Fermin Lopez scored twice as Spain defeated Japan 3-0 in Lyon to move into the Olympic men’s football semi-finals.
The Barcelona midfielder, 21, who was part of Spain’s victorious Euro 2024 squad, opened the scoring early on with a left-foot drive into the right corner and added his second, with a dipping right-foot shot from 20 yards, after the break.
Mao Hosoya, who hit the post for Japan, thought he had equalised late in the first period but his effort was ruled out for offside after a lengthy video assistant referee review.
Abel Ruiz‘s late tap-in sealed victory for the European side, who will now play Morocco in Marseille on Monday (17:00 BST).
Morocco dominated from start to finish at Parc des Princes as they thrashed the United States 4-0 to reach the competition’s last four for the first time.
Soufiane Rahimi set them on their way, knocking in his fifth goal of the tournament from the penalty spot just before the half-hour mark.
Ilias Akhomach doubled their lead with a close-range finish and captain Achraf Hakimi extended their advantage with a left-foot effort after a fine run.
Substitute Mehdi Maouhoub rounded off the scoring with another penalty in stoppage time following a VAR review for a handball.
“I felt like I was playing at home in this stadium where I play for my club, but also because our fans were very loud and were here in big numbers,” said Hakimi, who plays in France for Paris St-Germain.
“Fans have been following us all tournament, I hope they can follow us all the way to the final. We want to make them proud.”
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