceded that his team got off to a slow start.

"I'm very happy about the result," he said. "To be able to pass onto to the knockout round makes me very happy. The first half we weren't able to start out as we did in the first match, but we were able to stay calm."

Labyad also had other chances to score for Morocco. He nearly caught Japan's goalkeeper off guard with a fierce shot from about 35 yards, but Shuichi Gonda was able to push it away in the 34th.

In the 67th, Labyad tried from long range again, but the goalkeeper was able to palm the shot down and he grabbed the ball.

Morocco coach Pim Verbeek said fatigue because of Ramadan fasting by several of his players may have played a factor. He said he had to take off forward Noureddine Amrabat in the 72nd minute.

"He hasn't eaten since 2:30 a.m.," he said. "But we won't use that as an excuse. I'm proud of my players. They don't have much time to recover (from fasting), but they played well."

He said Japan deserved to go through to the next round and played better than his team in the second half.