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London 2012: Mexico beat Japan to reach Olympic football final Oribe Peralta scored with a swerving long-range strike to help Mexico to a 3-1 victory over Japan on Tuesday and secure a spot in the final of the men's Olympic football competition
Mexico will now play either Brazil or South Korea in Saturday's final. Mexico's previous best showing at the Olympics was in its 1968 home games, when the team was beaten 2-0 by Japan in the bronze medal match. Japan, which had yet to improve on its 1968 performance, opened the scoring with a good strike from Yuki Otsu on 12 minutes, but Marco Fabian headed in a corner for Mexico before halftime to equalize. On 65 minutes, Peralta won the ball off Japanese defender Takahiro Ohgihara, who lingered with it too long after keeper Shuichi Gonda had rolled it to him. Peralta ran with the ball briefly then shot high and to the left of Gonda to give Mexico the lead. Deep in added time, Javier Cortes cut into the box from the right wing, beat a defender then sent the ball through the legs of Gonda to clinch the victory. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at@AO Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports)