Brazil completed the repeat in men’s soccer at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Saturday night. With a new team leading the way, they managed to go 120 minutes with Spain and come through with a 2-1 win in the gold medal final at International Stadium Yokohama. Spain worked hard to earn the silver medal and Mexico holding on for bronze in their medal match against the host country Japan.
Brazil’s dominance in group D included wins over Germany and Saudi Arabia and a draw against Ivory Coast. The win over Egypt in the quarterfinals sent them into a clash with Mexico that was a draw for more than 90 minutes. It took penalty kicks to show off their strength that put them in against the Spanish. They managed to draw with the Egyptians and Argentina in Group C before their 5-2 beating of the Ivory Coast. A major statement against the host nation that they beat 1-0 in extra time, left them with a true shot at challenging the Brazilians.
While Brazil didn’t have Neymar Jr to help them like they did five years ago to win gold, they had Dani Alves, who is the most decorated soccer player in history. Two players from Real Madrid including Dani Ceballos, who went out with an ankle injury were expected to play in the gold medal match.
Brazil took their first strike chance in the seventh minute, only to be stopped in the hands of Unai Simon for Spain. His team slowly pressed the other way into the Brazilian end of the pitch. In the 16th minute, they nearly had a loose ball heading to the net. Santos missed his opportunity to make the stop, leaving Diego Carlos to make the desperate save for Brazil.
In the 24th, Brazil went for their second shot attempt with Guilherme Arana setting up his teammate Richarlison nearing the net. His shot flew fast and straight but making its mark on the outside of the net. Brazil possessed the ball far too long for the Spanish, who took control and moved into the offensive zone. It was there that Brazil received their second yellow card and watched their goalkeeper making a huge save in the 32nd minute.
Spain committed a foul that gave Brazil a shot from far back, but their kick attempt was headered away by Mikel Merino. Officials checked to see if there was a chance for a penalty with Simon running into Matheus Cunha. A penalty kick was awarded to Brazil and put into the hands of Richarlison. His attempt was hesitated and flew over the net that kept the score nil through 39 minutes.
Two minutes of extra time was added to the opening half and Brazil was all over the ball in their attempts to score before halftime. Before the whistle, Cunha was responsible for angling his body just right, to fire the ball straight into the side of the net in the 47th minute. It was the fifth shot taken by the Brazilians, who controlled the ball 45 percent of the time and had almost as many fouls as their competitors.
When the second half got underway, it was Brazil pushing fast into the Spanish zone where their attempt ended in the hands of Simon, who didn’t want the deficit to increase. He dealt with three total shots in the first five minutes, while his team struggled to break through the Brazilian defense at the other end. Brazil almost had one on the feet of Richarlison, who shot the ball off the post but remained loose. It took Simon and another of his teammates to clear the ball away. Atony took a chance and had his shot blocked, making it five for Simon, who was well under pressure.
The next eight minutes saw Spain slow down the pace and get control of ball possession. Though two of their chances were stopped, it was in the 61st minute that the Spaniards made their moment count. Carlos Soler delivered a big kick near the net that got right to Mikel Oyarzabal for his kick that tied the game.
A foul from Spain two minutes later turned the tide of control back to Brazil, who notched another shot that was saved by Simon. The next 12 minutes saw Brazil committed several fouls and Cunha receiving the team’s third yellow card. Both teams fought to score the game-winner as time began to become precious. Both teams got very close at times with the ball hitting the crossbar twice for Spain and Simon continuing to keep his agenda.
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| Malcom of Brazil scores the game-winning goal to give Brazil the gold medal during the final with Spain at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. |
Three minutes were added after 90 minutes but neither Spain nor Brazil gave an inch of a chance to end the game. They went into the first half of extra time and saw no change in the score despite each of them getting shots to the net. The second set of 15 minutes went into play and just four minutes in, a big kick to Malcom set him up for a breakaway that put him one on one with Simon before scoring the leading goal in the 108th minute.
Spain had just 11 minutes to tie the game back or leave Tokyo with a silver medal. Brazil played defense while hunting for a third that would secure the gold medal. While they didn’t make it a 3-1 score, Brazil completed 120 minutes, kept Spain from threatening a penalty shootout, and let the whistle blow that gave them back to back gold medals in men’s Olympic soccer
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