The next 2016 Olympic men’s football group stage matches took place on Sunday in Brazil, with the three African teams emerging with mixed fortunes.
Nigeria managed to beat their Scandinavian rivals, while South Africa fell to a narrow defeat against their Scandinavian rivals. Algeria lost their second game of the tournament against a strong Argentina side.
Nigeria’s Dream Team VI continued their positive run in the competition with a second victory in a row, following their 5-4 win against Japan in the opening match.
This time the Nigerians defeated Sweden with a narrow 1-0 win, thanks to a goal from Sadiq Umar with a header that beat Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Linde in the first half.
The goal was sufficient for the Dream Team VI to emerge victorious from the encounter, and they will now prepare for their third group stage match against Colombia on Tuesday.
After starting the tournament off well by holding hosts Brazil to a goalless stalemate in the opening fixture, South Africa’s Under-23 side failed to capitalise on chances against Denmark and ended up narrowly defeated 1-0.
The South Africans created numerous chances, dominating the first half of the match, but they were unable to find a breakthrough and eventually a Robert Skov goal in the second half was enough to give the Scandinavians three points from the encounter.
The South Africans will play Iraq in their final group stage match on Thursday.
Atletico Madrid striker Angel Correa scored a goal before creating the assist for Jonathan Calleri’s winning strike as Argentina secured a 2-1 win over Algeria on Sunday.
Sofiane Bendebka managed to equalise for the North Africans after Correa had put the South Americans in the lead, but it would not be enough to earn any points on the night.
Argentina’s Victor Cuesta was sent off, before Algeria’s Ayoub Abdellaoui befell the same fate later in the game. A difficult final group game awaits Algeria on Wednesday, as they must face a tough Portugal side determined to replicate the victory of their senior side at Euro 2016.
