Tokyo: The Spanish Olympic men’s football campaign fell to the beginning of rocky after they lost two players to be injured in a goalless draw with Egypt, while Mexico surprised France 4-1 when the group stage began on Thursday.
Spaniards, the last European men’s team claimed gold in 1992, arrived in Japan with a number of players from a senior team that reached the Euro 2020 semi-finals this month.
But despite a wealth of choice in the field, Spain failed to take their chances in front of the goal against the Degupi Egyptian defense in Group C matches in Sapporo Dome.
Dani Ceballos about the post on half an hour before the Real Madrid playmaker joined Oscar Mingueza was full on the sidelines due to injury at the end of the first half.
Ceballos was cheated after the heavy tackle from Egypt forward Taher Mohamed, while Mingueza Barcelona stopped with what looked like a thigh injury.
Unlike the women’s tournament featuring all senior players, men’s teams are usually limited to the lower side of 23, with three over-age players permitted per team.
With a pushed back game a year because of the Pandemic Covid-19, the age limit is tweaked to Under-24.
After winning the CONCACAF qualifying tournament, Mexico confirmed their black horse’s status with a convincing victory in France in Group A, belonging to the second half goal from Alexis Vega, Sebastian Cordova, Uriel Antuna and Erick Aguirre.
In Group B, striker Burnley Chris Wood released the final goal to help New Zealand beat South Korea 1-0 at Kashima – produced the mountains of their Pacific mountains on the Olympic men’s football.
Elsewhere, the opening match of South Africa against host Japan at the Tokyo Stadium will start as planned on Thursday, following the concerns can be canceled due to Covid-19 infection.
South Africa, was exhausted by Coronavirus infection before they left for the match, handled with further setbacks on weekends after two players and video analysts were tested positive in Tokyo.