Rio Olympics: Men's Soccer, Day 1

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Aug 4, 2016

Stranded in Atlanta, Nigeria didn't arrive in Manaus for its opening game of the Olympic men's soccer competition until six hours before kickoff. If its players were suffering any ill effects of the 3,000-mile flight, they didn't show. Nigeria beat Japan, 5-4, getting four goals from Oghenekaro Etebo.

Giant forward Sadiq Umar put Nigeria ahead in the 6th minute, and it was 2-2 after only 13 minutes. Etebo put Nigeria ahead for good before the break, and it went ahead 5-2 before nifty goals by Takuma Asano and Musashi Suzuku made it 5-4.

JEERS FOR BRAZIL. If Brazil hoped to erase the memory of its collapse at the 2014 World Cup with a strong Olympic run, it got off to a horrible start when it could only manage to tie 10-man South Africa, 0-0, on the opening game of the 2016 men's soccer competition. Brazil was jeered off the field by fans in the crowd of 69,389 at the Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia.

Most worrying for Brazil was the inability of the attack featuring Neymar and youngsters Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Barbosa to break down the South African defense. Gabriel Jesus missed Brazil's best chance, hitting the post with a wide-open goal in front of him.

WILD SECOND HALF. Mexico, the 2012 gold-medal winner, and Germany played to a 2-2 tie with all four goals coming in a wild second half.

Mexico led twice on goals by Oribe Peralta, the 2012 Olympic hero, and Rodolfo Pizarro, but Germany equalized on goals by Arsenal's Serge Gnabry and Mattias Ginter, a member of Germany's 2014 World Cup championship team.

GROUP A
Aug. 4 in Brasilia
Iraq 0 Denmark 0.
Aug. 4 in Brasilia
Brazil 0 South Africa 0.
Aug. 7 in Brasilia
Denmark vs. South Africa
Aug. 7 in Brasilia
Brazil vs. Iraq
Aug. 10 in Salvador
Denmark vs. Brazil
Aug. 10 in Sao Paulo
South Africa vs. Iraq

GROUP B
Aug. 4 in Manaus
Sweden vs. Colombia
Aug. 4 in Manaus
Nigeria vs. Japan
Aug. 7 in Manaus
Sweden vs. Nigeria
Aug. 7 in Manaus
Japan vs. Colombia
Aug. 10 in Salvador
Japan vs. Sweden
Aug. 10 in Sao Paulo
Colombia vs. Nigeria

GROUP C
Aug. 4 in Salvador
Fiji vs. South Korea
Aug. 4 in Salvador
Mexico 2 Germany 2.
Aug. 7 in Salvador
Fiji vs. Mexico
Aug. 7 in Salvador
Germany vs. South Korea
Aug. 10 in Belo Horizonte
Germany vs. Fiji
Aug. 10 in Brasilia
South Korea vs. Mexico

GROUP D
Aug. 4 in Rio de Janeiro
Honduras 3 Algeria 2.
Aug. 4 in Rio de Janeiro
Portugal 2 Argentina 0.
Aug. 7 in Rio de Janeiro
Honduras vs. Portugal
Aug. 7 in Rio de Janeiro
Argentina vs. Algeria
Aug. 10 in Brasilia
Argentina vs. Honduras
Aug. 10 in Belo Horizonte
Algeria vs. Portugal

QUARTERFINALS
Aug. 13 in Sao Paulo
Game 1: 1A vs. 2B               
Aug. 13 in Salvador
Game 2: 1B vs. 2A
Aug. 13 in Belo Horizonte
Game 3: 1C vs. 2D
Aug. 13 in Brasilia
Game 4: 1D vs. 2C

SEMIFINALS
Aug. 17 in Rio de Janeiro
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 3 winner
Aug. 17 in Sao Paulo
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. Game 4 winner

BRONZE-MEDAL GAME
Aug. 20 in Belo Horizonte
Game 5 loser vs. Game 6 loser

GOLD-MEDAL GAME
Aug. 20 in Rio de Janeiro
Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner


Rio Olympics: Women's Soccer, Day 1

France gained revenge for its loss to Colombia at the 2015 Women's World Cup when it beat the Cafeteras, 4-0, setting up a showdown on Saturday with the USA for first place in Group G.

An own goal by Carolina Arias in the 2nd minute put France ahead, Eugenie Le Sommer scored on a header of a rebound after Camille Abily's shot hit the crossbar, then Abily and Amel Majri both scored on free kicks.

Rio Olympics: Men's Soccer Schedule

The most even match expected to be Australia-Canada, but Janine Beckie scored for Canada after just 20 seconds, making it the fastest goal in Olympic women's soccer history, and Canada went on to win, 2-0, despite finishing the game with 10 players.

Melanie Behringer scored twice -- the first goal on a free kick, the second on a volley -- as Germany broke open a close game with newcomer Zimbabwe and won, 6-1.

Brazil had no trouble beating China, 3-0, on goals by Monica, Andressa Alves and Cristiane, who added to her Olympic record with her 13th goal.

In the first Group E match, Sweden beat South Africa, 1-0, on defender Nilla Fischer's goal in the 75th minute.

Olympic Women's Soccer:
GROUP E
Aug. 3 in Rio de Janeiro
Sweden 1 South Africa 0.
Aug. 3 in Rio de Janeiro
Brazil 3 China 0.
---------------------------------
Aug. 6 in  Rio de Janeiro
South Africa vs. China
Aug. 6 in  Rio de Janeiro
Brazil vs. Sweden
Aug. 9 in Manaus
Brazil vs. South Africa
Aug. 9 in Brasilia
China vs. Sweden

GROUP F
Aug. 3 in Sao Paulo
Canada 2 Australia 0.
Aug. 3 in Sao Paulo
Germany 6 Zimbabwe 1.
---------------------------------
Aug. 6 in Sao Paulo
Canada vs. Zimbabwe
Aug. 6 in Sao Paulo
Germany vs. Australia
Aug. 9 in Brasilia
Germany vs. Canada
Aug. 9 in Salvador
Australia vs. Zimbabwe

GROUP G
Aug. 3 in Belo Horizonte
USA 2 New Zealand 0.
Aug. 3 in Belo Horizonte
France 4 Colombia 0.
---------------------------------
Aug. 6 in Belo Horizonte
USA vs. France
Aug. 6 in Belo Horizonte
Colombia vs. New Zealand
Aug. 9 in Manaus
USA vs. Colombia
Aug. 9 in Salvador
New Zealand vs. France

QUARTERFINALS
Aug. 12 in Brasilia
Game 1: 1G vs. 3E/F 
Aug. 12 in Salvador
Game 2: 1E vs. 2F
Aug. 12 in Sao Paulo
Game 3: 1F vs. 2G
Aug. 12 in Belo Horizonte
Game 4: 1E vs. 3F/G

SEMIFINALS
Aug. 16 in Rio de Janeiro
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 4 winner
Aug. 16 in Belo Horizonte
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner

BRONZE-MEDAL GAME
Aug. 19 in Sao Paulo
Game 5 loser vs. Game 6 loser

GOLD-MEDAL GAME
Aug. 19 in Rio de Janeiro
Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner