The United States men’s Olympic Soccer Betting team opened with a 1-0 win against Japan on Thursday as Stuart Holden scored the lone goal. It was the first win at the Olympic Games for the U.S. in eight years. “The first game is never easy, and you never know how it is going to be,” U.S. coach Peter Nowak said, “You train for three weeks and you try to find the right recipe....It was important to get the three points.” The win was a big one for the U.S. team and its head coach. “My first Olympic win,” Nowak said, “There’s nothing better than that.”

The United States is leading their group after one match since the Netherlands and Nigeria played to a scoreless draw. The United States faces the Netherlands on Sunday. The win against Japan was a must for the U.S. if they hope to advance from this group. The United States played a scoreless draw in the first half against Japan and was fortunate not to be trailing. Japan had a number of good scoring changes but couldn’t finish. Masato Morishige missed an open net and Hiroyuki Taniguchi missed a header.

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Early in the second half the United States’ Marvel Wynne broke down the right wing then cut down the center and Japanese defender Hiroki Mizumoto’s attempted clear fell right to Holden who put a low shot past goalkeeper Shasuka Nishikawa who got a piece of it but not enough to prevent the goal. The U.S. played strong defense after getting the goal and was also fortunate. Midfielder Maurice Edu could easily have been guilty of penalty kick fouls but Senegalese referee Badara Diatta did not call them that way. “It was pretty intense toward the end of the game as they were pushing a lot of bodies forward. There were a lot of scrambles in the box, but the referee made the right decisions to let certain plays go on.” Edu said.

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The U.S. will have to play much better on Sunday if they expect to get a result against the talented Dutch team. “It wasn’t a perfect game from us,” Nowak said. “We still have to be more focused and disciplined.”

While the men got a win in their first match of the Olympics, the women did not. Without star striker Abby Wambach, the U.S. played uninspired and was defeated by Norway 2-0.

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