Guinea Ol. vs New Zealand Ol. prediction: WORLD: Olympic Games betting tips on match 2024-07-23 15:00.
[p]They were the last of the 16 teams to qualify after getting past Indonesia in an inter-confederation play-off earlier this year, but Guinea are widely expected to get their first men’s Olympic football campaign in 56 years off to a winning start against regular participants New Zealand, who will have taken part in four of the last five men’s football tournaments at the Games by the end of this one. [/p]
[p]In addition to selecting eight members of the starting XI that defeated Indonesia in May, as well as three of the six youngest players at this tournament, Guinea boss Morlaye Cissé has chosen to bolster the midfield with the three permitted overage selections. Naby Keïta, winner of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League with Liverpool, captains a team that also includes Le Havre’s Abdoulaye Touré and Anderlecht’s Amadou Diawara, the latter of whom has vast experience in UEFA club tournaments.[/p]
[p]New Zealand have recently been the dominant force in Oceanian football – something that was underlined when they qualified for this tournament with 8-0 and 9-0 wins over Vanuatu and Fiji respectively. The OlyWhites have however often struggled to transfer that dominance to the world stage, although their only Olympics victory at Tokyo 2020 was enough to get them through to the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.[/p]
[p]Veteran 35-year-old defender Michael Boxall will lead the team 16 years after his last Olympics in Beijing in 2008, having agonisingly missed out on the Games three years ago in Tokyo due to a thigh injury. Fellow overage midfielders Joe Bell and Sarpreet Singh are two of the 12 members of the squad to have already represented the senior national side, ensuring that the OlyWhites head to France with a wealth of international experience.[/p]
[p]Key battle: Inspired by the senior team’s AFCON quarter-finals run earlier this year, it was Ilaix Moriba’s successful penalty kick that propelled Guinea into the tournament. Standing in his way will be goalkeeper Alex Paulsen, who recently broke the transfer record for New Zealand club Wellington Phoenix with his move to Premier League outfit Bournemouth. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Eight of Guinea U23s’ last 11 matches have produced less than 2.5 total goals. [/p]