Marseille was not Qatar, nor was the Olympic Games the World Cup. Spain survived the fire of Morocco in the North African cauldron of the stands of the Velodrome and struck in the final third of the match to unseat a rebellious rival fired up by its people. The team had the virtue of waiting and finding the moment after a match as a visitor the counterattack since Pablo Barrios put his foot where he shouldn’t have after half an hour.
1
Munir Mohamedi, Zakaria El Ouahdi, Achraf Hakimi, Mehdi Boukamir (El Mehdi Maouhoub, min. 87), Oussama El Azzouzi, Eliesse Ben Seghir, Oussama Targhalline, Abde Ezzalzouli, Amir Richardson, Ilias Akhomach and Soufiane Rahimi
2
The following players were selected: Arnau Tenas, Pau Cubarsi, Eric Garcia, Marc Pubill (Juanlu Sanchez, min. 61), Juan Miranda (Miguel Gutierrez, min. 61), Sergio Gomez, Alex Baena (Samu Omorodion, min. 91), Aimar Oroz, Pablo Barrios (Adrian Bernabe, min. 61), Fermin Lopez (Beñat Turrientes, min. 88) and Abel Ruiz
Goals
1-0 min. 36: Soufiane Rahimi. 1-1 min. 64: Fermin Lopez. 1-2 min. 84: Juanlu Sanchez
Referee Ilgiz Tantashev
Yellow cards
Soufiane Rahimi (min. 36), Arnau Tenas (min. 36), Fermín López (min. 66), Adrian Bernabe (min. 71), Amir Richardson (min. 75)
Football, the poor child (for once) of sport, condemned to the uprooting of competing almost always outside Paris, has added another medal to the common pot. The final will be played next Friday at the Parc des Princes (18:00) against France, who needed extra time to beat Egypt (3-1). The team took silver in 2021 in Tokyo and will once again attack gold in the French capital.
The afternoon pointed to Fermín again as the man who opened the door to the metal. Halfway through the second half, with Spain still unsure how to get their teeth into the Atlas Lions, the Andalusian grabbed a ball inside the area after an attempt by Adrián Bernabé and adjusted it to the near post. And in the second goal he combined with Juanlu Sánchez in an open Moroccan defence. He and Bernabé came to the rescue from the bench and ended up in the photo of the comeback.
The Velodrome was on fire from the outside and from the inside. The majority of Moroccan fans in the stands was not absolute, but Bulgarian. The mixed-race Marseille went with their own. They were a team as feverish as their supporters, very intense in the duels, scratching every inch and fast up front. On this occasion, in addition, unlike in Doha, they did not want to stay too far back. After the 1-0, they continued to push forward.
The excitement in a heated stadium was overwhelming at half-time. Santi Denia’s boys threatened with several damaging shots, especially one from Fermín and another from Baena that ended up hitting the post, and Marc Pubill made some runs down the right, but they were unable to get into the rhythm of the match. The constant interruptions at the start, including the substitution of the referee (accidentally knocked down by Pubill), did not help.
The impact of changes
It was a Spain that was, above all, uncomfortable. They could barely touch the ball and chew up the spaces. And, for dessert, they were penalized for their lack of trickery in not falling into one of the most dangerous actions with the VAR whistleblower. Amir Richardson, a 1.97m pivot (son of former NBA player Michael Ray Richardson), had his back turned inside the area, his chances of success depended almost exclusively on the defender arriving late and hitting him. That is what happened. Barrios went to clear, hit his right foot and the substitute referee (Glenn Nyberg) had no doubts when he consulted the monitor. Rahimi got it right and then the goal danced in the face of Arnau Tenas, who also got a yellow card. Flares and smoke bombs lit up in the four corners of the stadium. “At half-time I asked them to be themselves. They couldn’t go into stoppages,” said Santi Denia, who set himself the task of starting the games better.
After the break, nothing important changed when the coach took action. Plan A, which was non-negotiable, had failed and he intervened in depth with a triple substitution at the hour mark: Miguel Gutiérrez, Juanlu Sánchez and Adrián Bernabé for Pubill, Miranda, Barrios. A breath of fresh air on both sides and in the middle. One of them, Bernabé, launched himself into a personal adventure inside the area with few chances of coming out well, but Fermín, once again himself, took the loose ball and finished off the near post. “In the second half we shot higher, pressing more and with more personality,” analysed Fermín.
The equaliser did not put Morocco back. The team led by Achraf Hakimi competed hard and well. But perhaps that was their downfall. They looked for a second goal and the open space on the right was appreciated by Juanlu Sánchez to cross the ball. Santi Denia’s changes had worked. “We play every two days, with 30 degrees and humidity, so fresh legs can help us,” said the coach, who is not given to changes in the starting eleven.
The Moroccans pushed hard, Abde had a chance with a shot off the far post, but the Spaniards ended up celebrating on the ground. They had put out Marseille’s fire, although the federation reported that they still had to escape from some objects thrown in the mixed zone on the pitch.
You can follow Morning Express Sports onFacebook andXor sign up here to receive theDaily newsletter of the Paris Olympic Games.
