Sports
Morocco outshines Egypt, clinches men’s Olympics men’s football bronze medal
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The prolific Soufiane Rahimi scored twice and captain Achraf Hakimi netted a stunning free-kick as Morocco hammered Egypt 6-0 on Thursday to take Olympic men’s football bronze.
Rahimi’s brace took him to eight goals at the Olympics, cementing his status as the tournament’s top scorer, while Abde Ezzalzouli, Bilal El Khannouss and Akram Nakach also scored in a comprehensive win at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes.
Hakimi’s late strike put the icing on the cake as Morocco claimed a first Olympic football medal and a first for North Africa.
Morocco, who beat Argentina in their opening group game and were eventually beaten by Spain in the semi-finals, had already defeated Egypt in the final of last year’s Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations.
That success was what allowed them to qualify for the Olympics, and they secured a medal in rampant fashion with Ezzalzouli, of Real Betis in Spain, putting Morocco ahead from a superb strike just inside the box midway through the first half.
Rahimi made it 2-0 shortly after when he headed in a cross by Ezzalzouli before the Atlas Lions ran away with the game in the second half.
El Khannouss curled a low shot into the bottom-right corner from just outside the box for the third goal, and Rahimi got his second to make it 4-0 when he controlled a pass by Ilias Akhomach before firing in.
Striker Rahimi, who has at least four more goals than any other player in the tournament, then turned provider for defender Akram Nakach to make it five.
However, Hakimi saved the best for last by finding the net with a missile of a free-kick from 30 metres three minutes from the end. That was Morocco’s 17th goal in six matches at the Games.
Hosts France play Spain in the gold medal match in Paris on Friday.
England had been on course to reach their first World Cup final since 1966 after Anthony Gordon fired them into the lead 10 minutes after half-time in the semi-final in front of 68,239 fans in Atlanta.
But the great rivalry between these nations has produced several memorable contests on the World Cup stage down the years, and this will be remembered as the stuff of legends in Argentina as the South Americans denied England with two late sucker punches.
Messi set up Enzo Fernandez to fire in an 85th-minute equaliser and then, with extra time looming, crossed for substitute Lautaro Martinez to head in the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.
It was maybe not quite up there with Diego Maradona’s legendary display in putting England to the sword in 1986, but the goals this time brought Argentina back from the dead and kept alive their hopes of winning back-to-back World Cups.
Argentina are in the final of the World Cup! The defending champions fought back from one goal down to defeat England and book a date in Sunday’s game.
Argentina will face Spain in the final on Sunday, July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
World football governing body, FIFA, has made a key video assistant referee, VAR decision ahead of the much exected World Cup semi-final match between England and Argentina.
The match will be played in Atlanta on Wednesday.
FIFA has opted to deploy an on-site VAR team for this high-profile encounter.
Previously, the VAR team had been functioning from a central hub located at the International Broadcast Centre in Dallas, regardless of the venue of each match.
However, for this particular game, the on-site officials will act as a backup in the event of any technical or communication difficulties.
Dan Hunt, a member of the Organising Committee, elaborated on the decision to have VAR operate on-site for the second semi-final as reported by Sport Bible.
He said, “There is a significant amount of drama that occurs during these matches. Moreover, when only four officials are tasked with overseeing the action on a field that is considerably larger than an American football field, it becomes quite challenging
“I am pleased that there will be on-site officials. I am uncertain about how the communication will be managed.”
FIFA has faced considerable criticism for the inconsistent VAR decisions throughout the tournament, with the defending champions Argentina benefiting from favorable calls without any against them, while England has experienced the opposite, resulting in a net negative outcome.
Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry, has reacted to the Les Bleus’ World Cup semi-final 2-0 defeat to Spain.
Henry said that the La Roja were far superior to France during the encounter.
Spain defeated France on Tuesday to qualify for the World Cup final, thanks to goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro.
“Too little from France at the end of the day. Spain controlled the game on and off the ball,” Henry said on Fox Sports.
“They showed why they are European champions, they are showing why they are going into the final.
“Nothing to add, they were far superior, and there is nothing to say about it. Spain, congratulations. you deserves to go to the final,” he said.
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