Home  Sports US find winning ways
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Sunday, 10 August 2008 |
The United States men’s soccer team came away with a crucial one nil victory over Japan as they started their 2008 Beijing Olympic campaign. The US which is in a tough Group B with the likes of Holland and Nigeria was most happy with their win as any other result against Japan would almost prevent any hopes of advancing to the next round.
For the US it was the Scottish-born Holden in the 47th minute who struck a loose ball at the top of the penalty area pass Japanese goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa to put the US in front for good.
The American team which is coming off a rough patch of games against Cameroon and Ivory Coast in exhibitions last week at the ING Cup in Hong Kong is hoping that this is the beginning odf a turn around for the squad. In fact they entered the game not having scored a goal since a 3-0 victory over Canada in the semifinals of CONCACAF Olympic qualifying.
Japan who is one of only three teams at the Olympics with a strictly under-23 team played well creating several opportunities but was unable to break through against the US who dominated possession of the ball especially in the first half.
Japan would continue to knock at the door in the second half obviously sensing how critical a victory was against the US knowing that the more heavily favored Dutch and Nigerians would be their next Group B opponents.
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