YOKOHAMA (Reuters) -Brazil retained their Olympic football title with substitute Malcom scoring an extra-time winner in a 2-1 victory over Spain in the men’s gold medal match on Saturday. After the game ended 1-1 in normal time, Malcom raced onto a diagonal ball from Antony and got the better of Jesus Vallejo before driving the winner into the far corner in the 108th minute to ensure Brazil repeated their Rio 2016 triumph. An Olympic gold in football will never match a World Cup title but for 120 minutes there was no doubt that this match meant plenty to both sides. With Brazil looking to break on the counter and Spain moving the ball well, the game was tightly balanced in the latter stages but the Spaniards came closest to grabbing a win in normal time. That meant extra-time and the introduction of Malcom by Brazil coach Andre Jardine, which proved to be crucial as the Zenit St Petersburg winger wrote his name into Brazilian football folklore.

Source: Egypt Today August 07, 2021 15:00 UTC