July 25, (THEWILL) –Â After two full days of matches at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, only the home team of young Japanese players can boast of a perfect record in the men’s groups. But the thrills of the football events have been nonstop and entertaining.
The excitement has been heightened by comebacks and teams refusing to be dismayed by first round defeats and staking their claims to stay in Tokyo with bounce-back victories.
The implication is that the men’s draws are so tightly balanced that so far only Saudi Arabia is clearly heading home and 15 of the 16 teams in their various Groups still have as good an opportunity as any other to book a quarter-final ticket on Wednesday.
A FIFA summary of the results from second round matches played on Sunday provide evidence to show that five teams made fantastic recoveries from opening-day defeats leaving four intriguingly matched tables and a thrilling finale in store for the men’s football at the Tokyo Games.
Group A
France 4-3 South Africa
Japan 2-1 Mexico
France came out on top by the odd goal in seven against South Africa after a wild second-half concluded with a Teji Savanier injury-time winner. Sensational team captain Andre-Pierre Gignac drew France level on three occasions, with the last goal at just four minutes left, before Savanier delivered the final blow on an unlucky South Africa.
Meanwhile, in the other group match, hosts Japan put one hand on a spot in the quarter-finals with Takefusa Kubo and Ritsu Doan turning on the style in a memorable opening 45 minutes for the hosts.
The pair netted a goal apiece inside the opening 11 minutes and, although Roberto Alvarado pulled a goal back in the dying stages for a Mexico side who by then were down to ten players after a Johan Vasquez red card, Japan deservedly retained their perfect record after two matches.
Group B
New Zealand 2-3 Honduras
Romania 0-4 Korea Republic
Honduras mounted a stirring comeback to bounce back from opening day defeat to ensure Group B will go down to the wire. For awhile, New Zealand were well placed to build on their surprise opening win thanks to a stunning early strike from Liberato Cacace, but Honduras twice drew level before Rigoberto Rivas found a winner with three minutes remaining.
The other group match saw Romania’s opening-round promise ended emphatically at the hands of a hungry Korea Republic who bagged three second-half goals and could have had more. Romania had no answer to the Koreans’ sharpness on the ball and the result leaves all four sides evenly balanced on three points.
Group C
Egypt 0-1 Argentina
Australia 0-1 Spain
Argentina were another side to rebound and secure a much-needed win but they faced a massive task to outlast a somewhat unlucky Egypt. Ramadan Sobhi narrowly failed to give Egypt a lead early on, and a second-half winner from Facundo Medina pushed the South Americans back into contention but left their opponents on the brink of elimination.
One of the pre-tournament favourites Spain dominated against a gallant Australia and looked likely to register a second successive scoreless stalemate. They were forced to wait until Mikel Oyarzabal, who had hit the crossbar in the first half, finally broke through with a glancing header ten minutes from full-time.
Group D
Brazil 0-0 Côte d’Ivoire
Saudi Arabia 2-3 Germany
There two red cards but no goals in Yokohama was how it finished in Group D for Brazil and Côte d’Ivoire because Douglas Luiz and Eboue Kouassi were given their marching orders either side of half-time, with a draw ultimately a fair outcome.
Both sides were going for the win in the first half but seemed to ease off in the second, with the point leaving both nations well placed after opening-round wins, they appeared to have decided to settle for the stalemate.
That left Saudi Arabia and Germany battling to stay in the hunt and avoid an early exit. Despite twice equalising, Saudi Arabia will be heading home after Germany took the lead for the third and final time on 75 minutes
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
