Men’s Olympic football gave us two more games this afternoon, with Argentina taking on Iraq and Spain taking on the Dominican Republic.
See how they fared.
Argentina does enough
Top scorers: Almada 14′, Gondou 62′, Fernández 85′; Hussein 45+4′
Argentina finally showed their class by defeating Iraq 3-1 to claim their first victory at the 2024 Olympics.
Javier Mascherano’s side returned to action on Saturday hoping for something a little less controversial than their remarkable defeat to Morocco on Wednesday.
In that match, the North African team ended up winning 2-1, after the game had lasted more than four hours.
Here, however, things looked a little easier for Mascherano’s men, who took the lead after just 15 minutes thanks to a brilliant strike from Thiago Almada.
Julian Alvarez had two great chances to extend the Argentine’s lead before half-time, but the Manchester City player shot wide of the far post on both occasions.
And the South Americans would pay for this sloppiness, as at the end of the first half Aymen Hussein arrived in front of his marker and headed in a glorious equalizer.
However, in the 15th minute, Argentina retook the lead when Luciano Gondou came off the bench and headed home with the first touch.
And the Albiceleste confirmed victory five minutes from time when Ezequiel Fernandez completed a sensational team move by firing into the top corner from 20 yards out.
La Roja in the round of 16
Top scorers: Montes de Oca 34′; Fermín López 24′, Baena 54′, Gutiérrez 73′
Spain became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals at Paris 2024, defeating 10-man Dominican Republic 3-1.
The Europeans were looking for the three that would take them to the quarter-finals, after defeating Uzbekistan in the opening game.
And it took La Roja just 24 minutes to open the scoring, when Fermin Lopez took advantage of a wayward goalkeeper to steal the ball and find a virtually empty net.
However, completely against the run of play, the Dominican Republic counterattacked when Angel Montes de Oca headed in a corner.
The Central American team made things difficult in stoppage time, as Edson Azcona received a straight red card after a petulant shot at Pau Cubarsí.
In the second half, Spain made their man advantage count when Alex Baena’s deflected shot deceived the goalkeeper and found the back of the net.
The three points were confirmed 15 minutes from time when Miguel Gutierrez found space at the far post and tapped in unchallenged.
Games to come
New Zealand vs USA
France x Guinea
Sunday sees the return of the women’s competition, with the USA taking on Germany and Brazil taking on Japan.
