In Group C of the football tournament at the Olympic Games, Egypt and the Dominican Republic played a pretty uninteresting game, which ended in a goalless draw. On the other hand, in group A we’ve seen fireworks in a clash between Guinea and New Zealand. Both teams played offensive football, Guinea had as many as ten attempts on target, and the All Whites’ ultimate hero was the keeper Alex Paulsen, who saved their victory. Matthew Garbett opened the scoring for New Zealand in the 25th minute, Amadou Diawara levelled in the 72nd, and Ben Waine scored a winner for the All Whites only four minutes later – 2-1.Guinea 1 v New Zealand 2 #goal by Ben Waine #Paris2024 #OlympicGames #Olympics pic.twitter.com/8P05PfqpZH— Imperial Football (@imperialfooty) July 24, 2024 After Spain’s victory over Uzbekistan, Egypt needed to beat Dominican Republic in order to get a head start and improve their chances to advance to the quarter-final. The biggest star in the Pharaohs’ squad and the captain was former Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny. Besides him, only Fenerbahce’s Omar Fayed didn’t play in the Egyptian Premier League. Most of the Dominican players, on the other hand, represent La Liga clubs – with Oscar Urena (Girona), Rafael Nunez (Elche), and the captain Nowend Lorenzo (Osasuna) being the biggest Dominican hopes.Egypt national team star striker Mostafa Mohamed 🇪🇬 supporting Egypt at the Olympics. Egypt’s clash against Dominican Republic is at the stadium of Mohamed’s club FC Nantes. #Egypt #PARIS2024 #Paris #Olympics #Olympics2024 #Africa #AfricanFootball pic.twitter.com/Wi22CadUjE— Pan-Africa Football (@PanAfricaFooty) July 24, 2024 We’ve seen the first and only chance in the first period in the 43rd minute when Elneny’s effort hit the post. Apart from that, there was not a single notable moment. The Dominicans had more goal attempts and a possession advantage, but no team managed to find the net and get the lead before the break. It seemed that teams were more focused on not conceding a goal, instead of scoring. They were pretty careful and waited for the opponent’s mistake that could lead to a goal.Lorenzo had the first notable chance in the second half after 16 minutes. The ball rebounded off an Egypt defender and got to the Dominican captain in the box, who sent the ball high over the crossbar. The Pharaohs answered only two minutes later when Ibrahim Adel’s quick strike was denied with an unbelievable goal-line clearance.Paris Olympics: Argentina barely salvaged a draw against brave Morocco, Spain beat UzbekistanThe Dominicans threatened the Egyptian keeper Hamza Alaa twenty minutes before the end when Peter Federico tried with a cheeky under-the-wall shot from a free kick, but the 23-year-old goalie made a nice save. Only a minute later, Luiyi de Lucas only needed to tap the ball in but somehow missed the entire goal and blew the game’s best chance. Both coaches tried to refresh their teams with several substitutions. Hence, Josue Baez and Jose de Leon got the opportunity for the Dominican Republic, whereas Osama Faisal entered the game for Egypt.In the end, both teams had one massive chance each – Elneny for the Pharaohs and de Lucas for the Dominicans. Subsequently, both sides were pretty equal in all the statistic parameters and the draw is a fair outcome based on everything we saw today. Obviously, it was important to them not to lose, and they managed to fulfil that task. On Saturday, Egypt will face Uzbekistan, while the Dominican Republic will have a very difficult task against Spain. After the first round, everything in Group C is still open.Paris Olympics: Erratic Shujaa fall to Argentina in openerGiven that the other Group A pair were France and the USA, the winner of the Guinea-New Zealand clash could have high hopes of reaching the quarter-final, while the losing team had very low chances of doing so. That’s why both teams started the game with their guards down. Ilaix Moriba had the first chance for Guinea in the 7th minute, but Alex Paulsen was well positioned. Seven minutes later, New Zealand threatened through Michael Boxall and Sarpreet Singh, but both shots went wide of the post.🚨🏅 GOAL | Guinea 0-1 New Zealand | Matthew GarbettNEW ZEALAND HAVE TAKEN THE LEAD!pic.twitter.com/JXkLT0HZc3— Tekkers Foot (@tekkersfoot) July 24, 2024 In the 25th minute, the All Whites opened the scoring from the penalty kick. Soumailla Sylla was reckless in the box, and Matthew Garbett took responsibility. He missed the spot kick but broke the deadlock only a minute later, squirming the ball into the net for the somewhat surprising New Zealand lead. Until the end of the first 45 minutes, both teams had two opportunities – Abdoulaye Toure and Amadou Diallo for Guinea and Kees Sims and Jay Herdman for the All Whites, but the result remained unchanged at the break. New Zealand goalkeeper Paulsen made as many as seven saves in the first period and was the best player on the pitch.🚨🏅 GOAL | Guinea 1-1 New Zealand | Amadou DiawaraGUINEA HAS EQUALIZED !!!!pic.twitter.com/cdhAC9edHJ— Tekkers Foot (@tekkersfoot) July 24, 2024 Guinea kept dominating at the beginning of the second half, while their rivals were ready to defend their lead at all costs. The National Elephants managed to find the net in the 61st minute through Aliou Balde, but his goal was disallowed due to offside after the VAR intervention. However 12 minutes later, there was no mistake! This time, Balde assisted with a clever pass, while Amadou Diawara levelled the score, whipping a tremendous shot into the left side of the goal and making it 1-1. Nevertheless, the Guinean joy didn’t last long – only four minutes! That’s how much it took for New Zealand to retake the lead! Lachlan Bayliss sent an excellent through ball to Ben Waine, who banged it from the box into the top left corner.Balde and Algassime Bah had massive chances to equalize in the 81st minute, but Bournemouth’s Paulsen miraculously saved both strikes once more. Waine could’ve scored a brace in the penultimate minute, but Sylla stopped his effort with a great save. The All Whites ultimately kept the lead and made a giant step towards the quarter-final with this victory. Conversely, Guinea will have to redeem themselves on Saturday against France, while their today’s rival will face the USA.OLYMPIC GAMES – FOOTBALL TOURNAMENTGroup stages – Round 1WednesdayArgentina – Morocco 1-2 (0-1)/Simeone 68 – Rahimi 45+2, 51 pen/Uzbekistan – Spain 1-2 (1-1)/Shomurodov 45+3 pen – Pubill 29, Gomez 62/Guinea – New Zealand 1-2 (0-1)/Diawara 72 – Garbett 25, Waine 76/Egypt – Dominican Republic 0-0 Iraq – Ukraine 0-0 IN PROGRESSJapan – Paraguay 1-0 IN PROGRESS22:00: (1.48) France M23 (4.40) USA M23 (6.75)22:00: (2.55) Mali M23 (3.15) Israel M23 (2.95)***odds are subject to change***
