PARIS: World Cup holders Spain survived a major scare before beating Colombia on penalties to reach the semifinals of the Olympic women’s football on Saturday, after the United States edged out Japan.
Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati converted the decisive kick in the shoot-out as Spain beat Colombia 4-2 on penalties after their quarter-final tie in Lyon had finished 2-2 at the end of extra time.
Spain now advance to a semifinal on Tuesday in Marseille against either hosts France or Brazil, who meet later.
Spain are going for gold in their first appearance in the Olympic women’s football, but they were moments away from being eliminated after falling 2-0 behind to the South Americans.
Mayra Ramirez fired Colombia ahead early on and Leicy Santos doubled their lead early in the second half after a Linda Caicedo shot was saved.
Jennifer Hermoso pulled a goal back in the 79th minute for the world champions, who were then rescued when captain Irene Paredes turned in a Salma Paralluelo cross in the seventh minute of injury time.
That meant extra time, and no further goals led to penalties. Captain Catalina Usme’s first kick for Colombia was saved, while Liana Salazar missed her attempt as Spain scored all four of their efforts from the spot to go through.
Earlier, Trinity Rodman scored a stunning goal in extra time as the United States edged Japan 1-0.
The daughter of former NBA superstar Dennis Rodman struck in stoppage time at the end of the first half of extra time to finally break the deadlock, and Japan’s resistance, at a packed Parc des Princes in Paris.
That took the USA through to a semifinal on Tuesday in Lyon, where they will face either reigning Olympic champions Canada or 2016 gold medallists Germany.
The USA remain on track under new English coach Emma Hayes to win a record-extending fifth women’s football gold, and a first since defeating Japan in the London Olympic final in 2012.
That silver remains Japan’s only medal in the competition and they go home after thwarting the USA for most of a tense quarter-final, where they failed to take what few chances came their way on the break.
“I honestly think that was the only way we were going to find a goal in that game,” Rodman said of her moment of magic after she was set up by Crystal Dunn.
“Obviously we had tried all game long to get in between them and it wasn’t working, but she played it in behind.
“It just bobbled a little, and then I banged it in the upper 90. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I am very happy about it.”
The presence of Snoop Dogg — who is working at the Olympics for US television — in the crowd in Paris provided more excitement for many spectators than the game itself.
Japan sat back and allowed the USA to have most of the possession, which they did without showing a cutting edge.
Their front three of Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith were impressive during the group stage but found the going tougher against Japan’s back five.
That was until Rodman struck midway through extra time, as she controlled a long diagonal ball by Dunn on the right, turned Hikaru Kitagawa inside out and fired a shot high into the far corner of the net.
It was her third goal in four games at the tournament, making her the USA’s joint top scorer alongside Swanson.
Spain survive Colombia scare, join USA in Olympic women’s football semis
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Spain survive Colombia scare, join USA in Olympic women’s football semis
- Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati converted the decisive kick in the shoot-out as Spain beat Colombia 4-2 on penalties
- Spain now advance to a semifinal on Tuesday in Marseille against either hosts France or Brazil, who meet later
Diaz scores again as hosts Morocco beat Cameroon to reach AFCON semis
- Diaz’s fifth goal in five matches at the tournament was followed by Saibari’s strike in the second half
- Morocco are under enormous pressure to win the Cup of Nations in front of their own fans
RABAT: Brahim Diaz kept up his remarkable Africa Cup of Nations scoring record and Ismael Saibari was also on target as hosts Morocco beat Cameroon 2-0 in their quarter-final showdown on Friday to keep their title dreams alive.
Real Madrid winger Diaz got the decisive touch to Ayoub El Kaabi’s 26th-minute header in front of more than 64,000 fans at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in capital Rabat.
Diaz’s fifth goal in five matches at the tournament was followed by Saibari’s strike in the second half, with Morocco well worth their victory as they progress to a semifinal against the winner of Saturday’s clash between Algeria and Nigeria.
That promises to be a stiffer test for Walid Regragui’s team than that posed by Cameroon, who were hoping to spring an upset having already exceeded expectations in coming this far after a troubled build-up to the tournament.
The Indomitable Lions, five-time African champions, created little with Manchester United forward Bryan Mbeumo struggling to make an impact.
Morocco, Africa’s top-ranked team and World Cup semifinalists in 2022, are under enormous pressure to win the Cup of Nations in front of their own fans, half a century after their last continental title.
There have been doubts as to whether they can handle the weight of expectation, but they remain on course to achieve their objective — it is the first time Morocco have reached the AFCON semifinals since they lost the 2004 final to Tunisia.
The hosts were unchanged from their 1-0 last-16 win over Tanzania as they looked to continue an unbeaten record going back to their defeat by South Africa at the 2024 AFCON.
Fresh from knocking out South Africa in the last round here, Cameroon were clearly banking on frustrating Morocco as much as possible in an attempt to turn the crowd against the home side.
- Saibari seals it -
Morocco were beaten by the Cameroonians in the semifinals the last time they hosted AFCON in 1988, but a repeat outcome never really looked likely.
David Pagou’s team were not helped by the early loss of right wing-back Jackson Tchamadeu, who tried to carry on after Noussair Mazraoui landed heavily on his knee before eventually being stretchered off.
Moments after that, Morocco scored. Achraf Hakimi sent in a corner from the right which was headed toward goal by El Kaabi at the near post, and the ball struck Diaz in the groin before going in.
That calmed a frenetic home support, who cheered their team off at the break after seeing Abde Ezzalzouli and El Kaabi come close to adding further goals.
Morocco were on top, and Cameroon’s response was to change formation after the break, from a back three to a 4-2-3-1, in an attempt to create more danger.
Ezzalzouli headed just over from a Hakimi corner, and then a cross by the Paris Saint-Germain star caused havoc in the Cameroon box as Samuel Kotto hooked the ball away from the line.
Mbeumo had appeals for a penalty dismissed by the Mauritanian referee before PSV Eindhoven’s Saibari fired in the killer second goal on 74 minutes after controlling Ezzalzouli’s dead-ball delivery, as Morocco march on to Wednesday’s semis.
