La Roja beat the Ivory Coast 5-2 on Saturday in a thrilling match to progress to the semi-final of the Olympic Games. The game had finished 2-2 on 90 minutes, but Spain showed their quality in extra-time to score three times and pull away.
The Ivory Coast took the lead in the tenth minute through Eric Bailly. Dani Olmo then drew Spain level on the half-hour mark, before Max Gradel appeared to have nabbed it late on when he made it 2-1 in injury time.
Rafa Mir was on hand to save the day, however, and equalise again just two minutes after. Mikel Oyarzabal then scored a penalty in extra-time before Mir struck twice to complete his hat-trick and send Spain through.
Spain will face Japan next, after the host nation beat New Zealand on penalties in their quarter-final. The game will take place at noon GMT on Tuesday. They’ll pose a threat, but Luis de la Fuente has been explicit about targeting gold.
“I’m happy on an individual level for the goal and for helping the team,” Olmo said post-match in comments carried by Marca. “That’s our game, our philosophy. Having the ball, forcing the opponent to run more kilometres than normal.
“Then, in the last minutes, they were tired and we had more space. [The gold medal] has been the goal since we arrived and we want it more than anyone else. This hasn’t ended here.”
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