Guinea secured qualification for the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament with a 1-0 play-off victory over Indonesia in the early hours of Friday, becoming the fourth African team to secure a place at the Paris Olympics. Mali, Morocco, and Egypt had already secured spots, while Guinea had to take the longer route to earn theirs.##NAJAVA_MECA_8088466##The intercontinental play-off determined the final nation to qualify for the 16-team men’s Olympic tournament. Guinea will now play in Group A alongside host nation France, the United States, and New Zealand.Ilaix Moriba’s first-half penalty proved decisive in a tense encounter at Clairefontaine, France. Guinea took the lead just before the half-hour mark after a lightning-quick break led to attacker Algassime Bah being brought down in the penalty box by Indonesia’s Witan Sulaeman. The Getafe midfielder, Moriba, stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick and duly slammed the ball home.Guinea had a golden opportunity to double their advantage shortly after half-time, but Mohamed Soumah’s close-range effort was cleared off the line. Indonesia then came close to an equalizer on the hour mark when substitute Alfeandra Dewangga’s glancing header went just wide.Dewangga soon found himself in the thick of the action again when he conceded a penalty after a challenge on Bah. Bah took the kick himself, but his effort clipped the post and went wide after a lengthy delay, during which Indonesia coach Shin Tae-yong was sent off for his protestations about the penalty award.Meshack Ochieno revels recipe behind his goal-scoring feat at Mathare UnitedDespite Indonesia’s efforts to find a late leveller, Guinea held out to secure their ticket to Paris 2024. Guinea coach Kaba Diawara was ecstatic after securing a place in Paris, stating, “We’re qualified, so we’re rewriting history with these young ones. They’ve earned it. This will be the second time that Guinea has taken part in the Olympic Games. We’re going there to try and go as far as possible.”Captain Saidou Sow expressed equal elation, saying, “We’re all happy; what we’ve done is historic. It hasn’t happened since 1968. All we want to do now is celebrate our qualification, savour it, and look forward to the Olympics. It’s a pretty complicated group [that awaits us in France], but we’ll be there to win, to fight, and to show that Guinea is quite something. Despite our opponents, we’re going to push and we’re going to arrive ready.”Guinea will face New Zealnd in their opening pool game at the Summer Olympics in Paris.Men’s Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024 Draw Group A: France, United States of America, Guinea or AFC4, New ZealandGroup B: Argentina, Morocco, AFC3, UkraineGroup C: AFC 2, Spain, Egypt, Dominican RepublicGroup D: AFC1, Paraguay, Mali, IsraelHistory-chasing Junior Starlets face Ethiopia in crucial FIFA U17 World Cup qualifier
