The Olympic men’s soccer tournament continued on Friday with the quarterfinals. In a significant game that caught the eyes of many, Morocco stunned the United States 4-0. In other action of the primarily under-23 year old event, France beat Argentina 1-0, Spain beat Japan 3-0, and Egypt beat Paraguay 5-4 on penalty kicks after being tied at one after regulation and extra time. In the semifinals on Monday, Egypt plays France and Morocco plays Spain.
Who scored in the quarterfinals?
Morocco got goals from forward and winger Soufiane Rahimi of Casablanca, right winger Ilias Akhonmac, right back and right winger Achraf Hakimi of Paris St-Germain, and striker El Mehdi Maouhoub of FC Dynamo Moscow. Rahimi and Maouhoub scored goals on penalty kicks. Morocco has never won a medal in soccer at the Olympic Games.
France’s lone goal in the entire game came from Jean-Philippe Mateta of Sevran in only the fifth minute. The Crystal Palace striker who is only 27 years old, scored his second straight game-winning goal in the Olympic Games for France. He also accomplished the feat in the 19th minute in a 3-0 shutout win over New Zealand on July 30.
Spain got two goals from Fermin Lopez, a midfielder for FC Barcelona, and another from forward Abel Ruiz of Almussafes. Lopez had his goals in the 11th and 73rd minutes, while Ruiz scored in the 86th minutes.
The five Egyptian players to score on penalty kicks after Ibrahim Adel scored in regulation were midfielder Ahmed Nabil Koka, defensive midfielder Mohamed Elneny, left back Karim El Debes, centre back Hossam Abdelmaguid, and Abel again.
The semifinals will be on Monday. The bronze medal game will be on Thursday, and the gold medal game will be on Friday. Like Morocco, Egypt has never won Olympic gold in soccer. Spain won at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, while France won at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
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