2024 Summer Olympics Men's Soccer Day 1 Recap: So Much Soccer
The USMOT lost their opener but here's a quick recap of all eight opening matches.
I don’t know why the Olympics play literally every group stage game on the same day, seems like a massive strain on people trying to follow and cover the tournament.
But regardless, this is what we have to work with so here’s a quick recap of Tuesday’s games, click on the header/scoreline for a link to the NBC Sports highlights. Also note the men’s tourney is a U23 competition with three overage players on the roster.
I did the full recap of this game yesterday. TL;DR version is the U.S. had a couple of chances at an opening goal before France poured it on in the final half hour. France scored two goals from distance and one off a set piece so those issues can be corrected hopefully. Chance creation for the US needs to be improved and their next two games are essentially must wins to guarantee second place and a quarterfinals spot.
Matthew Garbett should have put the All Whites ahead from the penalty spot in the 24th minute after being taken down by Guinea keeper Soumaila Sylla but he sent his PK wide. Garbett made amends a minute later, intercepting a Sylla pass in the final third and finishing a solo run for the opener.
Guinea had an equalizer ruled out for offsides at the hour mark but did breakthrough in the 72nd minute when Amadou Diawara finished from long range past Alex Paulsen in the NZ net. The All Whites would regain the lead just minutes later when Plymouth Argyle man (of course this is a pro-Pilgrims article) Ben Waine finished off a centering pass from Lachlan Bayliss. A fantastic double save from Paulsen in the 81st kept the game level and puts NZ level on points with France after one game.
Group A play continues Saturday with New Zealand-USA and France-Guinea.
Okay, this one was wild because of what happened in the final minutes. TL;DR version - Argentina scored a goal in the 16th minute of stoppage time before an unruly crowd forced the game to be suspended. At some point, VAR did review the Argentina equalizer and ruled it out for offside, they called the teams back hours later and played the final minutes with no fans and Morocco claimed the 2-1 win. Referee and rules analyst Christina Unkel offered her thoughts on the matter as well.
Not sure what other decisions or actions the IOC can take from this game but a strange situation to be sure.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi scored the opener for Ukraine early in the second half only to see it erased minutes later when Aymen Hussein converted from the spot. Ali Jasim notched the winner in the 75th minute for Iraq’s first Men’s Olympic win in two decades.
Group B play continues Saturday with Argentina-Iraq and Ukraine-Morocco.
Marc Pubill opened the scoring for Spain in the 28th minute before Eldor Shomurodov leveled the match in first-half stoppage time from the penalty spot. Sergio Gomez had a chance to reestablish Spain’s lead from the spot only to see Abduvohid Nematov save the effort on the hour mark. Two minutes later, Gomez would make amends scoring the winner from open play near the middle of the box.
Shoutout to Los Quisqueyanos on their major tournament debut for getting their first point. The DRMNT has never even appeared at the regional level at the Gold Cup before their runner-up finish to the USA in the U20/Olympic qualifiers.
Statistically an even game with both teams registering 3-of-13 shooting. The DR now has a realistic path to advancing if they can get a win over Uzbekistan in the group finale.
Group C play continues Saturday with DR-Spain and Spain-Egypt.
An absolute rout from the young Blue Samurai who took advantage of a 25th-minute red card by Paraguay’s Wilder Viera with four second-half goals and the most lopsided result of the day. A brace by Shunsuke Mito (18’ and 63’) along with goals from Rihito Yamamoto (69’) and another brace by substitute Shota Fujio (81’ and 87’ after entering for Mito in the 73rd) put Japan in control of Group D.
Mali recovered from a second half own goal, equalizing just minutes after a calamity at the back for a 1-1 draw. Oscar Gloukh cut inside in the 56th minute and hit a shot right at Mali keeper Lassine Diarra who made the stop but spilled the ball in front of goal. Hamidou Diallo tried to clear the ball away from an onrushing Omri Gandelman but could only get enough on the ball to put it into his own side netting.
Cheickna Doumbia however came to the rescue after a short corner routine from Mali in the 63rd, smashing a header into the bottom corner to level the match. Mali however might rue a lackluster finishing day, with just 6 of 22 shooting and Israel’s Omer Niron credited with five saves on the night.
Group D play continues Saturday with Israel-Paraguay and Japan-Mali.