I dont think Morocco beating Argentina was an upset at all. Their olympic team is better than Argentinas I think France and Morocco are the best 2 teams ON PAPER.
Out of all my years watching any sport at an Olympics winter or summer I have never seen something as bizarre as this with the way the Morocco vs Argentina
Absolutely, but one thing it did do was to resolve what had been a continual issue about eligibility for Olympic football in a coherent way.
And also the qualifying for some regions is under-20 or under-21, while for other regions its u-23. So, its a bit of an odd tournament all around. For e.g. I believe for the US squad only one player - Paxten Aaronson - was also on the team that qualified out of CONCACAF.
actually when the game stopped the fifa website was showing in their feed that the refereree is consulting the var. I was watching on an argentinian channel that didn't stop the match and we could see the moroccan players waiting in the tunnel and speaking with the assistant referee so I waited for the whole two hours. I guess the ref was waiting for the stadium to be emptied but it looks like many fans were still waiting inside while around 3/4 left. I think it was an organization issue and many didn't know what they were supposed to do. then when everyone left the players had to warm up again to play the 3 min the ref decided on. this could have been done way faster but maybe the argentinians didn't agree to play the end of it hoping for a 2 - 2 result without var consultations.
I think Japan has a better team than Morocco. Morocco's bench is weak and there is not enough DC in the squad, two DC were not allowed by their club in the last minute so we had to start with a defensive midfielder (Azzouzi) in the DC and then he was replaced by a left back (Nakkach). we have a good midfield and a decent attack trio, though there is no FW to replace Rahimi if he's injured or suspended.
Japan always produces very good players from their domestic league which get shipped to top European clubs, but for now those youth players remain unknown to those who don't follow the J league. From my scan of the squads I maintain Morocco and France ON PAPER look the 2 most impressive. Morocco has 5 to 6 players who are key bench players for the full national team, plus of course Hakimi. Anything less than a medal would be a disappointment for them IMO. I didn't catch Japan's game to see their play.
by the way, Japan couldn't bring back any players over 23, but even some who should have been in the team, being 23 or under, weren't invited because of the clubs. We could have had Kubo, matsuki, Kodai Sano, Yuito Susuki... in short, with all these absences, I'm surprised we played a decent game.
Argentina files FIFA complaint following pitch invasion during Olympic opener vs. Morocco - Yahoo Sports
UEFA under 21 age limit is under 23 (the qualifiers for this year's men Olympics was the 2023 UEFA under 21 for which the qualifying date was 1.1.2000); it changed it in 1992 when the Olympics became under 23.
Spain 2:1 Japan, a deserved win for the world champions! Germany have just taken a deserved lead against Australia after 23 minutes!
After watching most of the M1 matches, I'd be surprised if anyone else that is not France, Morocco, Spain or Japan gets a medal
I happen to live in Japan so I know their team quite well. their domestic league's level is quite high, I wouldn't rate it lower than some European leagues like the Turkish, Greek, Belgian or even the Netherland's. Also their league is quite homogeneous, so you have quality in every club unlike middle eastern leagues where you have 2 or 3 clubs way ahead of the others finance wise. True Morocco U23 has many players who plays in the A team but for half of them it was the A coach's will to prepare the futur so some of them like Richardson, El Khannous and El Zalzouli were given an advantage. That said they are reliable players.
But then DR picks up a red card just before halftime. Argentina and Iraq tied also tied 1:1 at the half.
3-1 to Spain after a lengthy VAR check for offside overturns the on-field decision. Spain have outclassed DR.
defeat due the coach's all in, removing a CB for a midfielder Ukraine looked like they would be happy with a draw but they managed to get even more