Football

Spain and Japan Advance to Knockouts with Victory at Paris Olympic 2024 – Argentina Rebounds

Spain and Japan qualified for the quarterfinals while Argentina defeated Iraq 3-1 on Saturday to avenge their disastrous opening loss in the men’s Olympic football competition.

gold medallists twice In a game tainted by crowd unrest, Argentina lost 2-1 to Morocco on Wednesday in Saint-Etienne to start their Games campaign. The final minutes of the match were played in an empty stadium after the South Americans’ late equalizer was disallowed.

Spain and Japan Advance to Knockouts with Victory at Paris Olympic 2024 – Argentina Rebounds
Team Spain in action at the Paris Olympic 2024. Photo Credit: AFP

But on Saturday, Javier Mascherano’s team won their first game in Group B. With that victory and Ukraine’s thrilling 2-1 triumph over Morocco in Saint-Etienne, all four teams in the group now have three points apiece.

At the 14-minute mark in Lyon, Thiago Almada scored for Argentina after Julian Alvarez of Manchester City laid off the ball. In stoppage time in the first half, Iraq tied the score when captain Aymen Hussein stood up to go home.

However, shortly after the hour, Argentina took the lead again. After just two minutes on the field, Luciano Gondou showed up unmarked at the back post to head in a tempting cross.

Five minutes into stoppage time, Ezequiel Fernandez of Boca Juniors scored the third goal after Kevin Zenon gave back the ball and he curled it in from long range.

“We must look ahead and concentrate on playing football, which is something we have control over. Playing better football is what I advised we do, Mascherano remarked, refusing to bring up the disastrous situation in Morocco again.

Morocco was taken by surprise when Oleh Fedor set up Ihor Krasnopir for a close-range goal in the 98th minute, giving Ukraine the victory.

Ukraine appeared to be in trouble when Volodymyr Saliuk hauled back Soufiane Rahimi in the box on the hour after the country had taken the lead through Dmytro Kryskiv halfway through the first half.

After Saliuk’s yellow card was upgraded to a red one, Rahimi scored the penalty kick, his third goal of the competition, to tie the score at one. Then, when Ukraine grabbed the points, Morocco was pressing for the victory with the additional man.

Argentina and Morocco take play Iraq and Ukraine in the last group stage matchup on Tuesday. Spain, the silver medallists from Tokyo, defeated the Dominican Republic 3-1 in Bordeaux to advance to the round of eight. This was their second victory in as many games in Group C.

They took the lead thanks to Fermin Lopez, but the Dominican Republic’s rookies unexpectedly tied the score on minute 38 when Angel Montes de Oca headed in at a corner. But in first-half stoppage time, captain Edison Azcona was sent out for kicking out at Pau Cubarsi, so they were down to 10 men.

After the interval, Spain used their extra man advantage as Alex Baena’s deflected goal gave them the lead again and replacement Miguel Gutierrez scored on minute 70. With Ahmed Koka’s early goal in Egypt’s 1-0 victory over Uzbekistan in Nantes, Spain’s advancement to the round of eight was assured.

Also Read: Argentina Overcome Initial Chaos to Secure First Win at Olympics 2024

In Nice, Thierry Henry’s France squad defeated Guinea 1-0 to make it two wins out of two in Group A. Kiliann Sildillia, a full-back for Freiburg, headed in the game’s winner in the 75th minute after Michael Olise crossed the ball. In the other Group A match, the United States defeated New Zealand 4-1 in Marseille, but France is still in the hunt.

To ensure advancement, the host country still needs a point against New Zealand on Tuesday. Japan, the Under-23 Asian Cup winners this year, defeated Mali 1-0 in Bordeaux to book their place in the quarterfinals.

Mali had an opportunity to equalize from a penalty deep in injury time, but Rihito Yamamoto scrambled in the only goal in the 82nd minute. After a VAR review, the spot-kick was awarded for a handball, but Cheickna Doumbia manipulated the shot to go wide.

In another exciting match in Paris, Paraguay defeated Israel 4-2 thanks to two goals in stoppage time; Marcelo Fernandez’s brace sealed the victory for the 2004 silver medalists.

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