Japan vs Great Britain LIVE: Tokyo 2020 final score, result and reaction as Team GB reach quarter-finals
The second match of the group stage for Team GB as they continue their search for medals
Great Britain are through to the knockout stages of the Olympics women’s football competition with a game to spare after a 1-0 victory over hosts Japan. It was a professional display in a contest they bossed, though not with outright control. Similar to their 2-0 victory over Chile, they won the most important passages and, again, it was Ellen White’s name on the scoresheet. That her three goals in two games have come from just five shots says as much about her effectiveness in front of goal as it does of how Team GB have not quite been at their creative best. Nevertheless, the first part of the job is done.
For Japan, their hopes of automatic qualification take a hit, especially after Canada beat Chile earlier in the day to move to four points, with a cushion of three in second. However, they can still make it through if they defeat the South Americans on Tuesday to move to four points and, thus, qualify as the best two of the three third-place sides.
Follow all the latest updates from the Olympics and the reaction from Japan against Great Britain here:
Tokyo 2020: Team GB football boss Hege Riise praises team spirit after win over Japan
Hege Riise praised Team GB’s unity after in-form striker Ellen White struck again to book their spot in the last eight at the Olympics.
The Manchester City striker grabbed her third goal in two games to seal a cagey 1-0 win over hosts Japan in Group E.
Team GB dominated the second half but were forced to be patient against an organised Japan team.
They sit top of Group E with six points, ahead of Canada who also beat Chile 2-1 on Saturday. Team GB play Canada for the right to finish top in Kashima on Tuesday.
Riise said: “In the first half, we didn’t look like ourselves, we didn’t have the speed of play we wanted. We came out as a different team with an attitude and togetherness and we all committed to the last 45 minutes.
“In the second half we changed formation a little bit and controlled it much better.
“We are all happy, it puts us in a good position and we’re able to rest players and recover well. The connections between the players will get better and better each game.
“We were surprised Japan made changes but they had momentum in the first half.”
Hege Riise lauds Team GB’s ‘togetherness’ in win over Japan to reach last eight
Team GB go through with a game to spare
Abigail Irozuru never lost faith during injury battle to reach Olympics
Abigail Irozuru has credited her faith in God for ending her injury woes and wait for an Olympic debut.
The 31-year-old is preparing to make her Games bow in the long jump in Tokyo.
Her dream is nine years in the making after being left out in 2012, despite making the standard, before a ruptured Achilles forced her to miss Rio.
Irozuru retired after her injury before making the decision to return in 2019 with her faith helping her to reach Japan.
She said: “I do go to church and believe in God and genuinely had a conversation with God and I felt compelled to come back.
“I didn’t want to look back with regrets. I felt so tugged back into it but in my head I was like ‘there’s no way I can put myself through this, it’s torture.’
“In 2016 when I ruptured my Achilles, that was the second Olympic cycle I’d missed out on. I thought my dream was done but coming back a couple of years later, knowing it would be a fight, I just had to keep the faith.
“There are moments when I’ve had doubts, my capability and, particularly with the extra year, you question your age and ability to recover but I’ve been so thankful for the team I’ve had.”
Novak Djokovic urges schedule change as players struggle with Tokyo conditions
“Obviously it’s the same for everyone and it’s something we’ve known coming into Tokyo, we expected that the conditions were going to be very tough, but before you come here and experience that you don’t really know how difficult it is.
“Today there was not much of a breeze. I felt like there was trapped hot air that was absorbed by the surface. It was tough, and probably tougher for the earlier matches. I at least had half of the match in shade so I could see the ball better and not feel dizzy on the court.
“I don’t really get why ITF doesn’t want to move the matches. This was the last centre court match and it was finished before 5pm.
“There is hopefully some kind of an understanding from ITF on what they’ve seen. All the athletes train and dream of being at an Olympic Games and then playing for half an hour and retiring, you don’t want to have the Olympic experience that way. But we have to accept whatever the circumstances are.”
Tokyo Olympics begin with familiarity and discomfort ahead of uncapped highs and desperate lows
17 more infections, including another Olympic village resident and an athlete staying elsewhere, taking the total to 127 since 1 July. In turn, the first inevitable cancellation arrived in the morning, with Czech Republic conceding to Japan in the women’s volleyball after Marketa Slutkova became the sixth positive in the Czech camp.
Gratefully, Covid wouldn’t stifle the other 22 sports hosted across the city on Saturday, not that it won’t give it a damn good go. For all the deserved criticism of the IOC, the relief that the athletes will now take over the narratives was not just theirs.
Familiar start to Olympics delivers uncapped highs and desperate lows
An action-packed start produced glory, despair and controversy, as the Games knows only too well
Tokyo 2020: Whitlock reflects on “huge shame” for Japanese legend Kohei Uchimura
For years Max Whitlock sought to emulate his idol Kohei Uchimura by becoming Olympic all-around champion, so much so that the Japanese great admitted having logged into Whitlock’s live-streamed training sessions to keep an eye on his rising British rival.
The divergent paths the pair have followed since their respective successes in Rio in 2016 were emphasised in the Ariake Gymnastics Arena in Tokyo on Saturday, when Whitlock booked his place in another pommel final then looked on as Uchimura, on the opposite side of the arena, endured an anti-climactic final act.
The 32-year-old national hero Uchimura had dreamed of winning a third straight all-around title in front of his home fans. Instead, a series of injuries forced him to focus solely on the high bar, where, against an inappropriate backdrop of empty seats, a fall midway through his routine brought his campaign, and almost certainly his remarkable career, to a close.
“I don’t usually watch the other gymnasts but I couldn’t really not notice Kohei on the high bar,” said Whitlock, who also competed on high bar and parallel bars in order to ensure the four-man GB team – also comprising Joe Fraser, James Hall and Giarni Regini-Moran – safely qualified for the men’s team final.
“It’s a huge shame for him in his home country, especially because in the warm-up gym he has been looking amazing. It is so difficult coming out to do just one piece, and I’ve only just begun to realise that over the years as I’ve become more of a specialist myself.”
Tokyo 2020: Team USA have a fight on to show they remain the world’s best in basketball
The Brooklyn Nets superstar will lead an extremely talented American side in Tokyo, but their rivals are now producing their own superstars and can lean on size to make life difficult for Gregg Popovich’s side.
In the past, the USA have always been able to rely on their superior talent to make up for a lack of cohesion, but the rest of the world have caught up amid basketball’s globalisation.
Kevin Durant and Team USA aim for gold as globalisation sees the world catch up
The Brooklyn Nets superstar will lead an extremely talented American side in Tokyo, but their rivals are now producing their own superstars and can lean on size to make life difficult for Gregg Popovich’s side
Tokyo 2020: Team GB triathletes bring genuine gold medal hope
Britain’s triathletes will look to step out of the shadow of Alistair Brownlee at the Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo this week.
Brownlee had to admit defeat in his bid to challenge for a third straight gold medal, with an ankle injury preventing him recapturing the form that saw him dominate the races in London and Rio. His younger brother Jonny, who has silver and bronze medals from the last two Games, is on the team along with Rio bronze medallist Vicky Holland and first-timers Jess Learmonth, Georgia Taylor-Brown and Alex Yee.
The latter three may not be household names yet but performance director Mike Cavendish is bullish, telling the PA news agency: “I don’t think we’ve ever taken a team to a Games before where genuinely every single athlete who is on the start-line for Great Britain could be in with a shout if the race goes their way.
“That puts us in a great position, and I don’t think there’s many other countries, or any other countries, that are in a similar place.”
The most exciting prospect is 23-year-old Yee, who is the fastest runner triathlon has ever seen. He secured his spot on the team by winning his first World Triathlon Series race in Leeds last month to mark himself out as a potential gold medal contender.
Cavendish said: “He’s been inspired by what Alistair and Jonny have done in the past. It’s so unfortunate that Alistair couldn’t be here because of his injury but, to have Alex step in as the next generation, that’s almost the best outcome.
“He’s super talented. For him, this is all about just laying down the sort of performance that he can. If that ends up in a podium, then great. If not, then he’ll just take all the learning he can from this and experience and we’re absolutely convinced that his time will come.”
Tokyo 2020: Taekwondo medal matches begin as Jade Jones awaits her turn
We’re not quite into Jade Jones territory yet - the Team GB star will be competing on Sunday in the very early hours.
But the -49kg event sees Serbia take bronze, Spain silver and Thailand’s Panipak Wongpattanakit take the gold.
Tokyo 2020: Where are Russia and what is the ROC?
Russia was banned from the Tokyo Olympics in December 2019 after the notorious doping scandal, which rocked the sporting world.
The initial ban of four years was reduced to two years in 2020, it still ensured no official Russian team present at the Olympic Games in Japan or the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Nonetheless, Russian athletes are still at Tokyo 2020 due to the establishment of the ROC. All the details:
Why is Russia banned from the Olympics
Russian athletes are still present at Tokyo 2020, despite a ban for the country over a state-sponsored doping scheme
Tokyo 2020: Great Britain through to football quarter-finals after Ellen White scores again
Two games, two wins, two clean sheets, six points - and that’s a top-two finish assured for Hege Riise’s squad.
Team GB will definitely be in the knockouts, following their 1-0 win over hosts Japan - who themselves need a win in the final game to make it through too.
Tokyo 2020: Ellen White scores again as Great Britain secure early passage to Olympics quarter-finals
Japan 0-1 Great Britain: A late, looping header from White secured a second straight win and guaranteed a top-two finish
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