Argentina defeated Iraq 3-1 on Saturday in the Olympic men’s football tournament, rebounding from the pandemonium of their opening game, while Spain advanced to the quarterfinals.
Two-time gold medallists Argentina‘s campaign at the Paris Games kicked off on Wednesday with a 2-1 loss to Morocco in Saint-Etienne, marred by crowd trouble.
The South Americans had a late equaliser disallowed, and the final minutes were played in an empty stadium due to the interruption.
However, Javier Mascherano’s team grabbed their first points in Group B on Saturday thanks to goals from Thiago Almada, Luciano Gondou, and Ezequiel Fernandez in Lyon, while Iraq’s Aymen Hussein responded.
The result, along with Ukraine’s last-gasp 2-1 victory over Morocco in Saint-Etienne later, brings all four teams in the group level on three points.
Argentina took the lead in Lyon after 14 minutes, as Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez set up Almada to score.
Iraq equalised in first-half stoppage time as captain Hussein rose to head home.
However, Argentina regained the lead shortly after the hour mark. Gondou, an Argentinos Juniors forward, had hardly been on the pitch for two minutes when he arrived unmarked at the back post and headed in an enticing cross.
The third goal came five minutes later, when Kevin Zenon laid the ball back for Boca Juniors’ Fernandez to volley in from range.
“We must look forward and concentrate on what we can control, which is playing football. That is what I advised we do: play better football,” Mascherano remarked, refusing to discuss the Morocco catastrophe.
Morocco was taken off guard by Ukraine’s 98th-minute sucker punch, which won the game and scored their first points when Oleh Fedor set up Ihor Krasnopir for a close-range shot.
Ukraine took the lead midway through the first half through Dmytro Kryskiv, but seemed to be in trouble when Volodymyr Saliuk brought down Soufiane Rahimi in the box on the hour mark.
Saliuk’s yellow card was upgraded to red following a review, and Rahimi converted the penalty for his third goal of the tournament, tying the score to 1-1.
Morocco was then pushing for victory with an additional man when Ukraine grabbed the points.
Argentina plays Ukraine in Lyon on Tuesday, while Morocco takes on Iraq in Nice.
Spain has already advanced to the round of eight after defeating the Dominican Republic 3-1 in Bordeaux, their second win in as many Group C games.
They took the lead midway through the first half when Fermin Lopez intercepted a pass from custodian Enrique Boesl and fired in.
The Dominican Republic, making their debut, surprise equalised on 38 minutes when Angel Montes de Oca headed in a corner.
However, they were reduced to ten men in the first half stoppage time after captain Edison Azcona was sent off for kicking out at Pau Cubarsi.
Spain capitalised on their extra player after the break, with Alex Baena’s deflected shot maintaining their advantage before replacement Miguel Gutierrez scored on 70 minutes.
Spain advanced to the final eight as Egypt defeated Uzbekistan 1-0 in Nantes, with Ahmed Koka scoring the only goal on 11 minutes.
In Group A, the United States defeated New Zealand 4-1 in Marseille, while hosts France look for their second consecutive win when they face Guinea in Nice.
Paraguay defeated Israel 4-2 in an intriguing Group D encounter in Paris, with Marcelo Fernandez scoring twice in stoppage time to bookend the triumph for the 2004 silver medal winners.