Colombia won the final place in the men’s football tournament at the Rio 2016 Olympic Olympic Games in dramatic fashion on Tuesday night (29 April), defeating the USA 2-1 (3-2 on aggregate) in Frisco, Texas.

After a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Barranquilla on Friday (25 March), Roger Martinez scored twice for the Colombians as the USA –  who had two players sent off – missed out qualification for consecutive Olympic Games for the first time in 48 years.

Colombia, who will play in the Olympic football tournament for the first time in 24 years, join Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Portugal, Fiji, Mexico, Honduras, Nigeria, Algeria, South Africa, Japan, Republic of Korea and Iraq in the 16-team competition that will be played across Brazil in August.

“We showed on the pitch the quality of our players, who didn’t stop believing despite the unfavourable first leg. We knew what we could accomplish”

Colombia coach Carlos Restrepo

#Colombia Olympic once again! See you in #Rio2016 #FCFSub23 @FCFSeleccionCol @OlimpicoCol #VamosColombia pic.twitter.com/jkNhZd4h90

— Rio 2016 (@Rio2016_en) March 30, 2016

Martinez gave Colombia the lead in the 30th minute, redirecting Andres Roa’s off-target shot past goalkeeper Ethan Horvath. An own goal by Deiver Machado tied the scores just before the hour-mark, with the defender heading the ball over his own goalkeeper.

Martinez re-established Colombia’s lead five minutes later, eluding Tim Parker in the six-yard box and beating Horvath. With two away goals for Colombia, the Americans would have needed to score two more.

“You dream about it since you were a little kid, so it’s a tough one to swallow”

USA forward Jordan Morris

USA substitute Luis Gil was booked for a 77th-minute foul and then shown a red card for dissent, and Matt Miazga was dismissed for a 90th-minute foul on Christian Borga just outside the penalty area that denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

Outnumbered by not cowed: a Colombia fan celebrates in Frisco (Photo: Getty Images/Sarah Crabill)

Colombia were deserved winners over the two legs, registering 11 shots on target compared to the USA’s one, completing twice as many passes and enjoying double the possession. While men’s Olympic football is played by under-23 players (although each squad may feature up to three over-age players), the USA’s senior team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann had made qualifying for Rio 2016 a priority, and named his top assistant, Andreas Herzog, as the under-23 coach.

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After the defeat. Herzog said  “I’m real emotional, and I don’t want to say anything without coming down a bit. I’m really disappointed.” He did, however, lament the nature of the second goal, saying: “We give up such a simple, stupid goal.”

“When a team played real physical against us, we didn’t have any power, any assertiveness up front. That’s disappointing”

USA coach Andreas Herzog

The dejection among the USA players was clear to see at the final whistle (Photo: Getty Images/Sarah Crabill)

The women’s line-up was completed earlier this month, when Sweden became the 12th team to qualify. The draw for the two tournaments will be staged at the Maracanã Stadium on 14 April.

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Rio2016.com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process. Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change. When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC). Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota.