After coming off the bench to score twice in extra time, Spain defeated France 5-3 at the Paris 2024 Olympics to add Olympic gold to their glistening trophy collection.
Thierry Henry’s team appeared to be winning after three goals in ten first-half minutes, two from Fermin Lopez and one from Alex Baena. Earlier, Enzo Millot had given the home team the lead.
But Maghnes Akliouche set up a thrilling finale at the Parc des Princes, as Jean-Phillipe Mateta’s penalty in the 93rd minute forced extra time after Benat Turrientes’ foul.
In the extra session, both teams threw caution to the wind, but Camello emerged victorious, scoring a breakaway second and a fantastic lob to give Spain the gold.
At the first attempt of the match, Millot scored for the hosts as he seized on a clumsy clearance and fired goalward from the right side of the box. Arnau Tenas, the custodian for Spain, appeared to misjudge the ball’s trajectory and palmed it into the lower-left corner.
But, Spain quickly responded through the Barcelona youth player Lopez, who was found in the centre of the area by Baena and stroked his finish into the bottom-left corner.
Encouraged by that goal, Spain scored two more goals in the next ten minutes. After Guillaume Restes failed to stop Abel Ruiz’s shot, Lopez scored his second to give them a 2-1 lead. Baena then added the game-winning goal.
When the Villarreal player lined up a free-kick slightly to the left of the D, he gave Restes no chance at all by sending a spectacular effort over the wall and into the top-left corner.
With 11 minutes remaining, Akliouche headed Michael Olise’s free kick into the far corner, reigniting Les Bleus’ hopes after Manu Kone squandered a fantastic opportunity to cut Spain’s advantage by nodding against the crossbar after halftime.
In stoppage time, there was even more action as Turrientes awkwardly pulled Arnaud Kalimuendo down from a corner. Mateta maintained composure to tie the score, but Turrientes nearly made up for it with a spectacular goal that went over the crossbar.
After France started pushing players forward in stoppage time, Camello continued his impressive play by finishing past Restes and seizing a long ball from Tenas.
La Roja have been limited to playing the role of nearly men at the Games since a historic Spain squad led by Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique won gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games on home soil.
They were losing finals in Sydney (2000) against Cameroon and Tokyo 2020 (against Brazil), but they managed to cross the finish line this time, even if it required extra time.
Given that the under-23 team won gold in Paris and the senior team won a record-breaking fourth European title last month, it appears that Spain’s current period of success could go on for some time more.
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