July 28 (Bloomberg) -- The Japanese national Olympics defeated the Malian national Olympics 1-0 in the second round of the men's soccer group stage at the Paris Olympics, which ended early this morning, advancing to the knockout stage in the early round.
Japanese Olympic goalkeeper Reio Ogikubo had a great game. He made three saves throughout the game, two of which were in the penalty area. After the game, he earned the team's second-highest score of 7.3, helping his team advance to the Olympic knockout rounds for the first time without an overage player on the roster.
In an interview, Reio Ogikubo said, "Simply put, I wanted to help the team as much as possible, so I was happy to help the team advance by shutting out their opponents for the second consecutive game.
"Even though the opponents got a penalty kick in the last minute, my teammates were behind me, encouraging me that it didn't matter even if the ball went in. Combined with my determination to pounce on the ball and the support and concern of my teammates, a mix of emotions made me smile before I made the save."
"Before the start of the Olympics, we knew we were the only team without overage players, so we made a unanimous decision to write new history, so everyone is happy to have decided to go out early."
