After leading the Spanish National Olympic Team to eliminate the Japanese National Olympic Team with a score of 3-0, successfully advancing to the semifinals of the Olympic Men's Football Team, Spain's Head Coach Santi Deña was interviewed by the media, and he gave a detailed account of the team's performance, future preparations, and the status of the players.
First of all, Santi Denia recognized the strength of the Japanese team and emphasized the importance of the match: "Japan is a very good team, they have not conceded a single goal in the group stage and have won all three matches. We knew we had to put in a near-perfect performance to beat such an opponent. I was happy to see the team show good spirit and defensive ability in the game, which was the key to our victory."
Talking about what the team still needs to improve on, Santi Denia said, "Though we have made it to the semifinals, our work is not over yet. Next, we need to focus more on the recovery of our players as the Olympics are very intense. At the same time, we will also further optimize our technical and tactical aspects to cope with the more intense matches."
During the halftime break, Santi Denia gave a short tactical instruction to his players, emphasizing that "we must not retreat, we must act as far forward as possible and play more actively. We must continue to attack, find space and move the ball. That's what characterizes our team and that's our strength. I want the players to keep this positive attitude towards the game and be ready for the upcoming matches."
For the highlight of the game, the two world goals scored by Firmin, Santi Denia gave high praise: "I am very happy for Firmin to have such a performance, he is in a very good form. As a coach, we will try our best to help him maintain this form and manage his emotions. At the same time, Fermín's goal could not have been achieved without the support and cooperation of the other players in the team, which is the result of our teamwork."
When asked if he would be celebrating the win, Santi Denia said, "There is no time to celebrate now, our goal is to move on. This is a good team and the players get along well and are like a family. We will keep this good vibe going and get ready for the upcoming matches."
In addition, Santi Denia singled out the contribution of the second coach, David Godo: "After the match against Egypt, David made an in-depth analysis of the way Japan defends and provided us with solutions. The players executed these tactics brilliantly, which was the key to their success. I am very satisfied with David's work."
Santi Denia expressed his understanding of Japan's blown goal: "VAR sometimes works in your favor, sometimes it doesn't. But no matter what, we have to respect the referee's decisions. Japan is an outstanding team and they made us play hard. But we will also move on and continue to improve."
Finally, Santi Denia looks ahead to the upcoming semifinal: "Morocco won 4-0 and they are a very good team. We will face a tough game, but we will try to regain our fitness and check our mistakes. As for the question of the favorites to win the title, I don't really care about that. What we want is to improve our performance and strengthen our overall defense. I believe that if we take one step at a time, we will be able to perform well in the semifinals and reach the final."
