In a very even game, with hardly any scoring chances for Spanish and Japanese, the match went to extra time, where Marco Asensio appeared to tip the balance in favor of Spain.
“It was very tough from the beginning. They knew what they had to do and they were betting on the counterattack, but I think we played a good game and we deserved to win,” defender Eric Garcia said at the end of the match.
The clash started with Spain leading in possession, keeping the ball but unable to create danger over the goal of a Japan that did not disturb Unai Simón either.
The first shot on goal of the match came in the 39th minute, with Pau Torres combining with Mikel Merino in three quarters of the court and the Real Sociedad player playing first for Rafa Mir, who resolved against Kosei Tani with a shot with the tip of his boot that the goalkeeper blocked well.
The chance of Spain’s ‘9’, who started after his hat-trick against Ivory Coast (5-2) in the quarterfinals, was the most outstanding action until after the restart, when Mikel Merino fell in the area, knocked down by Maya Yoshida and the Peruvian Kevin Ortega punished the action as a penalty.
The VAR called the referee to see the repeated play and urge him to finally correct his mistake, because the Japanese player had touched the ball before overwhelming the Spanish footballer.
The first shot between the three sticks from Japan would come in the 78th minute, with Take Kubo overflowing Jesús Vallejo in the area and connecting a shot that Unai Simón saved well.