Spain win again, Argentina get off the mark in Olympic men’s football
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Thiago Almada of Argentina battling for the ball Iraq's Mustafa Saadoon in their Group B men's football match at the Paris Olympics on July 27.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS – Argentina bounced back from the chaos of their opening game in the Olympic men’s football tournament to beat Iraq 3-1 on July 27, while Spain got the better of 10-man Dominican Republic to secure their progress into the quarter-finals.
Two-time gold medallists Argentina began their campaign at the Paris Games with a 2-1 defeat by Morocco on July 24 in Saint-Etienne in a match marred by crowd trouble.
However, Javier Mascherano’s side registered their first points in Group B thanks to goals by Thiago Almada, Luciano Gondou and Ezequiel Fernandez, with Aymen Hussein replying for Iraq, who beat Ukraine 2-1 in their opening game.
The result in Lyon, and Morocco’s 2-1 loss to Ukraine in Saint-Etienne the same day, means all four teams in the group are on three points after two rounds of matches.
The South Americans were reeling after the circumstances of their loss to Morocco, in which they thought they had equalised in the 16th minute of injury time through Cristian Medina.
The teams were taken off the pitch due to the crowd trouble that followed, and Medina’s goal was eventually disallowed after a video assistant referee (VAR) review before the final moments of the match were completed in an empty stadium.
There was no such controversy in Lyon, where Argentina went ahead in the 13th minutes when Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez laid the ball off for Almada to fire in the opener.
Iraq, who qualified after finishing third at the 2024 Under-23 Asian Cup, drew level in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time as captain Hussein rose to head in a cross from the left wing.
But Argentina went back ahead just after the hour mark. Argentinos Juniors forward Gondou had been on the pitch barely two minutes when he appeared unmarked at the back post to head in an inviting cross.
The third goal that secured the points came six minutes from time as Kevin Zenon laid the ball back for Fernandez, of Boca Juniors, to curl in from long-range.
Spain meanwhile, claimed a second win from as many games in Group C as the Tokyo silver medallists beat the Dominicans 3-1 in Bordeaux.
They went ahead midway through the first half as Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez – a member of Spain’s triumphant Euro 2024 squad – intercepted a pass out by goalkeeper Enrique Boesl to control and fire in.
It was all one-way traffic but the Caribbean side – appearing at their first Olympics – surprisingly equalised on 38 minutes when Angel Montes de Oca headed in at a corner.
Hopes of an upset faded when Edison Azcona was sent off for a foul on Spain’s Pau Cubarsi. In the second half, Alex Baena’s deflected strike restored Spain’s lead before substitute Miguel Gutierrez, of Girona, tapped in on 70 minutes.
His goal was initially disallowed for offside before being given after a VAR check.
In the other Group C match, Egypt beat Uzbekistan 1-0 in Nantes to give them four points, two behind the Spaniards . AFP
