A bawling Takefusa Kubo was all you had to see to understand the impact of Japan¡¯s 3-1 loss to Mexico on Friday.
The 20-year-old midfielder¡¯s tears represented the disappointment of a host nation that had hoped to achieve so much at these Olympic Games but instead bowed out just short of the podium.
Japan¡¯s fourth-place finish ¡ª its second failure to win the bronze final in the last three tournaments ¡ª deprived the country of its first men¡¯s soccer medal since the 1968 Mexico City Games.
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