PARIS: It’s been a golden summer for Spanish soccer.
Less than a month after winning the European Championship, Spain followed up with a thrilling 5-3 extra-time victory in the Olympic men’s final against France on Friday.
Sergio Camello’s two goals eventually settled an epic match in Spain’s favor after France fought back from 3-1 down to force extra time at Parc des Princes.
“We are the happiest children in the world,” said Camello, who had come on as an 83rd-minute substitute and likely made himself a national icon.
Spain’s coach Santi Denia said his players deserved to cry “tears of joy” after “such a long-suffering match.”
Long-suffering for the players, maybe. But for anyone watching, it will live in the memory as a classic.
France took an early lead through Enzo Millot but Spain replied with three goals in 10 minutes as Barcelona star Fermin Lopez Lopez struck twice and Alex Baena made it 3-1 in the 28th minute.
Roared on by passionate home crowd, France mounted a late fightback in the second half after Maghnes Akliouche scored in the 79th. France pushed the game to extra time when Jean-Phillipe Mateta equalized from the penalty spot in the 93rd minute.
But the momentum swung once again when Camello lifted over France goalkeeper Guillaume Restes in the 100th and he got his second when racing away from his own half in the first minute of time added on.
The forward tore off his shirt and was quickly swamped by teammates and substitutes, who piled onto the field from the touchline in frenzied celebrations.
Spain, which lost the final to Brazil at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, became the first European gold medalist in men’s soccer since it last won the tournament at the Barcelona Games in 1992.
Not even during Spain’s dominant run of winning back-to-back Euros and the World Cup from 2008-2012, could it add to that sole Olympic gold.
That wait ended in Paris and underlined the power of Spanish soccer once again. Spain also won the under 19s European Championship last month — beating France in the final.
The Olympic victory marked a personal double for Lopez and Baena who were both part of the Euro 2024-winning squad.
“What a summer. And I hope this summer never ends so we can continue winning,” Baena said. “I am very happy to have made history with Spain.”
It was another painful defeat in a final for a France team after losing on penalties to Argentina at the World Cup in 2022. Like then, the French players showed their resilience to battle back from a losing position and force extra time — only to fall short again.
While Camello’s goals ultimately ended French hopes of a first Olympic gold since Los Angeles 1984, the crowd continued to cheer loudly as coach Thierry Henry and his players showed their appreciation with a lap of honor after the final whistle.
“We tried to respond as best we could,” Henry said. “France is beautiful when we are all together, when we unite. It was a wonderful sight to see those flags, red, white and blue.
“People from the get-go wanted to support us. We lost tonight, but they kept singing.”
Spain’s victory ended the dominance of Latin American nations for the last five editions of the Olympics. Brazil and Argentina won twice in that time, with Mexico also taking gold.
Nigeria won at Atlanta 1996 and Cameroon at Sydney 2000.
Women’s soccer is also thriving in Spain after the national team won the World Cup last year. But it could not add to that success at the Olympics, with Spain’s women’s team losing 1-0 to Germany in the bronze medal match earlier on Friday.
Spain takes gold after 5-3 win against France in Olympic men’s soccer final
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Spain takes gold after 5-3 win against France in Olympic men’s soccer final
Arsenal stay top as City apply the pressure and Liverpool resurgence continues
- City briefly held top spot after a 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest
- Liverpool’s resurgence continued with a 2-1 win of their own against last-placed Wolverhampton
MANCHESTER: Arsenal resisted a late fightback from Brighton on Saturday to keep hold of first place in the Premier League and stay ahead of Manchester City.
City briefly held top spot after a 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest, but when Arsenal beat Brighton by the same score later in the day, they returned to the summit with a two-point advantage over Pep Guardiola’s team.
Liverpool’s resurgence continued with a 2-1 win of their own against last-placed Wolverhampton, who set a new Premier League record for the longest winless run from the start of a season.
Arsenal pushed by Brighton
Another set piece goal and another own goal kept Arsenal at the top of the standings — but they required an outstanding save from David Raya to deny Brighton.
Martin Odegaard gave Mikel Arteta’s team a 14th-minute lead with a low shot from the edge of the area. And when Brighton’s Georginio Rutter headed a wicked Declan Rice corner into his own net seven minutes into the second half, Arsenal were in control.
But nerves began to spread around the Emirates when Diego Gomez pulled a goal back against the run of play in the 64th minute. Yankuba Minteh then hit a shot that was destined for the top corner until Raya stretched an arm to push it away.
“Their goal changed the momentum a little bit and they pressed us toward the end, but we got the three points and that’s all that matters,” Odegaard said. “Lots of positives and still some things we can improve, but overall a good game and another win.”
Arsenal have become set piece specialists and in recent weeks have benefited from a slew of own goals, with Rutter’s the latest to prove decisive.
It was the fourth time in as many games an opponent has scored an own goal against the league leaders.
Cherki delivers for City
Rayan Cherki kept Manchester City’s Premier League title challenge powering on with a late winner at Nottingham Forest.
The France forward’s 83rd minute strike secured victory at the City Ground to make it six league wins in a row for Pep Guardiola’s team. City are on an eight-game winning run in all.
“Today is a big win,” Cherki told TNT Sports. “I’m proud of the team because this game is very complicated to win.”
It was Cherki’s second goal in three games and fifth overall. He also provided an assist with an intricate pass to Tijjani Reijnders to put City ahead three minutes into the second half.
Omari Hutchinson equalized for relegation-fighting Forest, which were holding out for a crucial point until Cherki fired through a crowded box for the winner.
Guardiola, who has won 12 league titles with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City, looks like a man who believes his team is ready to regain the crown they surrendered to Liverpool last season. He joined in the celebrations with the traveling fans after the final whistle — acting conductor as they celebrated wildly after another win.
“When we won a lot of titles in Barcelona, Bayern Munich, here, you have a lot of games of this type,” he said. “The body language, how we celebrated, the connection with the fans is there.”
Liverpool win again
A fourth straight win for Liverpool and another sign that Florian Wirtz is finding his feet in England’s top flight.
Wirtz scored his first Premier League goal since joining the defending champions from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer and it proved to be decisive against Wolves.
Wirtz doubled Liverpool’s lead before halftime after Ryan Gravenberch had opened the scoring at Anfield, but Wolves halved the deficit through Santiago Bueno after the break.
“I was confident that I will score one day, but of course I wanted to start earlier, scoring and assisting,” Wirtz said. “It was like this and I have to accept it. I just know that it would come and I tried to keep going like that.”
After seeing their title defense unravel between September and November, Liverpool are now on a seven-game unbeaten run.
Wolves are on a very different run. After 18 rounds of the season the Midlands club have set a new low in the Premier League era — overtaking the record they shared with Sheffield United for the longest winless start to a campaign.
Schade leads Brentford rout
Kevin Schade scored a hat trick in Brentford’s 4-1 rout of Bournemouth.
Antoine Semenyo was on target for Bournemouth ahead of the January transfer window when he is reportedly a target for some of the Premier League’s top clubs, including Man City.
West Ham’s relegation fight was dealt a blow as Raul Jimenez scored in the 85th to seal a 1-0 win for Fulham, while second-to-bottom Burnley drew 0-0 with Everton.
