Spain won the men’s football gold medal after beating hosts France 5-3 after extra time (3-3 after regular time) in the final at the Parc des Princes in Paris, which is hosting the Olympic Games.
Fermin Lopez (18 and 25) and Alex Baena (28) scored Spain’s goals in regular time before substitute Sergio Camillo sealed the win and the gold in extra time (100 and 1+120), while Enzo Meo (11), Magnus Aglios (79) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (3+90 from a penalty kick) scored France’s goals.
Spain won the battle for the second title with host France and won the gold for the second time in its history, after the first on its home soil in 1992.
Runners-up Spain added the Olympic title to the continental title won by the senior team on July 14, beating England 2-1 in the final at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.
Forty years after they won their first and only title by beating Brazil 2-0 in 1984, former national team star Thierry Henry, who won the 1998 World Cup on home soil and the 2000 European Championship with Les Bleus, led the hosts to the final after beating Egypt 3-1 after extra time in the semi-finals.
Henry and his players relied on the fans who gathered in the stands of the “Parc des Princes” on Friday to support them in a match that brings to mind the 1984 European Cup final, when “Les Bleus” won their first major title by defeating “La Roja” in the same stadium 2-0, before being crowned a few weeks later with the Olympic title in Los Angeles.
But the Spaniards had a different take on Friday, following in the footsteps of France when they won the European Cup and Olympic gold double in 1984.
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