Japan vs. Egypt: 6 Things We Learned from Olympic Quarterfinal

Japan are through to the men's football semifinals after disposing of Egypt 3-0 in their quarterfinal, setting up an encounter with Mexico for a place in the gold-medal match.

The Asian nation was just too strong for the Egyptians in this one, but before we look ahead to the fascinating semifinal matchup against Mexico, let's take a look back at what we can learn from this match.

Here are six things we learned about Japan, Egypt, Brazil and about the tournament in general from this thrilling encounter.

1. Japan Are Clinical on the Counter

Japan's ability to get on the counter-attack and make opponents pay was certainly on display in this one—slotting home the first goal courtesy of an Egyptian error.

Set up by their swarming defense, which we'll get to in a minute, Japan were clinical in attack right throughout the match—led, in particular, by Maya Yoshida, the team's captain who netted the second goal of the match.

Egypt weren't terrible, mind you; this was just a Japanese outfit that was simply too dominant in attack to be stopped.

2. Japanese Defense Is Very Strong

As strong as you'd want to say Japan's attack was, their dominance of the match was founded and built on their swarming and cohesive defense.

Egypt struggled to muster anything in the way of attack against an organized and disciplined unit, and when they did create opportunities, the Asian nation was there to clean up and diffuse the situation.

It will be a different story against a much stronger Mexican attack, but if their defense plays the way that it did today, don't be surprised to see the North Americans struggle in attack also.

3. Is It Better Than Brazil's?

Japan's defense is, for mine, the best in the competition.

They create turnovers, they pressure defenders and they don't give away dumb turnovers like they so often force their opponents into doing.

For mine, it's even better than Brazil's, who have now conceded five goals against otherwise mediocre attacking units such as Honduras (pictured)—compared to that of Japan, who are yet to have a goal scored against them in the tournament.

I'm not saying Japan are the favorites: I'm just saying that they're a lot better than many are giving them credit for in the 2012 London Olympics.

4. One Foul Can Throw Away the Match

How often do we see it—a red card shown and a team simply cannot get back into the match?

When Saadelin Saad had himself sent off just before half-time with his team trailing 1-0, Egypt were always going to be hard-pressed trying to find victory—especially against a fit and dominant Japanese side.

Any chance Egypt had of winning this match was lost when they were reduced to 10 men—something that we see far too often from teams that push just too hard trying to get themselves back into a match.

5. Egypt Was Never Really in It Anyway

Though, having said that, you'd have to say that Egypt were never really in this match—courtesy of the red card and Japan's defense.

The African nation did create some attacking opportunities, but they were few and far between compared to the ample opportunities that Japan created down the other end of the pitch.

They'll leave the tournament knowing that they probably should have done better—especially after what they promised in the group stages of the competition.

6. Japan Looking Good for Gold Medal Match

Looking ahead to the semifinal matchup against Mexico, you'd have to suggest that Japan are a real threat to make the gold medal match—be that against Brazil or Korea.

They've already beaten Mexico once in the competition so far, and whilst they did have a great deal of luck on their side that day, Japan showcased today just how strong their defense is and how much of a danger they can be throughout the latter stages of the tournament.

A medal is there for the taking.

What did you make of the match?

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