Argentina, gold medal winners in their last two appearances at the Games in Athens and Beijing, fluffed the chance to open the scoring when Angel Correa scuffed his spot kick wide nine minutes into the second half.
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Striker Antony Lozano scored for Honduras on a penalty kick in the 75th minute and Mauricio Martinez tied it for Argentina on a free kick during second-half injury time. Group D victor Portugal, Germany’s quarterfinal opponents, rounded off its pool campaign drawing 1-1 with Algeria. The Portuguese drew 1-1 with Algeria.
Also, the stakes are a lot higher at Rio Olympics because victory at the weekend will catapult them into the medal zone of the summer games, where they will battle the winners of the quarterfinal between Portugal and Germany.
Facing a almost must-win situation to survive in the Olympic men’s soccer tournament, Brazil finally scored after two goal-less games and beat Denmark 4-0 in their group finale on Wednesday in Salvador.
South Korea face Honduras and Nigeria take on Denmark in the remaining quarter-finals. Colombia beat group victor Nigeria 2-0 to enter the knockout stage in Group B.
Germany finished the group stage in dominant fashion as they beat Fiji 10-0. The country’s federation is in financial chaos, and the Olympic team was left without a coach when Gerardo Martino resigned a month before the Rio Games. There was even the possibility the nation would skip the tournament because of the turmoil. It was another blow to Argentine football following the senior team’s loss in the Copa America final in June and the ongoing crisis enveloping the sport at home.
“I’m proud of these players who are now crying”, Olarticoechea said.
However, a rallying, emphatic performance saw Brazil score two goals in either half to hand them all three points, guaranteeing them safe passage into the last eight. “It’s no excuse, but the ball just didn’t want to go in”.
Barcelona star Neymar is still yet to hit the net, but he played the role of facilitator as Gabriel Jesus and Luan were also on target to end a run of over 200 minutes without a goal after stalemates with Iraq and South Africa raised fears of an embarrassing early exit. Mexico, who beat Brazil to win the gold in London four years ago, were eliminated along with Fiji.
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The men’s soccer tournament is played with under-23 squads but nations can add three older players.
