The first day of the Olympic football tournament ended yesterday, 24 July. Sixteen men’s teams have qualified and will play in four time slots: two matches per day at 16:00, 18:00, 20:00 and 22:00. The results of the first round are now available.
Group A. France – United States – 3:0 Group A. New Zealand – Guinea – 2:1 Group B. Iraq – Ukraine – 2:1 Group B. Morocco – Argentina – 2:1. Uzbekistan – 2:0 Group C. Egypt – Dominican Republic – 0:0 Group D. Japan – Paraguay – 5:0.
The tour was remembered for several unusual results and a surprising refereeing scandal in the Argentine national team’s match. But first things first.
The Uzbekistan team lost to the Spanish, but showed confidence
Before the start of the Olympic Games, when CSKA had just let Abbosbek Fayzullaev into the tournament, the leader of the Uzbekistan national team shared his goals: “There are [на Олимпиаде] Our ultimate goal is to return home with medals.” The Uzbek team has set itself a serious goal, but considering the good performances of the national teams in previous youth tournaments, this does not seem out of reach:
U20 Asian Cup in 2023 – victory; U17 Asian Cup in 2023 – semi-final; U17 World Cup in 2023 – quarter-final; U20 World Cup in 2023 – round of 16;
The Uzbekistan national team may not have a dominant style or a beautiful game, but they give their all in every match: they rely on a compact defensive game, press and counterattack. Last year’s youth championship revealed two talents at once: the very active and tireless dribbler Abbos moved to Russia, the tenacious and agile central defender of the trio Abdukodir Khusanov moved to Lens.
At the Olympic tournament, both of them led the team. Faizullaev stood out especially: during the match he played on both flanks and successfully resisted the Spanish full-backs, made 2/3 of successful dribbles and worked as hard as possible in defence – four fouls and four tackles. Statistically, he may not look very impressive, but visually he is quite good. In early March, the Spanish brand wrote about Villarreal’s interest in Abbos, and the public was successful in the phenomenon – it was announced.
Faizullaev’s interesting inclination towards defense became, in fact, the personification of the team’s entire game: they fought, practiced and relied on maximizing opportunities. Even though they lost, they looked good.
Abbosbek Faizullaev in the match against Spain
Photo: Alex Gottschalk/Getty Images
The Moroccan team spent four hours beating Argentina
This match has already resonated in the media around the world with a hint of refereeing, but beware: it was the Argentines who fought back in the 90+16th minute, it was the Moroccan national team that took a 2-0 lead in the 50th minute! The Africans brought a very talented team to the Olympics: here is Bilal El-Hannus from Genk, who is followed by half of Europe, and Ilyas Ahomash, a graduate of Barcelona and the breakthrough of the season at Villarreal. And the young core is spiced up by Achraf Hakimi (PSG) and the experienced striker Sufyan Rahimi. The fact that Argentina is having problems can even be called expected.
Ahomash played a very strong game for the Moroccans – he participated in both goals. He is like an ant: very small and skillful with his feet when running with the ball – fantastic work. The opposing defenders, including the mature Otamendi, had no time for anything: at the time of the first goal they missed a smart opening and allowed a key backheel pass, in the episode of the second it was Ilyas who deserved a penalty. Once again, as in the case of Faizullaev, statistical portals do not value performance, but look at the game!
Ilyas Ahomash in the match with the Argentine national team
Photo: Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images
And Sufyan Rahimi, who plays at club level for Al Ain (UAE), scored a brace! He responded to the cross and converted the penalty. This is a striker, this is a real striker!
And of course, all the players’ performances were interrupted by 35-year-old Glenn Nyberg, who was already a fairly experienced European referee. Watch your hands:
90+16th minute. Argentina is on fire 1-2, but after a series of long shots, a player who was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time scores. The team is miraculously saved – 2:2. Moroccan fans almost immediately rushed onto the field – riots, fireworks. The referee decided to take the teams off the field. Everyone thought that the match was over, but the match was officially interrupted, and only after about 45 minutes on the IOC website it finally changed – the match was over, and then after two hours the referee returned the teams to the field and allowed them to warm up. Argentina’s goal was disallowed and the teams played another three minutes. Without spectators! The final score is 2:1 – victory for Morocco.
It is a unique case, but at the Olympic Games this kind of joke is almost common: in 2004, for example, a penalty was stopped five times. After the match, Javier Mascherano, coach of the Argentine national team, unsurprisingly described it as the biggest circus he had ever seen. And he launched into a diatribe about the holes in the organisation:
Javier Mascherano
Head coach of the Argentine Olympic team
“Yesterday we were robbed. Thiago Almada had his belongings stolen. Today they ran onto the pitch seven times and then threw firecrackers at us. They told us it ended 2:2. This is the Olympic Games, not a local tournament. This should not happen!”
Argentina was lucky in only one thing: Ukraine also lost sensationally – to Iraq. All the cards are in hand; you must leave the group.
All the details of the scandal:
What’s up with France? Southgate’s first half but brilliant finish
Although it was boring at times, it was a strong match played by one of the tournament favourites: France’s star team. Even at the U-17 level, it is already stellar, let alone in the Olympic squad: Ryan Sherki (Lyon), Michael Olise (Bayern), Luak Bade (Sevilla), Enzo Milhaud (Stuttgart), Manu Kone (Borussia M), Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon).
The match against the USA started in a fog: the team had to get used to each other and remember the connections, so during the first minutes even the initiative was on the other side. Towards the middle of the first half, France consolidated its territorial advantage, but during the entire first half no one created any chances. Even for a moment!
But at the end of the second half, both Olise, who had previously been languishing on the flank, and Lacazette, who had been lost between the lines, came back to life. First, Alexander, coming deeper, took the ball and put it into the far corner with a long-range shot, and then Olise did the same. Two shots from outside the box – two goals. The 19-year-old goalkeeper Guillaume Rest saved the rare chances and towards the end of the match Bade scored the third.
Alexandre Lacazette celebrates his goal against the United States
Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
An unexpected transformation. France won in class. Considering that New Zealand and Guinea are still playing in the group, there will probably not be even minor problems with the entry now.
