Rio 2016 Olympics: Japan striker, Koroki admits they were nervous against Nigeria

Japan’s U-23 striker, Shinzo Koroki, has blamed his team’s 5-4 defeat to Nigeria in their 2016 Olympics opener to nervousness.

The Dream Team VI arrived in Manaus few hours to kick-off, but went on to edge the nine-goal thriller.

Kokori who made it 1-1 from the spot, admits they were not strong enough for Samson Siasia’s boys.

“The important thing in an international competition like this is to keep your cool,” Koroki told japantimes.co.jp.

“It seemed like a few of the boys were nervous. If we were calm, we could have played much better football.

“I think everyone who was watching saw it, but we weren’t strong enough on the ball. They won all the 50-50s. We’ve got to be more physical, be aggressive.”

Japan play Colombia on Sunday in their next game, while Nigeria take on Sweden.