Egypt Ol. vs Paraguay Ol. prediction: WORLD: Olympic Games – Play Offs betting tips on match 2024-08-01 17:00.
[p]An unbeaten run through Group C of the Olympic football tournament (W2, D1) – capped by a 2-1 victory over the much-fancied Spain – earned Egypt top spot and a place in the quarter-finals. The Pharaohs have reached this stage in three consecutive appearances at this competition, so they’ll now target a first semi-final since way back in 1964![/p]
[p]Rogério Micale’s men have been involved in close games, with both wins coming by a one-goal margin while only France and Japan can boast a better defensive record after the group stage. That solidity could play a huge part in maintaining Egypt’s proud record of having not lost a U23 match in regular time since July 2021 in the last Olympics.[/p]
[p]That defeat came against Brazil, a feat fellow South Americans Paraguay will hope to replicate after they finished second in Group D. Carlos Jara Saguier’s men recovered from a 5-0 drubbing against Japan on matchday one by securing back-to-back wins, as they look to match their remarkable run to the final back in 2004 in Athens.[/p]
[p]Question marks continue to surround their defence however, with the seven goals they conceded in the group stage the most amongst all teams that progressed to the knockout stages. A 4-1 defeat at the hands of France U23s just before the tournament underlines their problems at the back, although La Albirroja will take comfort in their scoring record of having netted in 17 of their last 18 U23 matches.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Ibrahim Adel scored both goals for Egypt in their win over Spain, in the process picking up Flashscore’s highest rating of the match. Paraguay’s Marcelo Fernández was his side’s matchwinner against Mali on Tuesday, scoring inside five minutes to take his goal tally to three in his last two matches.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Nine of Egypt’s last 11 U23 matches have seen both teams score.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Sridhar Bhamidi[/i][/p]