The men's and women's football events at the Tokyo Olympics have now entered the medal race, the semi-finals, after tough and exciting competitions and upsets.
The four-time Olympic gold medalist world champion and world number one American women's soccer team will face world No. 8 Canada in the semi-finals in Kashima on Monday, August 2, while the second semi-final will be against world No. 5 Sweden and world No. 9 Australia in Yokohama.
Will be played between The United States and Canada clashed in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with the United States beating Canada 2-1 in extra time.
The first semi-final in men's football will be between defending champions Brazil and Mexico on Tuesday, August 3 in Kashima, while the second semi-final will be played in Ho Chi Minh City on the same day.
In the men's quarterfinals, Brazil beat Egypt 1-0 to reach the semifinals. Defending champions Basel faced stiff resistance from Egyptian footballers and from the start of the match, Egyptian footballers created difficulties for the favorite Brazilian. Breaking Egypt's defensive line was particularly difficult for the Brazilian forward line.
Talented and experienced Brazilian players made many good moves but could not score. Egyptian footballers also retaliated. Brazilian superstar Richardson, who has excelled in Olympic football, once again played a key role in the team's success, and in the 37th minute of the game, a good move resulted in a pass to teammate Matthias Kona in the box area.
He made no mistake in delivering the ball to the Egyptian goal post and gave Brazil a one-goal lead towards victory. The Egyptian footballers retaliated swiftly, but the opposing team's strong defensive barrier stood in their way. The first half ended in a Brazilian goal.
In another quarter-final, the Spanish team beat Ivory Coast 5-2 in extra time to advance to the semi-finals. Spain pulled the victory from the jaws of defeat and reached the semi-finals 20 years later.
Substitute Rafa Mir played a key role in the victory. Ivory Coast's poor defense in the second half gave Spain the opportunity to take the match into extra time when Spain's Rafa Mir scored in injury time to level the score at 2-2. Saved After that, the Spanish footballers did not allow Ivory Coast to take over in extra time and remained completely covered. Rafa Mir completed his hat trick by scoring two more goals in extra time.
Ivory Coast footballers put pressure on the Spanish team from the start of the match and they were attacking the goal with their traditional attacking game, as a result of which Eric Bailey scored in the 10th minute to give Ivory Coast a one-goal lead. Had given The Spanish footballers, who made moves through short passes to a one-goal deficit, showed some momentum in the game and managed to get the ball into the opponent's half several times with good moves, but breaking Ivory Coast's defensive siege was a gamble for them.
It was like bringing a lion, but in the 30th minute, Olmo of Spain scored a goal to level the match 1-1. The first half ended with the same score.
In the second half, both teams failed to score despite their best efforts and the match was in injury time when Ivory Coast's Max Allen Gradel scored in the 91st minute to make it 2-1. The victory seemed certain and there was a wave of joy at Ivory Camp, but a minute and a half later, counter-attacking substitute Rafa Mir equalized for Spain with a goal, and with that the whistle blew and Micha went overtime.
Even in extra time, the Ivory footballers showed their best, attacking and defending. ASEAN's Michael Airzabel scored on a penalty kick in the 98th minute to make it 3-2. Like the last moments of the allotted time, the Ivory defense seemed to be tolerated in the extra time, taking full advantage of which Rafa Mir not only completed his hat trick by scoring two goals in the 117th and 121st minutes but also won the medals for Spain. Took the race.
Mexico and South Korea scored 9 goals in the allotted time in the quarter final match. The Mexican team dominated the Korean players from the start of the match. South Korea's defensive line failed to stop the fast Mexican footballers. Henry Martin of Mexico scored in the 12th minute of the first half to give the team the lead, which was leveled by Lee Dong of Japan in the 20th minute.
Mexican footballers had a more aggressive approach, which gave them more opportunities. Romo of Mexico scored in the 30th and 39th minutes. The first half ended in a 3-1 lead for Mexico.
In the second half, the South Korean footballers performed well and in the 51st minute, Le Dong scored another goal to make it 3-2, but Mexico's Martin scored in the 54th minute and Cardova in the 63rd minute to dampen the spirits of the Korean footballers. ۔ Edward Aguirre also scored in the 84th minute to make it 6-2 to ensure his team reached the semi-finals. Injury time In the 91st minute, Korea's Huang Joo scored the third goal.
Both teams in the quarter-finals between hosts Japan and New Zealand
The footballers of the United States adopted a mostly defensive approach which resulted in a goalless draw in regulation and overtime and the match was decided on penalty kicks in which Japan defeated New Zealand 4-2. Oida, Kwaitakura, Nakayama and Yoshida scored on four penalty kicks for Japan. New Zealand's Christopher Wood scored on the first penalty kick, while Libertar Kakasi and Clayton Lewis missed penalty kicks and Mequat scored on the fourth kick.
In the women's quarterfinals, the American women's team defeated the Netherlands 2-4 in a penalty shootout to advance to the semifinals. The match was tied at 2-2 in regulation time and neither team was able to score in extra time.
In the allotted time, Medima of the Netherlands scored in the 16th and 54th minutes, bringing Medima's tally to 10 at the Tokyo Olympics. Samantha Moyes of the United States scored in the 28th minute and Lane Williams in the 31st minute.
Dutch star Medima, who scored two goals in the allotted time against the United States, could not score on the first penalty kick. The Netherlands also missed a penalty for Ink Noun, while four American footballers Kathleen Lowell, Alejandra Morgan Crasso, Christine Press and Megan Repinoi scored a goal each.
The American team has the honor of winning the most four gold medals. American footballers won gold medals in 1996, 2004, 2008 and 2012. The American team won the silver medal in 2000 when it was defeated by Norway in the final.
Canada, on the other hand, reached the semi-finals of the Women's Football Quarter Final after beating favorite Brazil 3-4 3-4 on penalty kicks. The footballers of both the teams performed well in the allotted and extra time and their efforts to score goals could not be successful.
Canada dominated the penalty kicks. Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Libby defended the goal post in the best innings and blocked several guaranteed chances for the Brazilian players. Even in the final moments of extra time, Labi thwarted an attack and bounced in the air to catch the ball, which fell off the sliding Brazilian footballer, causing her to groan in pain on the ground for some time. After receiving help, she stood in the goal post again.
Canada captain Sinclair took the first penalty kick, which was blocked by the Brazilian goalkeeper, giving Brazil an advantage. For Brazil, star footballers Marta Deborah Olivera and Erica Santos scored on penalty kicks, while Brazilians Andresa de Silva and Rafael Carvalho failed to score on the fourth and fifth penalty kicks.
Canada's Jesse Fleming, Ashley Marie, Adriana Lyon and Vanessa all scored on four penalty kicks to take their side to the semi-finals. Canada's women's soccer team has won bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
Rio Olympics runners-up Sweden completely dominated Mezian Japan and won the match by a margin of 1-3 in regulation time. Sweden took the lead against Japan with lightning speed when Magdalena Eriksen scored in the seventh minute.
After several good moves, the Japanese team managed to equalize in the 22nd minute thanks to a goal by Mina Tanaka and neither team was able to score any more goals in the first half. In the second half, the experienced Swedish footballers attacked the Japanese goal post in an aggressive manner and their efforts soon paid off when Emma Blake Steinius delivered the ball to the Japanese goal post in the 53rd minute. The third goal for Sweden was scored by Kosovira Islani.
Australia defeated the British women's team 3-4 in extra time to reach the semi-finals for the first time. All three goals for Britain were scored by Ellen White and a hat trick was scored while Samantha Care scored two goals for Australia, Alana Kennedy and Marie Fowler scored one goal each.
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