South Africa (pictured above) will now appear at the Games for the third time in a row, denying Japan a first appearance in 44 years.

The Springboks join Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Germany, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Korea and Spain in London this summer.

It was an end to end first half with both sides going close, but it took until the second period for the deadlock to be broken.

Thornton Mcdade produced a fine piece of skill on the right side of the pitch to create space and fire home the opening goal for the visitors.

Lloyd Norris-Jones then grabbed another goal for South Africa on the counterattack soon afterwards to give his team vital breathing space.

Although Kenji Kitazato pulled one back with six minutes left, Japan was unable to find a leveller and will have to wait another four years to return to the Games.

"We will get better, we came through strong – the character in this team is strong," said South Africa coach Gregg Clark.

"In our lifecycle as a team we are still learning how to handle games where a team comes hard at us and puts under a lot of pressure.

"We wanted it really badly and there were loads and loads of things we did really well that made the difference in the end."


Meanwhile, Japan's women had more luck, thrashing Azerbaijan 5-1 in the final of its qualifying event, meaning all the slots for the London 2012 women's draw have been filled.

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Britain, China, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea and the United States had already sealed their places for the Games.

Japan will be competing at its third straight Olympic Games, and cruised through the qualifiers having won every match, bar a goalless draw with Chile in the group stage, by at least three goals.

Azerbaijan were left ruing a second successive near miss as it bids to compete at the Olympics for the first time – having finished second in a Beijing 2008 qualifier.

Japan went ahead early on with Ai Murakami latching onto a pass to strike.

Akane Shibata then netted twice in quick succession soon afterwards to make it 3-0.

Kaori Fujio made it four by half-time, and although Khatira Aliyeva pulled a goal back, the result was never in doubt, Rika Komazawa (pictured above, in red) sealing the issue with a fifth goal.

"Whenever my players run and move very well, we never lose," said Japan coach Zenjiro Yasuda.

"We played our best match today.

"I was sure of the victory when I watched the first half."

He added: "But this is not our goal.

"We finished eighth in the Athens Olympics [2004] and 10th in Beijing [2008].

"We are aiming to finish better than sixth."

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