An early burst of scoring gave Japan an emphatic 2-1 victory over Mexico in the Tokyo 2020 men’s soccer tournament on Sunday night at Saitama Stadium, giving the host nation control of its own fate heading into Wednesday’s final Group A game against France.
Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu made just one change to the starting lineup that narrowly beat South Africa 1-0 on Thursday — swapping Royal Antwerp midfielder Koji Miyoshi out for Nagoya Grampus’ Yuki Soma — while Mexico’s Jaime Lozano kept intact the squad that dominated France.
“We were able to remain focused, we weren’t distracted at all and we were able to use those two days to recuperate as well as focus on what we had to train for,” Moriyasu said. “The players were calm and didn’t forget that they needed to challenge themselves. I think we were able to play aggressively, patiently and smartly from the very beginning.”
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