This afternoon's two matches in the men's Olympic football saw Argentina play Iraq and Spain play the Dominican Republic.
This is the way they got along.
Argentina responded decisively.
Scorers: Hussein 45+4′, Almada 14′, Gondou 62′, and Fernandez 85′.
Ultimately, Argentina won its first Olympic gold medal in 2024, defeating Iraq 3-1 and displaying class in the process.
The team led by Javier Mascherano resumed play on Saturday to produce a somewhat less contentious result than their stunning loss to Morocco on Wednesday.
After the game lasted for more than four hours, the North African team emerged victorious, 2-1.
Here, though, things appeared to be a little simpler for Mascherano's team as they seized the lead in just fifteen minutes after Thiago Almada's outstanding volley.
Before the half, Julian Alvarez had two excellent opportunities to increase the Argentine lead, but the Manchester City player missed both times by missing the far post.
The South Americans would pay a price for their carelessness when Aymen Hussein ducked under his defender to head in a spectacular equalizer just before the half ended.
Nevertheless, when Luciano Gondou came off the bench and scored with his very first touch at the hour mark, Argentina regained the advantage.
With five minutes remaining, Ezequiel Fernandez capped a breathtaking team play by curling a shot into the top corner from 20 yards out, giving the Albiceleste the victory.
La Roja through the final eight
Montes de Oca 34′, Fermin Lopez 24′, Baena 54′, and Gutierrez 73′ were the scorers.
Spain defeated the 10-man Dominican Republic 3-1 to become the first team to advance to the Paris 2024 quarterfinals.
The Europeans, who had defeated Uzbekistan in their opening round, were searching for the three players who would take them to the round of eight.
And it only took 24 minutes for La Roja to take the lead, thanks to a goalkeeper's mistake that allowed Fermin Lopez to steal the ball and put it in an almost empty net.
But the Dominican Republic responded completely against the flow of play as Angel Montes de Oca headed in from a corner.
However, Edson Azcona's straight red card following a resentful kick at Pau Cubarsà made things difficult for the Central American team.
Once the second half began, Alex Baena's deflected effort fooled the goalkeeper and into the back of the net, giving Spain the edge.
With fifteen minutes left, Miguel Gutierrez found space at the back post and scored unopposed to confirm the three points.