Brazil vs Germany LIVE: Final score, result and reaction from 2020 Olympics
Follow all the latest from the Tokyo Games as Brazil face Germany in the men’s football tournament
After the Women’s tournament kicked off football at the 2020 Olympics on Wednesday - Team GB picking up an impressive victory - the Men’s event has followed suit on Thursday with Mexico and New Zealand among the early winners.
Brazil served notice of their intent - and more importantly their ability - to retain the Olympic Gold medal in men’s football with an impressive 4-2 victory over Germany on Thursday.
Five years ago in Rio, these two sides met in the final and it took a penalty shootout to separate them; here in Yokohama there was an absolute gulf between them in terms of quality, despite the scoreline somehow looking as though it was a reasonably close affair. And while it is only the first match of six if Brazil plan to go all the way once more and emulate Neymar, Marquinhos and Co, there were few flaws on show - outside of errant finishing - to give an indication of how rivals could upset them, even factoring in conceding twice.
Follow all the reaction to Brazil against Germany and the latest Olympics news from Tokyo 2020 below:
Today’s football
Here is the schedule for today’s football matches, including a clash between the current Olympic champions and runners-up. All times are BST.
08.30: Egypt vs Spain (currently 0-0)
09.00: Mexico vs France
09.00: New Zealand vs South Korea
09.30: Ivory Coast vs Saudi Arabia
11.30: Argentina vs Australia
12.00: Japan vs South Africa
12.00: Honduras vs Romania - Romania return to Olympic men’s football for the first time in 57 years.
12.30: Brazil vs Germany - A rematch of the 2016 Olympic final, when Brazil beat Germany on penalties to win the gold medal in front of a home crowd.
Time difference in Tokyo
A reminder that the time difference in Tokyo is eight hours ahead of the UK. So when you are trying to work out when events are in relation to local Japanese time, remember that.
For example, the men’s road race on Saturday begins at 11am and is set to finish at 6.15pm LOCAL TIME. That means it is expected to begin at 3am and finish at 10.15am BST.
I imagine it will take a few days for everybody to get used to the time difference, but hopefully it doesn’t mean you miss many events!
Every Olympic athlete that has tested positive for Covid in Japan so far
Every athlete that has tested positive so far in the Olympic Village:
- Kamohelo Mahlatsi and Thabiso Monyane (Football, South Africa)
- Ondrej Perusic (Beach Volleyball, Czech Republic)
- Kara Eaker (Gymnastics, USA)
- Candy Jacobs (Skateboarding, Netherlands)
- Fernanda Aguirre (Taekwondo, Chile)
- Pavel Širuček (table tennis, Czech Republic)
- Taylor Crabb (beach volleyball, USA)
- Ilya Borodin (Swimming, Russia)
Dating apps thrive in Tokyo ahead of Olympics
After a year-long delay, the Tokyo Olympics begin in earnest on Friday.
For thousands of athletes, delegations and media crews from abroad, the excitement of the games, not to mention Tokyo itself, is palpable.
And yet the government declared a state of emergency in the host city and surrounding areas, the fourth such declaration, amid rising coronavirus infection numbers, between 12 July and 22 August.
For the visitors, this not only means they have to be quarantined upon arrival and be monitored; their every move to and from the Athletes Village or hotel and the venues is heavily restricted.
And any hopes of meeting locals, sampling Japanese food and drink, or merely discovering Tokyo and Japan are massively curtailed – if not totally dashed.
But that’s not stopping many of them from skirting social distancing measures, if only digitally.
Social media platforms in Japan, in particular dating apps, are experiencing an uptick of foreign users, most of them officially here for the games.
One Tokyoite, a Japanese woman in her thirties, noticed that “so many media people from the States and the UK are on there,” referring to a noticeable increase of foreign profiles on dating app Bumble.
CJ Ujah on Zen Buddhism, Travyon Bromell and how to right the wrongs of Rio
During CJ Ujah’s time in the Olympic Village this week ahead of Tokyo 2020, one of Britain’s leading sprinters has been listening to a podcast called Mindful Compassion which explores Zen Buddhism, not something you would immediately associate with the brooding macho stereotype of elite 100m sprinters. But what happened five years ago in Rio helps to explain his pursuit of a clear mind.
Ujah missed out on the Olympic 100m final by less than 0.01sec, tensing up at the line and losing his form to let others sneak ahead in a photo finish. He was 22 then; now aged 27, after several seasons struggling with injury, Ujah has learnt the importance of remaining calm in the chaos of those electrifying 10 seconds that define a sprinter’s career. He is determined to learn from his mistake, as he tells Lawrence Ostlere:
CJ Ujah on Buddhism, Bromell and how to right the wrongs of Rio
One of Britain’s leading sprinters has turned to meditation ahead of Tokyo 2020 as he attempts to reach the Olympic final he missed by 0.01 seconds at the last Games
Japan secure 3-2 victory against Mexico in Softball
Japan have beaten Mexico 3-2 on the second day of softball at the Tokyo Games, thereby joining the US at 2-0 in the standings.
The host country secured their second victory after facing tough competition from Mexico, who tied up the game twice.
In the seventh inning, Japan’s ace Yukiko Ueno was three outs away from a complete game and second-straight winning start when a drop by her centre fielder let in a run.
But Miu Goto, the relief pitcher for Japan, saved the day as she managed to escape loaded bases without surrendering a run in the top of the eighth, setting teammate Mana Atsumi to drive in Eri Yamada for the 3-2 victory.
Hannah Mills and Mohamed Sbihi named as Team GB’s first joint flag bearers
Olympic champions Hannah Mills and Mohamed Sbihi of Team GB have been selected as the flag bearers for Friday’s opening ceremony.
The announcement came after the International Olympics Committee in March 2020 said that each National Olympic Committee could nominate one female and one male athlete as flag bearers.
Mills, 33, who won sailing gold in 2016 in the women’s 470 class alongside Saskia Clark, will be defending her title in Tokyo, with her new team-mate, Eilidh McIntyre.
Sbihi, 33, is the fourth rower to be afforded the privilege. He won a gold medal in the coxless fours in Rio and was in the British crew in London Olympics 2012 that won bronze in the men’s eight. He will be competing in the men’s eight in the Japanese capital.
Hannah Mills and Mohamed Sbihi named as Team GB’s first joint flag bearers
Both won gold medals in Rio in 2016.
About 950 people to attend the opening ceremony live at the stadium
About 950 people, including officials and journalists, will be watching Friday’s opening ceremony inside the stadium in Tokyo, one of the organisers has said.
The spectators will be joined by performers and athletes participating in the Games, said Hidemasa Nakamura, chief of Tokyo 2020’s main operation centre.
The organisers of the Games had earlier announced their decision to ban fans from attending the event in view of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite strict protocols, the organisers are still struggling with outbreaks of cases among athletes.
Acknowledging the challenge of containing infections, Mr Nakamura said it was “extremely difficult” to completely get rid of the virus, making it most important for them to quickly identify and tackle any new cases that emerge.
No intentions to resign, says Tokyo Olympics president
Seiko Hashimoto, the president of Tokyo 2020, said that she has no intentions to resign as another scandal hit the Games.
Her announcement came after the organisers of the Games fired Kentaro Kobayashi, the director of the opening ceremony, over his past comments about the Holocaust.
“We found out that Mr Kobayashi, in his own performance, has used a phrase ridiculing a historical tragedy,” Ms Hashimoto said. “We deeply apologise for causing such a development the day before the opening ceremony and for causing troubles and concerns to many involved parties as well as the people in Tokyo and the rest of the country.”
She added that they are “currently investigating how to do tomorrow’s opening ceremony”.
Andy Murray to face Canada's Auger-Aliassime in first round
Two-time Olympics champion Andy Murray will start his action in Tokyo against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The reigning gold medallist from Great Britain will be facing the 15th seed in the first round of the tournament, it was announced today, as draws for four of five Olympic brackets were revealed in Japan.
Murray is the only tennis player to have won two consecutive singles gold medals, having triumphed at the London and Rio Olympics.
Andy Murray to start defence of Olympic title against Felix Auger-Aliassime
Murray is the star name in a six-strong British tennis team in Tokyo.
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