Despite seeing their gold medal dreams dashed, Egypt and Morocco will be looking to cap their remarkable Olympic men’s football campaigns with their first ever podium finish when they meet in the bronze medal clash in Nantes today.
Both teams have been outstanding during the Paris Games, as Egypt progressed as Group C winners before reaching their first semifinal in 60 years. Morocco, who topped Group B, reached the knockout stages for the first time.
Following a dramatic win on penalties over 2004 silver medalists Paraguay, Egypt came close to shocking hosts France in the semifinals, before a late Jean-Philippe Mateta goal sent the match in Lyon to extra time.
Egypt ultimately fell 3-1, but now have their sights set on a first Olympic medal coached by Brazilian Rogerio Micale, who led his country to their first gold back in 2016.
“We had a great performance. We kept France at bay for 80 minutes, which I think was superb,” Micale said after Monday’s loss.
“It hurts, but we have to keep our heads high and focus on playing for bronze. It will be very difficult, but we have to try to win. It would be a huge joy for me to win another medal for another country.
“I’m really proud to have been the manager of Brazil when they won their first football gold in Rio 2016 and now to be in a position to take Egypt to the first football medal match in history.”
Morocco continue their rise in world football having reached the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup, where they finished fourth after knocking out heavyweights Spain and Portugal in previous rounds.
Morocco, who thrashed the United States 4-0 in the quarterfinals, pushed Spain to the limit in the semifinal in Marseille, taking a first-half lead through Soufiane Rahimi, the tournament’s leading scorer with six, who could become the first player to score in six consecutive Olympic matches.
Despite their 2-1 late defeat by the Tokyo silver medallists, coach Tarik Sektioui took the positives from his squad’s performance.
“This was a good lesson for the young players on how to manage situations like that in the future,” Sektioui said.
“Of course, we’re very disappointed, but we have to move on from this defeat quickly because we have another match on Thursday. We still have a chance to win a medal, and we want to do just that for our country.”
