AUSTRALIA stunned Argentina in their first group game at Tokyo 2020 to win 2-0 in Sapporo.
- RESULT: Argentina 0-2 Australia
- Argentina XI: Ledesma, De La Fuente, Perez, Medina, Ortega, Colombatto, Vera, Valenzuela, Mac Allister, Barco, Gaich
- Australia XI: Glover, Atkinson, Souttar, McGree, Genreau, Arzani, Duke, Peng, King, Metcalfe, Wales
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THAT’S ALL FROM SAPPORO!
Australia defeated Argentina 2-0 at the Sapporo Dome following an exciting group stage encounter in the Tokyo Olympics.
The Socceroos opened the scoring after 14 minutes when Joel King set Lachlan Wales in front of Jeremias Ledesma with a crisp cross from the left flank and the centre-forward didn’t miss.
The Aussies came close to a second when Riley McGree produced an astonishing overhead kick inside the box but was denied by Ledesma on 28 minutes.
Argentina responded in the 34th minute with a stunning curling shot by Esequiel Barco down the left flank that rattled Thomas Glover’s crossbar.
Australia then came excruciatingly close to a second goal as King set Wales up again in front of Ledesma and the latter’s shot rattled the post – wouldn’t have mattered though as the former was caught offside in the build-up after 43 minutes.
Things got worse for the Albiceleste in the second minute of stoppage time when Francisco Ortega was sent off with a second yellow card within a few seconds for what the referee deemed to be aggressive marking on McGree.
Argentina, though, wouldn’t be daunted as they continued to dominate possession and tempo in the second half, even though they were a man down.
But Australia continued to register the big chances with Wales failing to beat Ledesma one on one on 71 minutes and Connor Metcalfe almost catching the Argentine keeper out of position with a long-range shot from the middle of the park two minutes later.
It didn’t matter, however, as Marco Tilio hit the back of the net with a fine left-footed shot at the edge of the box on 80 minutes thanks to Mitch Duke’s assist just a few seconds after coming on to the pitch.
Duke almost made it three in the fifth minute of stoppage time but just missed Ledesma’s bottom left corner.
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GETTY IMAGES TOKYO CRISIS
The delayed 2020 Olympic Games are scheduled to take place this summer after last year’s postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, there is still doubt about this year as well, that is because COVID-19 cases remain high in Japan and the vaccination rollout has been quite slow.
So far, 91 cases have been connected to the Tokyo Olympics with athletes and several other officials forcing to self-isolate, while others have been ruled out of the Games altogether.
And the head of the Tokyo organising committee Toshiro Muto hasn’t ruled out a shock cancellation at the 11th hour
GETTY IMAGES UPDATED TABLE
Australia have climbed up to the top of the table after beating Argentina 2-0.
Spain and Egypt are joint-second after their goalless draw earlier today.
The Albiceleste, on the other hand, are bottom of the table as they are the only team to have lost so far.
More below:
STATS
Argentina dominated 56 per cent of possession but still couldn’t beat Argentina.
The Albiceleste registered a total of 12 shots, but only five of them were on target.
The Socceroos, on the other hand, produced eight shots, five of which were on target.
This was a very intense encounter that led to 10 yellow cards, seven of which were shown to Australians, and a red card for Argentine ace Francisco Ortega
FT: ARGENTINA 0-2 AUSTRALIA
Australia defeated Argentina at the Sapporo Dome following an exciting Tokyo 2020 encounter.
The Socceroos opened the scoring after 14 minutes when Joel King set Lachlan Wales in front of Jeremias Ledesma with a crisp cross from the left flank and the centre-forward didn’t miss.
The Aussies came close to a second when Riley McGree produced an astonishing overhead kick inside the box but was denied by Ledesma on 28 minutes.
Argentina responded in the 34th minute with a stunning curling shot by Esequiel Barco down the left flank that rattled Thomas Glover’s crossbar.
Australia then came excruciatingly close to a second goal as King set Wales up again in front of Ledesma and the latter’s shot rattled the post – wouldn’t have mattered though as the former was caught offside in the build-up after 43 minutes.
Things got worse for the Albiceleste in the second minute of stoppage time when Francisco Ortega was sent off with a second yellow card within a few seconds for what the referee deemed to be aggressive marking on McGree.
Argentina, though, wouldn’t be daunted as they continued to dominate possession and tempo in the second half, even though they were a man down.
But Australia continued to register the big chances with Wales failing to beat Ledesma one on one on 71 minutes and Connor Metcalfe almost catching the Argentine keeper out of position with a long-range shot from the middle of the park two minutes later.
It didn’t matter, however, as Marco Tilio hit the back of the net with a fine left-footed shot at the edge of the box on 80 minutes thanks to Mitch Duke’s assist just a few seconds after coming on to the pitch.
Duke almost made it three in the fifth minute of stoppage time but just missed Ledesma’s bottom left corner
GETTY IMAGES PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
AND THAT’S FULL-TIME IN SOPPORA!!!!!
ARGENTINA 0-2 AUSTRALIA
90+5 WHAT A CHANCE!
Duke receives a cross from the right flank and fires a volley from inside the box but just misses Ledesma’s bottom left corner!
ARGENTINA 0-2 AUSTRALIA
90+4 CHANCE
Duke fires a shot from the edge of the box down the left flank but Ledesma saves with ease!
ARGENTINA 0-2 AUSTRALIA
90+3 Argentina are slowly running out of energy as we appraoch full-time.
Meanwhile, Australia are looking for a third goal!
ARGENTINA 0-2 AUSTRALIA
90+1 YELLOW CARD
Australia ace Watts gets booked for a rough tackle on Medina
ARGENTINA 0-2 AUSTRALIA
90 Just five more minutes to go until full-time.
Australia are so close they can taste it but Argentina are still not giving up as they continue to play the ball quickly
ARGENTINA 0-2 AUSTRALIA
89 SUBSTITUTION
Australia manager Arnold is trying to kill some time with Baccus replacing Genreau
ARGENTINA 0-2 AUSTRALIA
87 YELLOW CARD
Both Australia and Argentina aces Souttar and Ponce respectively get booked
ARGENTINA 0-2 AUSTRALIA
86 SUBSTITUTION
Argentina manager Batista plays his final card as De la Vega replaces Barco, who really stood out today
ARGENTINA 0-2 AUSTRALIA
85 Australia ace Tilio has just put the game to bed just seconds after coming on the pitch.
That would make for a major win for the Socceroos if they hold against Argentina
GETTY IMAGES
ARGENTINA 0-2 AUSTRALIA
83 Australia have pretty much sealed the big win that would see them climbing to the top of Group C if they hold on.
Argentina seem so dejected as they were dominating possession despite being a man down
ARGENTINA 0-2 AUSTRALIA
80 SUBSTITUTION
Australia manager Arnold introduces D’Agostino, who replaces McGree
ARGENTINA 0-2 AUSTRALIA
80 Australia appear to have put the match to bed as Tilio, who just replaced Arzani defeats Ledesma with a fine left-foot shot at the edge of the box thanks to Duke’s assist
GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL!
AUSTRALIA DOUBLE THEIR LEAD WITH TILIO!!!!!!
ARGENTINA 0-1 AUSTRALIA
78 SUBSTITUTION
Argentina manager Batista is shaking things up with a double change as Belmonte replaces Colombatto and Payero replaces Mac Allister
ARGENTINA 0-1 AUSTRALIA
75 This has been a very exciting match filled with opportunities that would have made for unforgettable goals.
Such as McGree’s overhead kick and Metcalfe’s long-range shot
ARGENTINA 0-1 AUSTRALIA
73 CHANCE!
Australia come close to another worldie that would double their lead!
Metcalfe sees Ledesma out of position and delivers a long-range shot from the middle of the park.
But the Aussie ace just misses the target as the ball hits the roof of the net
ARGENTINA 0-1 AUSTRALIA
72 SUBSTITUTION
Australia manager Arnold makes his first switch of the match as Watts replaces Wales
ARGENTINA 0-1 AUSTRALIA
71 WHAT A CHANCE!
How did Australia miss that?!
Wales finds himself right in front of Ledesma with absolutely no one marking him and is stopped by the Argentina keeper’s torso!
Unbelievable chance!
ARGENTINA 0-1 AUSTRALIA
70 Frustrations are piling up within Argentina, who are desperately searching for an equaliser.
That actually explains Medina’s shocking tackle
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
