Angel di Maria provided the finish to another piece of Lionel Messi magic as Argentina won their second Olympic soccer title in a row, a 1-0 victory over Nigeria yesterday.
Di Maria collected Messi’s expertly timed through ball in the 58th minute and nonchalantly lobbed it over Nigeria’s goalkeeper to give 2004 winners Argentina another gold medal and leave the Nigerians, champions in 1996, with the silver.
Brazil won the bronze on Friday by beating Belgium 3-0 in Shanghai, but now have to live with the fact that their southern neighbors have two Olympic titles and they have none. After the final, Ronaldinho and his teammates collected their bronze medals and saw the title go to their biggest rivals.
PHOTO: AFP
Di Maria’s strike was a goal to lift a final that was badly hit by searing temperatures of 42ºC.
The referee took the rare step of twice allowing players to stop and take drinks.
The only soccer game to be played in Beijing’s main Olympic stadium, yesterday’s match was watched by a crowd of 89,102 — including Argentina great Diego Maradona. But the fans had to wait a long time to be entertained.
Not surprisingly in the searing heat, the game was poor quality in the first half with too many mistakes, misplaced passes and players trying to move slowly around the field to conserve energy.
Nigeria almost went ahead shortly after the drink break when Odemwingie crossed from the left and Promise Isaac just missed the ball in front of goal. The ball came back and Isaac’s looping header was saved by Romero above his head.
Argentina were very disappointing in the first half, but Di Maria almost made the breakthrough with a 30m shot that Ambruse Vanzekin pushed round the post.
Messi produced one of his special moments in the 50th minute when he spun past a defender just outside the area and fired a left-footed drive that Vanzekin punched away. Then came his pass that set up the goal.
Riquelme went into a tackle inside the center circle and the ball spun out to Messi, who immediately released Di Maria. The Benfica midfielder had only goalkeeper Vanzekin to beat and nonchalantly lobbed the ball over him into the net.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early on Tuesday struck out 11 in five shutout innings to match a franchise record during his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics. “Pretty sick performance,” teammate Romy Gonzalez said. “It was fun to watch.” The only other Red Sox starter to rack up 11 strikeouts in his first career game was Don Aase versus the Milwaukee Brewers on July 26, 1977. “It was amazing, just to go out there and have that first opportunity,” Early said after getting the win in a 6-0 victory. “A long day of travel yesterday and just getting to the field, seeing
Mikel Merino on Sunday scored a hat-trick as a majestic Spain thumped Turkey 6-0 away in World Cup qualifying, while a brilliant Florian Wirtz free-kick helped Germany beat Northern Ireland 3-1 to get their bid up and running. European champions Spain were in unstoppable form in the central Turkish city of Konya, claiming their second biggest-ever away win in World Cup qualifying as Arsenal midfielder Merino scored his first professional hat-trick. Barcelona playmaker Pedri Gonzalez opened the scoring inside six minutes and later completed the scoring, with Ferran Torres netting the visitors’ other goal. The quality of Merino’s strikes was remarkable, with his
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
SWEDEN BEATEN: Goals in the first half by Elvis Rexhbecaj and Vedat Muriqi were enough to give Kosovo their second-ever win in World Cup qualifying Sandro Tonali’s last-gasp winner on Monday edged Italy to a 5-4 victory over Israel in FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifying, while Kosovo beat Sweden despite Alexander Isak making his first appearance of the season. After collapsing from leading 4-2 in the final two minutes to drawing 4-4, Tonali’s 91st-minute strike in the Hungarian city of Debrecen sent Italy above Israel and into the playoff spot in Group I. New coach Gennaro Gattuso’s side trail leaders Norway by three points and still have a chance of taking first place and the group’s sole direct qualifying spot as they seek to avoid missing out
RSS