Olympic Semifinals Preview
Four teams left to play for three spots on the podium. Who will prevail?
Alejandro Lozada: Let’s take stock of the semifinals. On Friday, we saw lopsided wins for Morocco and Spain before Egypt edged through on penalties against Paraguay. France v. Argentina, a tense, gritty affair, ended in a frantic back-and-forth, with the French prevailing thanks to a fifth minute header from Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Let’s process the games in the order they were played. First up, Morocco’s pummeling of the U.S. — was this a case of tactical mismanagement or were Morocco that much better?
Daniel Miller: Morocco was much better. I certainly don’t think the U.S. played as well as they could have — Harriel’s foul that resulted in the PK for the first goal was definitely a blunder, but nevertheless the U.S. was simply outclassed. There are no players on the U.S. roster that come close to the level of Hakimi and the offense never really provided any challenge to Morocco’s keeper.
Mauricio Salazar-Lozada: The turning point of the game was Morocco’s first goal after that the U.S were forced to come out of their comfort zone. You can see it in the way that Marko Mitrovic set up the game in the first half compared to the second. In the second half, the Americans came out pressuring higher up the pitch leaving space behind their defenders which Morocco capitalized on. In their second goal, Ezzalzouli was able to get around Harriel on the left flank and run into space, he then set up Akhomach with an easy low ball into the box. In the end, what the U.S. lacks is the ability to control the tempo of the game and to do so you need technical players in the midfield.
Alejandro: Spain put three past Japan, but they didn’t quite smother them as I thought they might. Japan had two headers ricocheted off the post and a late chance by Mao Hosoya, who I thought was outstanding and deserved at least a goal. It’s hard to argue against such a scoreline, though — Spain was ultimately a deserving winner. What do we make of how they handled this game?
Mauricio: The scoreline is a bit misleading. Spain played much better than Japan at the start of the match, benefitting from a worldie strike by Fermin Lopez, but for the majority of the first half Japan looked like the dangerous side. Mao Hosoya had a goal ruled offside that was a bit harsh, but correct in accordance with the rules of the game, and there were two headers off the bar. Spain came out the second half playing well and yet another amazing strike by Fermin Lopez cemented their spot in the next round. Japan was a tricky opponent but ultimately the Spanish team kept its head cool and was able to come up with a victory.
Alejandro: I tuned into the Egypt v. Paraguay game expecting a potential rout given the previous two results. Paraguay started off stronger but never sustained their offensive threat. There were too many loose balls in the midfield. It was the kind of game I associate with the Olympics: a sloppy, open encounter won by whoever is able to keep their focus. One standout for me was Ibrahim Adel, a constant menace on the wing who headed in a late equalizer and tucked away the winning penalty. Diego Gómez was also very solid up front for Paraguay. I hope both players find opportunities abroad after the tournament. Did anyone else watch?
Dan: I tuned in after Paraguay’s goal. Both teams had moments of quality and moments of sloppiness. There weren’t any terrible penalties in the shootout, as both teams were composed enough to keep all shots on target, but the Egyptian goalkeeper was able to make a save early and Egypt’s penalty takers didn’t miss.
Alejandro: Finally, the hosts saw off Argentina in a tense 1-0 win just weeks after Enzo Fernandez live streamed a racist chant aimed at France during the Copa América celebrations — which France didn’t even play in. France seized on the opportunity to exact revenge, made sweeter by the fact that Michael Olise, who assisted the game’s only goal, and Mateta, who scored, both have African parents. I don’t know how the on-field brawl started after the final whistle, but the scenes were not pretty. Enzo Millot ended up receiving a post-match red card for an altercation in the player’s tunnel.
Rob Smyth, who covered the match for the Guardian’s live blog, was taken aback seeing players charge the tunnel after the game: “I’ve never seen an Olympics football match like this. Haven’t seen many games like it full stop, certainly not in the modern era.” I guess he missed the Copa América this summer.
Back to the actual game. I found it a surprisingly even contest. Mascherano left Lucas Beltran on the bench and played Julian Alvarez as a single striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation, which gave the French back line plenty of trouble. I found the game really could have gone either way. What did we think?
Daniel: I want to talk about France’s second goal, overruled by VAR for a foul that occurred in the build up. I firmly disagree with this call. Argentinian midfielder Ezequiel Fernandez went to slide tackle French midfielder Maghnes Akliouche, who was dribbling in the box. The slide tackle was successful and knocked the ball into the Akliouche’s left foot which caused the ball to bounce to Olise who finished on a deflected shot from his left foot. In the process of the slide tackle, it seems the French player stepped on Fernandez with his right foot. VAR deemed this reviewable and the referee overturned the goal. Now, firstly I don’t think there was much contact with the tackling player. Secondly, if there was it certainly was not enough to be considered a foul, and thirdly, I simply do not understand how if there is contact between a player being slide tackled and the tackler why the foul would be on the player being tackled?
Alejandro: If there was contact, however light, it would’ve been on the shin guard. I’m not claiming this excuses any contact to that area, but it should probably factor into a VAR decision like this one.
Daniel: In my opinion, the best sport to do video reviews is Rugby Union. In Rugby Union, when a video review is called for, the broadcast listens in on the conversation between the referee and the video assistant referee as they discuss the play that resulted in the video review. This way, the viewer knows exactly the conversation and logic that resulted in the ultimate decision. Before the decision is announced, the referee also explains the decision and logic to each team’s captain. I can’t think of any legitimate reason that other sports, especially football, do not adopt this process. While video review is still relatively new in football, a transparent review process would help bring credibility to referees and the sporting bodies that govern the sport. To me this seems like a no-brainer.
Alejandro: This is a good point. It seems that this decision, along with the offsides call on Mao Hosoya in Japan’s loss to Spain, was according to the letter of the law but not the spirit of the game. An additional level of transparency would be nice, but I think the rules can be applied with more discretion as well.
Let’s return to what’s happening on the pitch. We’re now down to four teams. Spain face off against Morocco and Egypt plays France in the semifinals. What are your medal rankings?
Daniel: After recently going 1 for 4 in my quarter final predictions, my confidence. With that said, I expect Morocco to overcome Spain in a tightly contested match, and France to dominate Egypt. My medal predictions are: France winning gold, Morocco silver, and Spain bronze.
Mauricio: I haven’t been completely convinced with Spain’s performance throughout this tournament. They seem to rely heavily on individual moments — usually from either Fermin Lopez or Alex Baena — but this can backfire against a tougher opponent. Morocco on the other hand looked overwhelmingly convinced of their playing style against the United States. I believe Morocco will make it to the final. France will be the undoubted favorite against Egypt. My medal predictions are as follows: France (Gold), Morocco (Silver) and Spain (Bronze).
Alejandro: I’d like to see Morocco beat Spain but this Spanish team seems very capable of weathering any storm that comes its way. So I’ll go with France, Spain, Morocco in that order. Here’s hoping there will be more surprises in store for us.