Morocco Wins 1st Olympic Soccer Medal with 6-0 Rout of Egypt for Men's Bronze

Morocco's forward #09 Soufiane Rahimi celebrates scoring his team's fourthgoal in the men's bronze medal football match between Egypt and Morocco during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the La Beaujoire Stadium in Nantes on August 8, 2024. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)
Morocco's forward #09 Soufiane Rahimi celebrates scoring his team's fourthgoal in the men's bronze medal football match between Egypt and Morocco during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the La Beaujoire Stadium in Nantes on August 8, 2024. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)
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Morocco Wins 1st Olympic Soccer Medal with 6-0 Rout of Egypt for Men's Bronze

Morocco's forward #09 Soufiane Rahimi celebrates scoring his team's fourthgoal in the men's bronze medal football match between Egypt and Morocco during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the La Beaujoire Stadium in Nantes on August 8, 2024. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)
Morocco's forward #09 Soufiane Rahimi celebrates scoring his team's fourthgoal in the men's bronze medal football match between Egypt and Morocco during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the La Beaujoire Stadium in Nantes on August 8, 2024. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)

Soufiane Rahimi scored two goals and Morocco won the bronze medal with a 6-0 rout of Egypt on Thursday for the team's first-ever podium finish at the Olympics.
Abde Ezzalzouli, Bilal El Khannouss, Akram Nakach and Achraf Hakimi also scored for Morocco, which went into halftime with a 2-0 lead to the delight of Moroccan fans at La Beaujoire Stadium.
Rahimi scored eight goals at the Paris Olympics, most in the tournament. At 28, he is one of the overage players allowed on the under-23 Olympic squads.
It was Egypt's third fourth-place finish at the Olympics — after Amsterdam in 1928 and Tokyo in 1964.
Morocco has been inspired throughout the tournament by its senior men’s team, which was a surprise semifinalist at the World Cup in 2022, The Associated Press reported.
The team also trounced the United States 4-0 at Parc des Princes in Paris in the quarterfinals but lost to Spain 2-1 in the semifinals.
Rahimi’s first goal came off a header in the 26th minute that Egypt goalkeeper Alaa Hamza got a glove on but couldn’t stop.
Less than three minutes before Rahimi’s goal, Ezzalzouli scored from the top of the penalty box into the far corner. He joined his Moroccan teammates in a prayer on the corner of the field following the goal.
Morocco saw the return of midfielder El Khannouss, who was suspended for the semifinal. He made it 3-0 by shaking off a series of defenders for a goal in the 51st.
Rahimi’s second came in the 64th and he assisted on Nakach’s goal in the 73rd.
Hakimi, who plays in France for Paris Saint-Germain, scored on a late free kick.
Egypt was without Omar Fayed, who was sent off with a red card in the semifinal against France.
Egypt also lost winger Zizo, one of the teams overage players who had to leave in the 12th minute after pulling up with an injury.



Motorcycling-Double Dakar Winner Sunderland Chasing Round the World Record

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Prologue - Alula to Alula - Alula, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2024 Red Bull GASGAS Factory's Sam Sunderland in action during the prologue stage REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Prologue - Alula to Alula - Alula, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2024 Red Bull GASGAS Factory's Sam Sunderland in action during the prologue stage REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
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Motorcycling-Double Dakar Winner Sunderland Chasing Round the World Record

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Prologue - Alula to Alula - Alula, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2024 Red Bull GASGAS Factory's Sam Sunderland in action during the prologue stage REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Prologue - Alula to Alula - Alula, Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2024 Red Bull GASGAS Factory's Sam Sunderland in action during the prologue stage REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

Double Dakar Rally motorcycle champion Sam Sunderland is gearing up to ride around the world in 19 days, a record bid that the Briton expects to be mentally more challenging than anything he has done before.

The bid, launched on Thursday, targets a record of 19 days, eight hours and 25 minutes set in 2002 by Kevin and Julia Sanders for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe by motorcycle.

To beat the feat, which is no longer recognised by Guinness World Records because of the dangers involved, the 36-year-old will have to ride 1,000 miles every day and on public roads across Europe, Türkiye and into the Middle East, Reuters reported.

A flight will take him on to the Australian outback, New Zealand and the Americas. From there, he and the Triumph Tiger 1200 go to Morocco and loop back through Europe to Britain.

What could possibly go wrong?

"I don't think you can ride around the world and cover that many miles a day without having a few hiccups along the way," Sunderland told Reuters with a grin.

"When I try and compare it to the Dakar it's going to be probably, in some sense, tougher. Not physically but mentally.

"In the Dakar you've got a heap of adrenaline, you're super focused, things are changing quite often which makes you have to react. And this is like: 'Right, those are your miles for the day, get them done'. It's more like a mental fatigue."

 

ONE DIRECTION

 

The target time excludes ocean crossings but the journey, starting in September, must go one way around the world and start and finish at the same location on the same machine.

Two antipodal points must be reached on a journey through more than 15 countries and 13 time zones. The Dakar rally covers 5,000 miles over two weeks.

"I was trying to put it into perspective for my mum the other day, and my mum lives in Poole in the south of England, and I was like 'Mum, it's like you driving up to Scotland and perhaps halfway back every day for 19 days'," said Sunderland.

"I'm on the bike for around 17 hours (a day). I set off at 5 a.m. and arrive around 10, 11 p.m. most nights. So definitely later into the day you feel that sort of mental fatigue setting in, and to stay focused and stimulated is not that easy.

"But at least I don't have dunes and mountains to deal with and other riders in the dust, and hopefully not getting lost either."

"I need to behave, let's say, I need to follow the rules of the road and be a good boy with it," said Sunderland, who announced his retirement from professional racing last year.

Sunderland will have a support crew of six travelling behind by car, for security and assistance, but the Red Bull-backed rider expects to be well ahead.

He also hopes his bid will have a positive effect.

"In the news today, it's all sort of doom and gloom in the world, with all the wars going on," he said. "And I think it's quite nice to show people that you can still get out there and experience the world for what it really is."