overview
The men's soccer event at the 2024 Olympics will start with a match between U23 Argentina and U23 Morocco. Of course, both teams want a good start in the opening match.
U23 Argentina are under more pressure than their opponents when entering the tournament with the goal of winning a gold medal, following the success of their seniors in recent years.
However, it is worrying that Argentina's young players have not been in good form recently. Right before the 2024 Olympics, they caused disappointment when they lost to Olympic Guinea 0-1 in a friendly match. If only counting official tournaments, Argentina U23 also drew 3/4 of their most recent matches.
Argentina did not choose many quality stars for the 3 over-age spots at the 2024 Olympics. In addition to Julian Alvarez, coach Javier Mascherano only brought goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli and veteran Nicolas Otamendi.
This is the 10th time Argentine football has participated in the Olympics and will be determined to improve its performance four years ago in Tokyo. In the 2020 tournament, they only ranked 3rd in the group stage and left a lot of disappointment.
On the other side of the front line, Morocco U23 is not a team that is easily bullied. They only received one defeat in the last 4 friendly matches. If counted in the last 10 matches, the African representative won 4, drew 3 and lost 3. In that series of matches for Morocco, including victories against strong opponents like U23 Brazil.
The 2024 Olympics will be Morocco's eighth participation in men's football and the first since the 2012 Olympics, where they failed to advance beyond the group stage. Morocco qualified for this year's tournament after winning the 2023 African U23 championship.
Human resource
Argentina's 18-player squad for the tournament includes four World Cup champions: Julian Alvarez, Nicolas Otamendi, Geronimo Rulli and Thiago Almada.
Notably, 3 of these 4 players are also part of the Argentina squad that just won the 2024 Copa America. Therefore, Mascherano will have to rely heavily on the experience of the above players.
On the other side of the front line, coach Tarik Sektioui's army also has the strongest force, except in the case of Oussama El Azzouzi.
Achraf Hakimi, a player playing for Paris St Germain, is the most prominent star that Morocco brings to this year's tournament.
Probable teams:
U23 Argentina : Rulli, Lujan, Di Cesare, Otamendi, Amione, Almada, Hezze, Medina, Zenon, Alvarez, Simeone.
U23 Morocco : Mohamedi, Hakimi, El Wafi, Boukamir, Nakach, Targhalline, Bouchouari, Richardson, Akhomach, Rahimi, Ezzalzouli.
The match between U23 Argentina vs U23 Morocco takes place at 8:00 p.m. on July 24 (Vietnam time).
