There are no surprises in this discipline in Paris so far. The teams that bookmakers bet on will eventually meet in a duel for gold.
Two semi-final matches were held as part of the Olympic football tournament.
Thus, the Spanish team was stronger than the Moroccan team with a score of 2:1. “La Furia Roja” conceded first in the 37th minute after a penalty kick converted by Sufyan Rahimi.
In the second half, the Spaniards took the lead thanks to the efforts of Fermin Lopez from Barcelona and Juanlu Sanchez from Sevilla. This happened in the 66th and 85th minutes, respectively.
In the other semi-final, the team that lost also scored first. Egypt took the lead thanks to the efforts of Mahmoud Saber in the 62nd minute. Almost at the very end, in the 83rd, the score was equalized by Jean-Philippe Mateta from Crystal Palace.
The match went into extra time, where the English club’s striker once again became the star. Mateta scored a double in the 99th minute. And his former teammate Michael Oliseh strengthened the lead. By the way, he moved from Crystal Palace to Bayern this summer.
It was easier for the French to snatch a victory after the Egyptian and Fenerbahce defender Omar Fayed was sent off in the 92nd minute.
The path to gold
Thus, the French and Spanish national teams will play for the Olympic gold of the football tournament. The final will take place on Friday, August 9, at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris.
A day earlier, the Egyptian and Moroccan teams will meet at the Beaujoire arena in Nantes for the bronze medals of the 2024 Games.
The Hungarian and Great Britain national teams are considered the best in the history of the Olympics. They have three gold medals each, while the Hungarians are higher in the standings and also have silver and bronze.
The teams of Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, and the USSR are two-time Olympic champions.
Spain and France have won gold only once. “La Furia Roja” became champions at the home Olympics in Barcelona-1992. France won the Games-1984 in Los Angeles.
