A late goal from substitute Malcolm in extra time helped Brazil defeat Spain 2-1 in the gold medal match of the Tokyo Olympics.
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Brazil retained their Olympic football gold in a thrilling 2-1 victory over Spain in Saturday’s final. It took a goal deep in extra time from substitute Malcolm to separate the two sides in men’s Olympic football at the International Stadium Yokohama. The goal, which was scored from a tight angle, settled the high-octane clash after regular time ended 1-1. For Spain, Mikel Oyarzabal scored the goal, while Matheus Cunha found the back of the net for Brazil. Both these countries were joined on the podium by Mexico, who beat hosts Japan 3-1 a day earlier to win the bronze. It was a second Olympic medal for the North Americans after their shock gold medal victory in the 2012 London Games. Elsewhere, Japan stunned the United States in the baseball final, while the US tightened its grip on the women’s 4x400m.
It’s baseball glory for #JPN! At Yokohama Stadium, Japan defeat USA for their first Olympic #gold in the sport!#StrongerTogether | #Tokyo2020 | #Baseball | @WBSC pic.twitter.com/XIgiBg6T4B
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 7, 2021
Hosts Japan won their first Olympic gold medal in baseball, beating the United States 2-0 in the final at the Yokohama Baseball Stadium on Saturday. “Each individual player on Team USA is very good, and they have many players who have played Major League Baseball,” Japan manager INABI Atsunori was quoted as saying by olympics.com.
“Having said that, I thought we could win if we played our baseball, and we did. We had two games against them [at Tokyo 2020] that either team could have won but both times it was us who won, and I think that’s because of the power and the passion of the players on the Japanese team.”
Elsewhere, the United States consolidated their hold on the women’s 4x400m, claiming their seventh consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event on Saturday. A star-studded quartet made up of US track icon Allyson Felix, world 400m hurdles record holder Sydney McClaughlin, Athing Mu, and Dalilah Muhammad blazed to victory in a season’s best 3:16.85. Felix, who was running the second leg, bagged her eighth Olympic gold medal and extended her overall medal tally to 11.
#BRA @CBF_Futebol have won #Gold again! #BRA
For the second Olympics in a row, Brazil are the men’s #Football champions!#StrongerTogether | #Tokyo2020 | @FIFAcom pic.twitter.com/46l0fAPwtW
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 7, 2021
Earlier, a mouth-watering final was on cards as the two best sides of the current Olympics made their way into the gold medal match. The beginning of the match saw little by way of attack as both teams looked to size each other up, taking a cautious approach. In the 16th minute, Brazil’s Diego Carlos had to be alert to keep the ball out of his own net following a sharp interplay between Oyarzabal and Dani Olmo. Four minutes later, it was the turn of the Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon, who had to dive low to his right to keep out a toe-poked effort from Matheus Cunha.
In the 38th minute – after a lengthy VAR review – Australian referee Chris Beath awarded Brazil a penalty for a foul by Simon, who caught Cunha on the chin while trying to reach the ball. The Spaniards breathed a big sigh of relief when the tournament’s top-scorer, Richarlison, blazed the spot-kick over the crossbar. Undeterred by the disappointment, the defending Olympic champions immediately found the back of the net before the half was over.
38-year-old Brazil captain Dani Alves sneaked behind the Spanish defence and sent a low cross for Cunha, who got away from his marker and his nicely-timed shot sneaked inside Simon’s post. The South Americans went into the dressing room with a slender lead at the halfway point.
Brazil started on the front foot in the second half and Richarlison almost made amends for his penalty miss in the 52nd minute. But his effort from close range took a deflection off Simon and hit the crossbar. The Spaniards survived the scare and found an equaliser just after the hour mark thanks to Oyarzabal. Racing in from the left flank, he met a Carlos Soler cross from the right with a sliding left-footed volley past Santos to level the scoreline.
With the momentum on their side, the Spanish team finished the strongest with substitute Bryan Gil’s stunning volley from distance rattled the Brazilian crossbar. With no more goals to separate the teams, the final went into extra time. The first session was understandably cautious, as both teams were not willing to risk in fear of making a mistake at the back that could cost them the gold medal.
But in the second period of the extra-time, the introduction of Zenit St. Petersburg player Malcolm made all the difference for Brazil. He raced on to a long ball in the 108th minute, muscled past Jesus Vallejo, hitting the ball from an acute angle, past Simon to win the Olympic gold for his country.
