The United States enters its first Olympic men's soccer tournament since 2008 coming off a forgettable run.
Shota Fujio converted a penalty kick in the sixth minute and Mao Hosoya added a goal in the 69th minute as Japan won 2-0 in the U.S. under-23 match, their final warm-up game for the U.S. national team, on Tuesday night.
“I'd say this was our poorest performance to date since we started this process eight months ago,” U.S. coach Marko Mitrovic said. “I have full belief this team can do a lot better than what we showed today.”
Japan won a penalty kick when Saito Mitsuki deflected the ball off the right arm of defender Bryan Reynolds on the edge of the penalty area, and Fujio sent the penalty to the right of goalkeeper Patrick Schulte as Schulte jumped to his left.
Japan scored their second goal when they intercepted a throw-in by John Tolkin. Mito Shunsuke dribbled towards goal, his pass deflected off defenders Jonathan Tomkinson and Schulte, and Hosoya tapped in the rebound from four yards out.
“Obviously, we didn't want our Olympic journey to end with this game,” said midfielder Paxtin Aaronson, the younger brother of national team midfielder Brenden Aaronson. “The players know that one game doesn't define us.”
Japan midfielder Yamamoto Masahito was hit in the face by a shot in the 24th minute and was carried off on a stretcher.
Schulte was the goalkeeper, Reynolds at right back, Walker Zimmerman and Tomkinson at centre back, Caleb Wiley at left back, Tanner Tessman, Aaronson, Duncan Maguire, Johan Gomes and Griffin Yeo in midfield, and Taylor Booth directing the attack.
Midfielder Gianluca Busio did not play because of an ankle injury he sustained while playing for Venezia in the Serie A promotion playoff against Cremonese on June 2.
The U.S. will open against hosts France on July 24, then face New Zealand and Guinea, while Japan will face Paraguay, Mali and Israel.
Men's Olympic soccer is limited to players 23 or younger, and each team can have up to three of its 18 members rostered as overage players. Zimmerman, 31, served as captain of the U.S. team and was the only U.S. player over the age limit.
Rosters of two goalies and 16 field players must be submitted by July 3, and each team will be allowed to designate up to four standby players, including one goalie.
“The U.S. has never brought home a medal before, but I think this team can do it,” Tessman said.
The players had been through some difficult experiences leading up to the match.
“To be honest with you, we did a bunch of escape rooms,” Aaronson says, “and Walker was kind of the team leader on that one. We did them all. All six of them. So, yeah, it was crazy. Six in two days, so it was mind-blowing.”
