We now have two days in men’s football at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, and we have already seen a lot of excitement and outrage.
Match day two was about goals. There was an absolute boatload of strikes over the eight matches, half of which saw at least four goals.
Let’s take a look at all the results from the second round of matches.
France 4-3 South Africa
All donate until the last minute for this drape ?? # tokyo2020 #FRA pic.twitter.com/68pZKChTY7
– Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) July 25, 2021
Only the seven goals were shared between France and South Africa, and all seven came in the second half.
South Africa led three times but saw each of their goals interrupted by Andre-Pierre Gignac almost immediately, with an 86 – minute penalty from Tigre’s hitman that apparently led to part of the switch between the two sides.
It ended with grief for South Africa when Teji Savanier appeared with a winner in the 93rd minute, which kept Les Bleus in with a qualifying shot for the next round on the way to the last day of the matches.
Japan 2-1 Mexico
Japan Saw by Mexico / Naomi Baker / Getty Images
Japan took an impressive 2-1 victory over Mexico to climb to the top of Group A as the competition’s only remaining undefeated side.
Real Madrid star Takefusa Kubo netted after just six minutes, and a penalty from Ritsu Doan had the tournament hosts 2-0 up five minutes later, but Mexico did not give up and actually enjoyed the majority of the possession.
Hope for a comeback disappeared after 68 minutes when Johan Vasquez made a complete fool of himself when he presented the ball to the feet of Roberto Alvarado who smashed it into the empty net.
New Zealand 2-3 Honduras
Cacace netted a worldie / Atsushi Tomura / Getty Images
Group B offered a surprisingly fun meeting between New Zealand and Honduras which ended in a 3-2 victory against the latter.
Left-back Liberato Cacace offered a goal-of-the-tournament competition with a half-volley screamer early on to give New Zealand the lead, but Luis Palma struck in the first half’s injury to level things at halftime.
Burnley’s Chris Wood had New Zealand again just seconds after the restart, but a late flurry from Honduras saw them net twice in the last 12 minutes to catch all three points.
Romania 0-4 South Korea
South Korea took Romania apart / SHINJI AKAGI / Getty Images
South Korea recovered from its first defeat against New Zealand with an emphatic 4-0 thumping of Romania.
An own goal by Marius Marin got the attack started in the 27th minute, but despite their best efforts, South Korea actually had to wait until the 59th minute for their second goal through Um Won-sang’s deflected strike from range.
Valencia starlet Lee Kang-in had two in the final six minutes to pile on misery, leaving all four sides on three points heading into the final day.
Egypt 0-1 Argentina
Medina gave Argentina winner / Masashi Hara / Getty Images
If you want to skip Group C’s summary, I would not blame you.
We start with Argentina, who recorded their first victory in the tournament with a nervous 1-0 victory against Egypt. Lens defender Facundo Medina scored the only goal in a game that lacked any real quality.
Argentina is now third in its group and will qualify with a victory in its upcoming meeting with Spain.
Australia 0-1 Spain
Spain had to wait for their first goal / Masashi Hara / Getty Images
To keep the overwhelming trend going, Spain had to wait until the 81st minute for their only goal of the match against Australia.
A looking head from Real Sociedad’s Mikel Oyarzabal was enough to secure Spain’s first victory in the tournament and kick them to the top of the group with one game left.
However, Spain are not yet qualified and must avoid defeat against Argentina on the last day if they are to make it.
Brazil 0-0 Ivory Coast
Brazil worked to draw / BSR Agency / Getty Images
Three days after Germany broke up, Brazil found that it could not find a way through Eric Bailly and the Ivory Coast.
It might not have been a goal, but it was a lot of drama, which started with a red card for Brazilian Douglas Luiz after just 13 minutes. The Aston Villa midfielder originally received a yellow card for a cynical trip, only for VAR to intervene and upgrade it to a red card to deny an opportunity to score.
Ivory Coast ended the game with ten men themselves when Genk’s Eboue Kouassi picked up two yellow cards and received his marching orders late.
Saudi Arabia 2-3 Germany
Germany secured its first victory / Francois Nel / Getty Images
Finally a little fun … but maybe not for Saudi Arabia, who became the first side to be officially knocked out of the competition after a 3-2 loss to Germany.
However, the Saudis did not go without a fight and managed to fight from behind twice. Sami Al-Najei struck twice on both sides of the half to interrupt strikes by Nadiem Amiri and Ragnar Ache, but they just could not continue.
Augsburg center-back Felix Uduokhai appeared with the winner in the 75th minute, holding Germany third in the group. A victory over the Ivory Coast on the final day will steer them to the next round.
