The game’s very largest stars could also be lacking from the Olympics males’s soccer event, however others have stepped as much as make an affect during the last two weeks.
AFP Sport picks out 4 key gamers to comply with in Friday’s last between hosts France and Spain:
Jean-Philippe Mateta
The bruising 27-year-old Crystal Palace striker scored 16 objectives within the Premier League final season, together with 14 in his final 16 appearances.
Regardless of these spectacular statistics, he was by no means more likely to be known as as much as the complete France squad for Euro 2024. However coach Thierry Henry selected him to guide the road on the Olympics and Mateta has had a huge impact.
His tally of 4 objectives has been bettered solely by the six of Morocco’s Soufiane Rahimi. All of Mateta’s strikes have come within the final three matches, with one within the 3-0 win over New Zealand within the last group recreation. That was adopted by the winner within the quarter-final towards
Argentina with a terrific near-post header at a nook, after which a vital brace within the semi-final towards Egypt as France got here from behind to win 3-1 after additional time.
Fermin Lopez
The final yr has seen Barcelona attacking midfielder Lopez, 21, take pleasure in a outstanding rise to prominence. He established himself as a daily for his membership, scoring 11 objectives in 42 appearances together with one in a Clasico towards Actual Madrid.
Lopez then made the Spain squad for Euro 2024 and made one look on their run to glory in Germany. He got here straight from there to the Olympics the place he has began all of Spain’s matches besides a defeat by Egypt of their last group recreation when qualification for the knockout stage had already been secured.
Lopez, a local of Andalusia, has scored 4 objectives on Spain’s run to the ultimate, together with an excellent brace within the quarter-final towards Japan and the equaliser within the semi-final towards Morocco. He then arrange Juanlu Sanchez’s winner in that recreation, and France might want to discover a manner of stopping him if they’re to win gold on Friday.
Michael Olise
It is going to certainly not be lengthy earlier than Olise is named up by Didier Deschamps to the complete French nationwide squad. He has been a relentless menace for opponents on the appropriate wing for France on the Olympics, from the place he has scored two objectives together with the killer third within the semi-final towards Egypt. He additionally arrange the equaliser in that recreation with an explosive run from deep.
Olise, 22, got here to the Olympics recent from becoming a member of Bayern Munich from Crystal Palace for a reported 60 million euros ($65.6m). That was after he scored 10 objectives in 19 video games within the Premier League final season.
A former member of the Chelsea and Manchester Metropolis academies, Olise was born and introduced up in London to a Nigerian father and French-Algerian mom.
Pau Cubarsi
His Barcelona teammate Lamine Yamal was the feeling of Euro 2024 regardless of solely turning 17 on the eve of Spain’s last triumph towards England. Centre-back Cubarsi is just a few months older, having celebrated his seventeenth birthday in January, however he’s comfortably the youngest participant in Spain’s Olympic squad named by coach Santi Denia.
A revelation for Barcelona final season, Cubarsi simply missed out on a spot in Spain’s squad on the Euros however has been a daily on the Olympics in central defence and could have a key function to play up towards the French assault of Mateta, Olise and veteran captain Alexandre Lacazette.
AFP.