Argentina upsets Brazil 1-0 to seal a spot at the 2024 Olympics; the Selecao men’s team will not take part in the Paris final

After losing 1-0 to Argentina, a rival team in the region on Sunday, Brazil decided not to defend its Olympic men’s soccer championship in Paris.

After losing 1-0 to Argentina, a rival team in the region on Sunday, Brazil decided not to defend its Olympic men’s soccer championship in Paris.

For the Javier Mascherano-coached Argentina under-23 team, Luciano Gondou scored the winning goal in the pivotal South American Olympic qualifying match. He scored at the Brigido Iriarte Stadium in Caracas in the 78th minute, heading a cross from Valentin Barco past goalkeeper Mycael.

Brazil competed in the Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo Olympics and won gold in men’s soccer.

Men’s soccer Olympic qualifying from South America awarded two slots in Paris, where the men’s competition gets underway on July 24. After defeating the host Venezuela 2-0 on Sunday, Paraguay finished first in the final group stage standings with seven points from three games.
In addition to defeating Brazil, the Paraguayan team, who lacked the great players of its two more powerful continental rivals, qualified for France.

Argentina had five points at the end of the tournament, two more than Brazil, who had only defeated Venezuela in the championship match.

Argentina held the advantage in the first half, but Ramon Menezes’s defensive strategy for Brazil prevented much passion from being shown during the game. In the sixteenth minute, Thiago Almada, the World Cup winner, struck the post.

Leandro Brey of Argentina produced the finest save of the match in the 61st minute when substitute Gabriel Pec hit a powerful close-range shot. Brazil failed to maintain their pressure, as attacker Endrick once again performed below expectations. And that’s when Gondou’s header separated the two teams.

We were due for this. “We managed to win every game during the qualifying round,” stated Gondou, who tallied four goals during the competition held in Venezuela. “In the end, we achieved our goal after suffering and waiting for it.”

The last time Brazil missed out on the Olympic men’s soccer competition was in 2004.
“We prepared well for this, but it is a very bad feeling,” Andrey Santos, a midfielder for Brazil, stated. “The entire competition, we had trouble holding onto the ball. Not everything went as planned.

Men’s soccer gold medalist Argentina took home the hardware at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympics, when Lionel Messi captained the Beijing squad.

Diego Gómez’s penalty kick early in the second half and Marcelo Pérez’s head-scraping goal-saving header in the 75th minute following a shocking error by the Venezuelan defense set up Paraguay’s unexpected position in Paris. The men’s soccer team from Paraguay has brought one medal to the small South American nation in its Olympic history: a silver in 2004 following a loss to Argentina in the final.