Spain are the Olympics 2024 football champions thanks to a thrilling 5-3 win over France as Sergio Camello scored two extra time goals to break Les Bleus hearts.
After Morocco spanked Egypt 6-0 to win the Bronze Medal it was the turn of Spain and France to battle for Gold at the Parc des Princes and in a game which ebbed and flowed it was eventually La Roja who added an Olympic Gold to their Euro 2024 triumph.
The game was played at a blistering pace from start to finish and there was little time for the Paris crowd to settle as Enzo Millot gave the hosts an early lead with a beautiful curler to beat Spain keeper Arnau Tenas all ends up. But the France fans were quickly silenced as La Roja roared back to score three goals in ten minutes. Barcelona star Fermin Lopez scored his fifth goal of the tournament when he drifted into space to meet an Alex Baena cross and slide the ball into the net for the equaliser. Lopez then went to within a goal of Golden Boot leader Soufiane Rahimi when he made it 2-1 and Baena gave La Roja a two goal lead with a well taken free kick.
It looked like Spain were coasting to Gold but France had other ideas and Bayern Munich’s new signing Michael Olise scored on 78 minutes to set up a grandstand finish. His old Crystal Palace team-mate Jean Philippe Mateta then took the roof off the Stadium when he converted a 93rd minute penalty. Benat Turrientes almost won it at the death when his shot cannoned off the crossbar but extra time beckoned.
They thought they’d won it in normal time and La Roja went ahead again in extra time when Rayo Vallecano forward Sergio Camello chipped in a delightful goal on 100 minutes, and he ended the French Resistance when he added his second and Spain’s fifth at the death.
As my SBOTOP colleague James said; this was the Olympics 2024 final everybody wanted, and boy, did it deliver!
Atlas Lions continue to Roar
Morocco’s chance for a Bronze Medal followed another glittering campaign for the Atlas Lions, only ended by a 2-1 semi-final defeat to Spain. After the full Morocco team reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar there were hopes that African football could be on the brink of making a world breakthrough and, while there is still a long way to go, Morocco are certainly dong their bit. The Under 23s opened their campaign with a win over highly fancied Argentina and went out at the semi-final stage to Spain, as goals from Fermin Lopez and Juanlu Sanchez cancelled out an opener from tournament top scorer Soufiane Rahimi who slotted home a 37th minute penalty.
The 28 year old striker scored in every Morocco match, including a brace in the Bronze Medal clash with Egypt. Goals from Abde Ezzalzouli, Bilal El Khannouss, Akram Nakach and Paris Saint-Germain wingback Achraf Hakimi made it a six goal rout to give the Atlas Lions a first Olympic medal and Morocco a first medal in a team sport.
This is a great time for Moroccan football but the battered Pharaohs can feel proud of their campaign too, losing in 90 minutes for the first time in the tournament and equalling their best ever results at the Olympics, with previous fourth place finishes in 1928 and 1964.
Tournament to forget for Argentina
From the outset of the tournament the Olympics 2024 betting odds rated Spain, France and Argentina as the three favourites and, while the European powerhouses both made the final, the spark of the Albiceleste’s campaign was extinguished without so much as a flicker. Argentina did make some headlines before losing their quarter final to France but they featured in the Olympics 2024 news for all the wrong reasons.
Argentina’s results were underwhelming but thy can claim to have been involved in the most ridiculous game of the competition…right at the start! A 2-1 loss to Morocco was mired in controversy as a star studded Argentina went two goals down before the game descended into chaos. A Cristian Medina header in the 16th minute of second half stoppage time halved the deficit and that resulted in the Albiceleste players being pelted by the Morocco supporters and a flare was thrown. Fans ran onto the pitch as the situation escalated and both teams were pleased to be off the pitch when the referee finally blew his whistle. That was daft enough but the bad blood between France and Argentina seems to be getting worse. After Argentina beat Les Bleus in the 2022 World Cup the South Americans have wound the French up at every opportunity, the Albiceleste players recently singing abusive songs about France following the 2024 Copa America. And the mutual hatred bubbled over in the aftermath of France’s 1-0 quarter final victory in the Olympics. As players clashed on the pitch at the final whistle police entered the stands to avert a fight between fans; and the sight of players running down the tunnel to continue their spats was the last we saw of the Argentines.
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