Argentina men’s football team qualifies for Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Victory over Uruguay in South American under-20 championship means Brazil’s great rivals will go for third Olympic title in Rio
Argentina captain Ángel Correa was one of the best players in the tournament (Getty Images/Sandro Pereyra)
Argentina may have fallen one win short of claiming the FIFA World Cup in Brazil last year, but they have ensured they will have another chance to upset their great rivals on home soil by qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games football tournament.
After failing to reach the London 2012 Games, the 2008 and 2004 Olympic champions confirmed their place in Rio as they secured victory in the South American under-20 tournament by beating hosts Uruguay 2-1 in Montevideo on Saturday night.
Gastón Pereiro gave Uruguay a seventh-minute lead in the last-round match, but Argentina levelled before half time through Sebastián Driussi. Ángel Correa settled a fiercely contested match when he netted nine minutes from time.
Top-scorer Giovanni Simeone lifts the trophy in Montevideo (Photo: Getty Images/Sandro Pereyra)
The Argentines, who top scored in the tournament with 24 goals in nine games, are likely to pose the stiffest challenge to Brazil’s aspirations of winning a first Olympic football title next year. The hosts’ coach has already indicated that he plans to include Neymar as one of their three over-23 players, and it will be fascinating to see if Argentina call up some of their star senior players, such as Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Angel Di Maria.
However, they showed in Uruguay that they have no shortage of young talent. Giovanni Simeone, son of Atletico Madrid manager and former Argentina international Diego, was the tournament’s top scorer with nine goals.
“All our effort was worth it,” said Simeone. “We worked hard all year and now we have achieved our objective. This is a very special victory.”
Atletico Madrid midfielder Correa was another stand-out player, proving that he is back to his best after recently returning to action following heart surgery.
Colombia beat Brazil 3-0 on Saturday to secure second place behind Argentina and will play off against a team from the CONCACAF region for a place at the Rio 2016 Games. Brazil, who finished fourth behind Uruguay in the 10-team tournament, qualify automatically as hosts.
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.
