The Best Classic Clashes at the Knockout Stages in Football at the Olympics

 

Several classic clashes during the knockout round in football at the Olympics have been considered memorable.

The classic clash between giant teams in any major international tournament has always drawn the fans’ interest, including in football at the Summer Olympics. It would even be more intriguing, should it take place before the final. Such a duel can be regarded as the early finals too.

In Paris 2024, the two strongest candidates to win gold medals, the host France and the favourite Argentina, are set to face off too early at thequarterfinals on Friday, July 2, which is quite unexpected. Albiceleste’s shocking defeat in the opener against Morocco, which was delayed due to the chaos in the stadium and the disallowance of their late equaliser before being resumed in the next hour and a half, did play a part in this early final. Javier Mascherano’s men’s campaign could end prematurely if they suffer another loss tomorrow.

Here are the best classic clashes at the knockout round since the professional players were eligible to feature in Los Angeles 1984, as it marks the balance in the competition without any party taking advantage of the loophole in the roster rule, just like between the 1950s and 1970s.

Spain vs Italy (Quarterfinal in Sydney 2000)

The clash between two UEFA representatives in Sydney in 2000 was fairly tight. Spain had Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol, and David Albelda in the team, while Italy fielded Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattusso, and Massimiliano Ambrosini in the starting lineup. Both teams traded attacks, and both goalies managed to keep the clean sheets, although Spain’s Daniel Aranzubia did make more crucial saves than Italy’s Cristian Abbiati. La Furia Roja was the one who eventually broke the deadlock as Barcelona man Gabri bagged the only goal of the game as he received the through ball from Xavi and  placed the ball into the far left side of the post and hit it before finding the back of the net. 1-0 for Inaki Saez’s men.

Spain went through the semifinals and eventually advanced to the summit after crushing the USA 3-1. Unfortunately, they were beaten by Cameroon, with Samuel Eto’o, Pierre Wome, Driss Kameni, and Patrick Mboma in the squad.

Argentina vs Netherlands (Quarterfinal in Beijing 2008)

This was one of the most entertaining duels between the elites. Albiceleste had a star-studded squad with the likes of Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero, Sergio Romero, Ever Banega, and Pablo Zabaleta, plus the current Argentina Olympic team boss, Javier Mascherano, and Roman Riquelme as the overage players in the team. Meanwhile, De Oranje was led by the promising talent at the time, Ryan Babel, supported by Royston Drenthe, who had a brief spell with Real Madrid, and Urby Emanuelson.

It was an intense affair, and even though neither side seemed superior, Argentina opened the scoring through Lionel Messi in the 14^th minute. It did not take long for Holland to equalise after an Ottoman Bakkal strike 12 minutes later. In the second half, Albiceleste’s number one goalie, Oscar Ustari, had to be sidelined as he was limping because of his injury. Sergio Romero came off the bench and kept the clean sheet. Argentina’s winning goal was scored by Angel Di Maria, who took advantage of Messi’s through ball from the second line. 2-1 for the Sergio Batista side. They eventually eased past Brazil and Nigeria to clinch their second gold medal.

Brazil vs West Germany (Semifinal in Seoul, 1988)

Seoul 1988 was the first edition well-known players with less than five international caps and very limited appearances in FIFA World Cup could be included in the squad. No wonder that one could see the future stars in here. The duel between Brazil and West Germany was considered one of the most exciting clashes in the history of the history of the competition, attracting 65,000 spectators, the highest number since such a record was broken in the final.

Brazil had Romario, Bebeto, Mazinho (the father of Thiago Alcantara), Taffarel, and Andre Cruz, whereas West Germany counted on Jurgen Klinsmann, Karl-Heinz Riedl, and Thomas Haessler. All of them would then be cementing themselves as their nation’s stars in the 1990s. The match was tight as expected, and both teams shared spoils in a 1-1 draw before Selecao won 3-2 on penalties. Holger Fach gave Die Mannschaft the lead in the 50^th minute. Yet Romario’s goal cancelled it out almost half an hour later. The clash went on penalties, and the young Taffarel had already shown composure in the shootout as he denied two attempts.

The list of classic clashes in each Olympic editions

Olympic editions	Classic clashes
Los Angeles 1984	Brazil vs West Germany 1-0 (group stage) Italy vs Brazil 1-2 * (semifinal) France vs Brazil 2-0 (final)
Seoul 1988	Brazil vs Argentina 1-0  (Quarterfinal) Brazil vs West Germany 1-1 (3-2)** (semifinal) Italy vs West Germany 0-3 (third-place playoff)
Barcelona 1992	Spain vs Italy 1-0 (quarterfinal)
Atlanta 1996	France vs Spain 1-1 (Group stage) Argentina vs Spain 4-0 (quarterfinal)
Sydney 2000	Spain  vs Italy 1-0 (quarterfinal)
Athens 2004	Argentina vs Italy 3-0 (semifinal)
Beijing 2008	Argentina vs Netherlands 2-1 * (quarterfinal) Argentina vs Brazil 3-0 (semifinal)
London 2012	Great Britain vs Uruguay 1-0 (group stage)
Rio de Janeiro 2016	Brazil vs Germany 1-1 (5-4)** (final)
Tokyo 2020	Brazil vs Germany 4-2 (group stage) Spain vs Argentina 1-1 (group stage) Brazil vs Spain 2-1 * (final)
Paris 2024	France vs Argentina ??

Notes:

 * = game ends through extra time.

** = game ends on penalties