August 07, (THEWILL) – Malcom Filipe Silva de Oliveira, more commonly known as Malcom, became Brazil’s gold hero in Saturday’s final of the Summer Olympics football event in the male category as he scored in the 108th minute to help Brazil outlast Spain 2-1 in extra time.
Malcom earned super-sub status after coming in as a substitute at the start of extra time.
The Zenit St. Petersburg striker screamed down the left side of the pitch at a good pace that placed him ahead of his marker and found the net past Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon.
The victory makes football-loving Brazil the first team to win and defend the Olympic gold, back-to-back since their continental football rivals Argentina did so in 2004 and 2008 in the men’s game.
Part of the history they made with the victory, not necessarily attached to the gold medal itself, was to extend their medal streak to four consecutive Olympic Games of podium finishes in football in the men’s category.
Yet, they had to sweat it out thoroughly because it was a fittingly tightly-contested final that the Spanish co-finalists were prepared to take victory from and nothing less. As a result, there was no shortage of opportunities for both free-scoring sides.
Everton’s Richarlison had the best chance to put Brazil ahead when VAR determined that Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon had fouled Brazilian forward Matheus Cunha in the 38th minute. But the extremely impressive player hit it over the bar.
Fortunately, his blushes were spared as Brazil still managed to get on the scoreboard first. The veteran Dani Alves, currently Sao Paulo FC right back, assisted Cunha to bury a well-controlled through ball in the Spanish goal for their first half stoppage time lead.
Spain came into the second period ready to get their goal chase back on track. The whole game picked up the pace for a better overall level of play. The pressure of the Spaniards yielded fruit in the 61st minute. Real Sociedad winger Mikel Oyarzabal supplied a cross that Carlos Soler converted.
That stalemate was to remain so to the end because Spain’s chance to take the lead petered out when they narrowly missed what potentially had the chance to give them the gold instead as two minutes to the end, substitute midfielder Bryan Gil struck the crossbar with a pile driver that went wide.
That near-Spanish victory shook the Brazilians up from becoming complacent. It was not long before they themselves took advantage of their second chance and Malcom scored his 108th minute goal. Spain tried to find a way to force a resort to penalty kicks but Brazil closed down all attempts.
Winning the gold was extra special for every Brazilian player and, by extension every Brazilian football fan but moreso of greater significance for Brazil captain Dani Alves. It was understandable therefore why he was especially emotional at the end.
The colourful career of the 38-year-old defender had seen everything football had to offer and very nearly won everything. Yet, an Olympic gold remained an elusive target for the Brazilian best known for his time at Sevilla, Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, blooming every step of the way.
He may retire as never having won a World Cup but the Olympic gold medal along with two Copa America titles and two Confederations Cup titles puts him in rarefied air as an accomplished professional.
His sense of the achievement was the emotional outpouring that he felt at the final whistle because the gold will long be remembered as the cherry atop a legendary career for Alves.
Unfortunately, for the Spaniards, it was a sad end to their Olympics. There was always going to be one winner, and it turned out to be Brazil. They will console themselves with what is their first Olympic medal since taking silver in 2000 but the sting will be deep considering how close they came to making it to the ultimate gold prize.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
