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Spain pulls off a major coup and defeats France in an Olympic thriller by eight goals

Spain pulls off a major coup and defeats France in an Olympic thriller by eight goals
Posted on | Posted on Theodore

Olympic hosts France and Spain fought a brilliant battle for the gold medal at the Parc des Princes, and La Roja also enjoyed a successful summer on the international stage following their triumph at the 2024 European Championships.

Santi Denia’s team have not always made it easy for themselves at Paris 2024 and that was the case again in the final. Enzo Millot opened the scoring after just 11 minutes after Arnau Tenas had mishit his shot into the corner, leaving the French side beside themselves with horror.

The task became more difficult, but Spain quickly turned the tables. Fermin Lopez was found unmarked in the box by Alex Baena and slotted home his fifth goal of the tournament in the 18th minute. His sixth goal, which would see him finish as the tournament’s top scorer, came seven minutes later, following up an Abel Ruiz effort with a tap-in. When Baena curled home a free kick three minutes later, 17 minutes after France had opened the scoring, La Roja seemed to have the game under control.

And for the most part they did, with only one good save until the 79th minute. However, as France began to dominate the pitch, a Michael Olise free kick deflected off Juan Miranda and into his own net. France continued to press, but without much success, until Arnaud Kalimuendo was brought down by Benat Turrientes in stoppage time, which was ruled a penalty after a VAR review. Even after Jean-Philippe Mateta had levelled the score at 3-3, Turrientes still had time to hit the crossbar when Theo de Percin saved with his fingertips.

Despite having three centre-backs on the pitch to defend their lead, La Roja managed to find a way forward. Sergio Gomez laid the ball out for Juan Miranda, but he ran back across the goal instead of attacking. However, when Adria Bernabe cleared the way for three French defenders, Sergio Camello was able to run after him. He kept his nerve and lobbed the ball beautifully over the goalkeeper, putting Spain back in front after 102 minutes.

France came back and pressed, but the excellent Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia kept intervening at the last moment. And when the mood at the Parc des Princes reached its peak, Camello silenced them again. Tenas picked up a corner and lobbed it straight at goal with a brilliant effort, and he beat De Percin again with a lob in the 121st minute.

A 5-3 victory over the hosts sealed a glorious summer for Spanish football, which became Olympic gold medallists for the second time. In addition to Spain’s Olympic title, La Roja now hold ten international titles, four of which came this summer at the European Senior, Under-19 Men’s and Under-19 Women’s Championships.

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