Brazil beat Egypt 1-0 in an edgy quarter-final encounter of the Olympic men’s football tournament. The first-half strike by Matheus Cunha was enough to separate the sides in a close match in Saitama and set up a semi-final matchup with Mexico, who eliminated Korea in a high-scoring affair in Yokohama.Brazil’s winning goal came in the last minutes of the first half through a fantastic shot from Cunha from the edge of the box, which found its way to the back of the net.Brazil 🇧🇷 1 Egypt 🇪🇬 0 FT #Olympics2021 #Football pic.twitter.com/sWh6D0bnNa— 🇧🇷🤙Jesse Pinkman🤙 🇵🇹 (@whitejessemeth) July 31, 2021 The Pharaohs tried with everything they have to overturn the result in the second half but the experience of the Brazilians stopped all the attempts. Richarlison, Brazil’s striker, was the best player on the pitch with his pace, strength and hard work and he was a huge threat to the Egyptian defenders throughout the match.South Korea got trounced by Mexico 6-3 to get knocked out as their porous defence rendered helpless against the opposition onslaught. Henry Martin and Sebastian Cordova grabbed a brace each, while Lee Dong-gyeong had both of the South Korean goals in an entertaining match.Substitute Rafa Mir hit a hat-trick as Spain finally saw off Ivory Coast 5-2 in extra time to set up a semi-final with hosts Japan. The Spaniards are one of the gold medal favourites after naming a strong squad but they suffered a major fright before reaching the last four, even if the scoreline suggested otherwise.
Spain were just minutes from going out when forward Max Gradel’s deflected strike made it 2-1 to the Ivorians in the 91st minute of normal time. But the Spaniards responded almost immediately, Wolves forward Mir lashing in from close range to force extra time, just a minute after coming on.Manchester United defender Eric Bailly then conceded a penalty for handball after the intervention of VAR, with Mikel Oyarzabal stroking the ball in for a 3-2 Spain lead in the 98th minute. Mir struck twice in the dying minutes to put extra gloss on the scoreline.Japan’s quarter-final with New Zealand was a far tighter affair with the score deadlocked at 0-0 after 120 minutes. The hosts kept their nerve in the penalty shootout and the Kiwis missed twice from the spot, sending Japan through 4-2 on penalties.TOKYO 2020 – MEN’S FOOTBALLQuarterfinalSaturdaySpain – Ivory Coast 5-2 AET (2-2 FT, 1-1 HT)/Olmo 30, Mir 90, 117, 120, Oyarzabal 98p – Bailly 10, Gradel 90/Japan – New Zealand 4-2 AP (0-0 AET)Brazil – Egypt 1-0 (1-0)/Cunha 37/Korea – Mexico 3-6 (1-3)/Gyeong 20, 51, Ui-Jo 90 – Martin 12, 54, Romo 29, Cordova 39p, 63/