Match 1: Morocco Olympic vs Spain Olympic Games
Match analysis: Morocco U23 and Spain U23 will compete for a place in the Olympic final.
A potentially interesting semi-final could take place in Marseille, where both teams have shown strong competitive form.
Spain U23 will continue their quest for a second gold medal at the Olympics. The winner will play the host team France or Egypt in the final.
With Spain's senior team winning the European Championship last month, Spain's under-23 team is looking to emulate their success in France by taking home an Olympic gold medal. Their only previous success at the Olympics was at Barcelona 1992, when Spain led all the way at home.
Their journey for Paris 2024 has been largely positive so far, with Spain claiming two wins in three matches before comfortably beating Japan in the quarter-finals.
Barcelona youngsters Fermin · Lopez's saves, combined with a goal from Abel · Ruiz, did the job for Santi · Denia's side as they reached the semi-finals of the Olympic football competition for the second time in a row.
As for Morocco, they also followed in the footsteps of their senior teams and reached the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. This is already their best result at the Olympics, as their team has never reached the last four before.
Morocco emerged from a highly competitive group of Argentina, Ukraine and Iraq as they beat United States 4-0 in the quarter-finals, a sensational game that saw their star player Akhraf · Hakimi score a goal.
Morocco vs Spain head-to-head head-to-head and key stats
Morocco and Spain last met in the group stage of the 2012 Olympics when the two sides were tied and eliminated in the first round.
In the 2000 match, Morocco and Spain were tied in the same group, with Spain winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Jose· Mali and Gabriel · Torre.
Spain have played in the last six Olympic semi-finals and reached the semi-finals for the fourth time.
A thrilling match is about to unfold between these two talented teams.
Morocco U23 secured their place in the semi-finals with a 4-0 win over United States U23. Morocco Under-23s have won three games and lost just one in this Olympic competition, while scoring at least three goals in each game.
Morocco U23 team news
After Morocco's win over United States, Tariq · Sekotioui's side have no new injury concerns. Lias · Ahomach and Abd · Etzalzuli will once again provide attacking support for top scorer Rahimi.
In the opposite corner, Spain U23 held a similar record ahead of this game. Spain Under-23s have also won three of their four matches at this Olympics, including a comfortable 3-0 win over Japan Under-23 in the quarter-finals on Friday night. Again, at least three goals have been scored in all four games, while Spain U23 have kept a clean sheet in one of those matches.
Spain U23 team news
Spain head coach Santi · Deña has a fully healthy squad ahead of this semi-final. After the 3-0 win over Japan, Spain are expected to keep their lineup unchanged.
Fernando · Lopez struggled in a difficult first race but bounced back in the ensuing races. Over the past year, Lopez has excelled at Barcelona. He created 2.61 shots per 90 minutes in Barcelona's matches. Lopez didn't have a shot on goal in the first game of the Olympics, but had three shots in the second game, converting a goal. · Ku Brazil is the team's defensive core. In the last year, at Barcelona, he has not made any mistakes that led to a goal. He was one of the best defensive players in La Liga, but he made a major mistake in the first game. First, he received a yellow card in the seventh minute and then in the 43rd minute he fouled a player in the box. This will result in Uzbekistan being awarded a penalty. Cu Brazil added a yellow card to the match against Dominica.
Alex · Bednar will also be a key factor in this Spain team. He scored two goals and provided 14 assists in domestic competitions. In addition, he created 0.52 goals per 90 minutes while creating 5.27 shots per 90 minutes. He had his first shot on goal against Uzbekistan, scoring in the 13th minute of the match. He also created a great chance for Abel · Ruiz's pass in the 51st minute. Against Egypt, he created a great chance and scored a goal against Dominica.
Arnau · Turners is likely to start. He scored once in his first two games, the first of which was a penalty.
Akhraf · Hakimi is the main attacking force of the Morocco team. Hakimi is having a great season for Paris Saint-Germain. He started 20 games and came off the bench 25 times. Hakimi scored four goals and had five assists. His total expected goals plus assists of 9.4 is just below that target. In addition, he is very good at speeding up. He had 218 forward passes in 25 games. In the past year, Hakimi has also created 0.65 goals per 90 minutes for PSG.
Meanwhile, former Barcelona wingers Lias· Akomachi and Aboud · Ezzalzuli should flank striker Hakimi.
Rahimi is one of three overage players in the under-23 squad, the most prominent of which is captain Akhraf · Hakimi, with centre-back duo Mehdi · Bukamil and Osama · El· Azuzi joining him at the back.
Morocco won the trophy last year by beating Egypt at the Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations and could face Egypt again in the gold medal match, but favourites Spain stand in their way.
While the semi-finals can usually prove to be a tight game, the impressive form and goal-filled results of both teams suggest that we could see an interesting game with goals at both ends of the pitch.
Spain U23 have a well-deserved position to qualify for the final, but Spain U23 are likely to be threatened by Morocco U23, who have shown their quality.
At the end of the day, there will be a competitive and intense competition in the south of France. While the heat may play a role in reducing the tempo of the game to some extent, both teams can still be seen scoring in the game.
Both teams have a lot of attacking firepower, and this game may need to go to extra time to decide who of the two teams will make it to the final.
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Look for a draw 0-0 1-1 2-2