The penultimate match in the men's Olympic football competition is upon upon us and it sees the host nation Japan take on Mexico. This game is bound to be a good one with the home nation being involved and I just wish fans could attend the game as I think this would end up being a sell out with a fantastic atmosphere due to Japan competing for the medal. Both the teams have definitely surprised me throughout this competition and they have really shown that they have the potential to go far in future competitions too.

Japan have looked brilliant and you can really tell that a lot of time has been spent getting the team up to scratch and the rise of the Japanese league also seems to have helped in my opinion. The players are looking great and like they are going to be able to challenge even the big teams in the future. I think if their semi final was against Mexico or Brazil we would have seen them in the final but facing Spain was just a step too far for them this time around. I don't think this will be the last time we see Japan progressing well in a major tournament and I am really looking forward to seeing what the future holds for this team. 

I will be honest I didn't anticipate to see Mexico going this far in the competition just due to the other teams competing but they have really surprised me. For me Mexico have always been one of those hit and miss teams but this time around they have shown us all what they are made of and have shown they shouldn't they shouldn't be underestimated. It is nice to see Mexico heading to the later stages of the competition instead of the usual suspects and with the team only being young I don't think this is going to be the last we see of them in the back ends of competitions they compete in. Mexico are definitely up against a tough opponent with Japan looking strong and being on home soil but if they play like they have done recently they might just edge Japan out of a medal however, will the fact Mexico had to play extra time and penalties come back to cause them issues? I guess we will soon find out. 

I am really looking forward to seeing who takes home the bronze medal from this game and I can see it possibly ending up going into extra time due to the strength and determination both team have. Japan will want to win on home soil and the Mexico team won't want to leave empty handed and let's hope the result shows just how closely contested this match can potentially be. I think I might be looking forward to this game more than the final.