PARIS: Spain reached their second successive Olympic men’s football final when they beat Morocco 2-1 thanks to second-half goals from Fermin Lopez and Juanlu Sanchez at Marseille Stadium on Monday.
Spain fought back after Morocco went ahead to earn the chance to improve on their silver medal at the Tokyo Games when they meet either France or Egypt in Friday’s final at the Parc des Princes.
“It was an intense, tough, complicated, physical match but the team has bounced back in the most difficult match we have had so far,“ goalkeeper Arnau Tenas told Spanish newspaper AS.
“We knew the level of Morocco both defensively and offensively.”
In a extended first half following an injury to referee Ilgiz Tantashev, who had to be replaced, Morocco opened the scoring in the 37th minute when the tournament’s top scorer Soufiane Rahimi converted a penalty for his sixth Olympic goal following a Pablo Barrios foul.
The 28-year-old Al Ain striker has netted for Morocco in every match at the Games.
Uzbekistani Tantashev was unable to continue after a Spanish player fell on his ankle and he was replaced by the fourth official Glenn Nyberg.
Spain were more dangerous after the break and equalised in the 66th minute when Barcelona’s Lopez pounced on some sloppy defending by Morocco to steal the ball in the box and strike home.
“I hope I can score in every game. The most important thing is that we took a step forward and got the win,“ 21-year-old midfielder Lopez, who scored a brace in the 3-0 quarter-final win over Japan said.
“From halftime onwards we were ourselves and I think the team deserved the win for our effort.”
Substitute Sanchez earned the Spaniards the lead five minutes from time after a fine team move from the right and a low shot from a tight angle.
“Morocco were pushing hard, they were backed by their fans, but at halftime it was clear to us that we couldn’t let this slip away from us,“ Sanchez said.
“Now it’s time to recover because we have a very nice game in four days.”
Morocco came close to levelling in stoppage time but were denied and will play for the bronze medal in Nantes on Thursday.
