This story was originally published by Dead Spin
PARIS — Hosts France will play an Olympic men’s football final for the first time in 40 years and will face Spain for the gold medal after beating Egypt 3-1 in extra time at Lyon Stadium on Monday.
France fought back after conceding their first goal of the tournament when Mahmoud Saber grabbed a stunning lead for Egypt before Jean-Philippe Mateta leveled with a late strike.
Mateta got a double before Michael Olise scored in extra time to earn Thierry Henry’s side the victory and extend their quest for a second Olympic title to Friday’s final at Parc des Princes against Spain, who earlier beat Morocco 2-1.
Egypt, playing their third Olympic semifinal, had more shots on goal during the first half before Saber opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, capitalizing on a rebound to power in a second attempt.
France, who hit the woodwork three times throughout the match, equalized when Mateta finally found the net seven minutes from time from an Olise pass through Egypt’s backline.
Egypt went down to 10 men early in extra time when Omar Fayed got a second yellow card for a foul on Desire Doue. They were dealt a further blow when Mateta scored again to put France ahead with a towering header in the 99th minute.
Olise also got on the scoresheet three minutes into the second half in extra time to seal the win and send Egypt to the bronze-medal match against confederation rivals Morocco in Nantes on Thursday.
Spain reached successive Olympic men’s soccer finals thanks to second-half goals from Fermin Lopez and Juanlu Sanchez against Morocco at Marseille Stadium.
After Morocco went ahead, Spain fought back to earn the chance to improve on their silver medal at the Tokyo Games.
Morocco opened the scoring in the 37th minute when the tournament’s top scorer Soufiane Rahimi converted a penalty for his sixth Olympic goal following a Pablo Barrios foul.
The 28-year-old Al Ain striker has netted for Morocco in every match at the Games.
Spain was more dangerous after the break and equalized in the 66th minute when Barcelona’s Lopez pounced on some sloppy defending by Morocco to steal the ball in the box and strike home.
Substitute Sanchez earned the Spaniards the lead five minutes from time after a fine team move from the right and a low shot from a tight angle.
Morocco came close to leveling in stoppage time but were denied and will play for the bronze on Thursday.
–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media
