Argentina Beats Brazil 1-0 to Secure Spot at Paris Olympics and Eliminate Archrival  

Argentina's Luciano Gondou celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Brazil during South America's under-23 pre-Olympic tournament soccer match at Brigido Iriarte stadium in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. (AP)
Argentina's Luciano Gondou celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Brazil during South America's under-23 pre-Olympic tournament soccer match at Brigido Iriarte stadium in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. (AP)
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Argentina Beats Brazil 1-0 to Secure Spot at Paris Olympics and Eliminate Archrival  

Argentina's Luciano Gondou celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Brazil during South America's under-23 pre-Olympic tournament soccer match at Brigido Iriarte stadium in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. (AP)
Argentina's Luciano Gondou celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Brazil during South America's under-23 pre-Olympic tournament soccer match at Brigido Iriarte stadium in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. (AP)

Brazil will not defend its Olympic men's soccer title in London after losing 1-0 to its regional rival Argentina on Sunday.

In the decisive South American Olympic qualifier, Luciano Gondou scored the winner for the Argentina under-23 team coached by Javier Mascherano. He headed a cross from Valentin Barco past goalkeeper Mycael in the 78th minute at the Brigido Iriarte Stadium in Caracas.

Brazil won gold at men's soccer in the Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo Olympics.

South America's Olympic qualifying for men's soccer offered two spots in Paris. Paraguay ended on the top of the table of the final group stage with seven points in three matches after its 2-0 win on Sunday against host Venezuela.

The Paraguayan team, which didn't have star players like its two bigger continental rivals, also beat Brazil to secure its spot for France.

Argentina finished the tournament with five points, two more than Brazil, which only managed to beat Venezuela in the final stage.

Argentina had the upper hand in the first half but the defensive stance of Brazil, coached by Ramon Menezes, didn’t help bring much emotion to the match. World Cup winner Thiago Almada hit the post in the 16th minute.

Argentina’s Leandro Brey made the best save of the game in the 61st, when substitute Gabriel Pec struck hard from close range. Brazil did not keep up the pressure, with striker Endrick once more playing below par. And then Gondou's header made the difference between the two teams.

"We deserved this. We didn't lose a single match at the qualifying," said Gondou, who scored four goals in the tournament in Venezuela. "We suffered, we waited for this goal, but at the end we got it."

Brazil last failed to make the men’s soccer Olympic tournament in 2004.

"It is a very bad feeling, we prepared well for this," Brazil midfielder Andrey Santos said. "We struggled to keep the ball throughout the tournament. It didn’t go as we expected."

Argentina won the gold at men's soccer at the games in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, with Lionel Messi leading the team in Beijing.

Paraguay's surprising spot in Paris came after Diego Gómez scored from the spot early in the second half and Marcelo Pérez pushed the ball with his head to an empty goal in the 75th minute after a bizarre mistake of the Venezuelan defense.

Paraguay's men's soccer team has given the small South American nation one of its few medals in Olympic history; a silver in 2004 after losing the final against Argentina.



Egypt Forward Omar Marmoush Lighting up the Bundesliga

Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
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Egypt Forward Omar Marmoush Lighting up the Bundesliga

Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)

Egypt forward Omar Marmoush is the man of the moment in the Bundesliga after a blistering start to the season for Eintracht Frankfurt.

Marmoush denied Bayern Munich a win in a thrilling game Sunday with a stoppage-time equalizer that made it 3-3. It was his second goal of the game. He also set up the other for Hugo Ekitiké, when he ran clear of Dayot Upamecano on a counterattack.

"Marmoush is a player who’s only going to get better with time," Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said. "What he did for Ekitiké’s goal is not normal. To push past Upa with strength, no one did that before for the whole season.

"And then to make the right decision at the end, the quality in his strike, and the speed. Sometimes he looks quite relaxed, then when he gets going, he’s really fast."

Marmoush has been stealing the attention from Bayern star Harry Kane, who failed to score Sunday and has five goals from six Bundesliga games this season.

Marmoush, who has now scored in five games straight, has eight, while he has also set up another six for his Frankfurt teammates.

"We’re like a family," he said. "You see that on the field, when we’re celebrating, the ones who didn’t play (join), we celebrate as a team."

Marmoush appears to have made a jump in performance since last season, when he scored 12 goals and set up nine in his 29 Bundesliga appearances.

Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller said he had made a "little deal" before the season with Marmoush, but wouldn’t reveal what it is.

"I told him that a second year with us would do him good because he’s on the way up and hasn’t reached the end," Toppmöller said. "And you can see that in this fantastic season."

The 25-year-old Marmoush is the latest in a long line of forwards who have excelled at Frankfurt, after Randal Kolo Muani, Sébastien Haller, Luka Jović and Jay-Jay Okocha.

Marmoush has had to be patient, working his way through at Wolfsburg, St. Pauli and Stuttgart after joining the former from Cairo-based Wadi Degla SC in 2017.

It’s only since he joined Frankfurt in 2023 that the tireless attacker has added goals to his repertoire.

On Sunday, he combined well with Ekitiké, while Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe headed the ball into his path for Marmoush's second goal.

"When I came last season, we took time to play together and to know what he likes on the pitch, what I like also, and I think in time we just created a connection," Ekitiké said. "Today he had two goals, one assist, So, yeah, he helped the team a lot."

Marmoush’s transformation into a goal-getter is good news for Egypt, which struggled for them without the injured Mohamed Salah at the African Cup of Nations in January.

Marmoush only scored one as the seven-time champion lost on penalties to Congo in the round of 16.

Next up for Frankfurt is a visit to defending champion Bayer Leverkusen after the international break.