London 2012 Olympics: Brazil survive Honduran fright to reach the last four

Published on 05/08/2012 00:33

Brazil narrowly escaped with a victory against ten-man Honduras, twice coming from behind to earn a 3-2 win and advance to the semi-finals of the men’s Olympic football tournament at St James’ Park.

Honduras got goals early in each half but could not hold on as the Brazilians played with an extra man from the 33rd minute after defender Wilmer Crisanto was sent off with two yellow cards just a minute apart. Mario Martinez put Honduras ahead in the 12th before Leandro Damiao equalized in the 38th. Roger Espinoza gave Honduras the lead again in the 48th, but Neymar evened the score by converting a penalty kick in the 50th and Damiao netted the winning goal in the 60th to keep Brazil on track for its first Olympic gold medal.

Later, Kensuke Nagai, captain Maya Yoshida and Yuki Otsu all on target in their 3-0 quarter-final win over ten-man Egypt, and will now face Mexico on Tuesday.

The Mexicans survived a stunning Senegal comeback as they won 4-2 in a Wembley extra-time thriller to reach their first semi-final since 1968. Mexico blew a two-goal lead with just over 20 minutes remaining but Spurs misfit Giovani dos Santos and sub Hector Herrera punished horrible extra-time errors to set up a clash with Japan and a guaranteed medal match. Mexico went 2-0 ahead through Jorge Enriquez and Javier Aquino before Senegal scored twice in seven minutes to equalise through Moussa Konate and a header from substitute Ibrahima Balde.