Gignac's hat-trick, Pustovoitova's debut and Brazil's misfire: what did the second round of the football tournament at the Games remember

Challenging trials for male favorites

The men's football tournament of the Olympics turns out to be rich in hat-tricks.

On Thursday, Brazilian Richarlison struck the gate of the Germans three times, and on Sunday, the Frenchman Andre-Pierre Gignac managed to do it.

The 35-year-old striker of the Mexican Tigres went to the Olympics as an honored veteran and captain and is still one of the few bright spots against the background of the eminent team.

“The reigning world champions, who sent their squad strong enough by the standards of the Olympic Games to Tokyo, were initially considered the favorites of the tournament, but have not yet confirmed this status.

First, they lost to Mexico sensationally (1: 4), and then, with great difficulty, in a key confrontation for themselves, broke the resistance of South Africa - 4: 3.

It is curious that the first half of this meeting ended without goals scored, although Luther Singh did not convert the penalty.

But in the second, the rivals began to act without the center of the field.

The African team went ahead three times, but Gignac each time restored the balance in the account.

In the 86th minute, he seemed to have put an end to it with a penalty kick.

But the French in extra time still put the squeeze on the uncompromising opponent.

On the 93rd, another goal was struck by Tagi Savanier.

So, the Europeans won a major victory and stayed in the fight for getting into the playoffs.

And the veteran Gignac with four goals confidently leads the race of the scorers of the competition, ahead of just Richarlison.

In general, the second round of the group stage of the men's tournament demonstrated the unpredictability of the Olympic Games in this sport. Absolutely all the grandees who came to Japan experienced serious difficulties in fights with rivals inferior in class. The match between Spain and Australia was very indicative. "Kangaroo" on Thursday already created a sensation, beating Argentina, and on Sunday they almost became the authors of another one. For a good 80 minutes, the favorite could not do anything with a physically strong team. The fate of the confrontation was decided by one of the players who recently took part in Euro 2020 and reached the semifinals there - Mikel Oyarzabal. And he was assisted by another eminent performer, Marco Asensio.

Finally, after the defeat at the start of the Olympic Games, the Argentines found themselves in a very difficult situation and were forced to beat Egypt at all costs. As a result, the South Americans managed to hit the opponent's goal only once. Facundo Medina scored early in the second half. Also, as part of the current owner of the Copa America, striker Adolfo Gayich spent half an hour on the field, the rights to which belong to CSKA. Replaced partner Ezequiel Ponce from Spartak.

Finally, the Germans, who were also defeated in the first round, not without difficulty forced Saudi Arabia to surrender - 3: 2. The Bundestim, under the leadership of Stefan Kunz, who was recently wooed into the Russian national team, twice came out ahead thanks to the goals of Nadim Amiri and Ragnar Ahe, but the Saudis always found the strength to recoup. And in the middle of the second half, the Europeans were completely outnumbered after the direct removal of defender Amos Pieper. However, with ten men, they still managed to put the squeeze on the opponent. The winning goal was scored by Felix Uduohai.

And Brazil parted with the Ivory Coast.

The rivals did not manage to hit each other's goal.

But the judge showed the players two straight red cards at once.

The yellow-greens already in the 14th minute were left without midfielder Douglas Louis.

And closer to the final whistle, the referee equalized the squads, removing the former Krasnodar midfielder Ebue Kuassi. 

After two rounds of the group stage, only one team lost its chances of getting into the playoffs.

It's just about Saudi Arabia.

And the most confusing situation was in Quartet B, where four teams at once (South Korea, Honduras, New Zealand and Romania) have three points each.

At the same time, in case of equality in the number of points, the most important additional indicator will not be the results of personal meetings, but the difference between goals scored and conceded.

A hail of heads in women

As you know, Russian footballers did not make it to the Olympics. But the domestic judge Anastasia Pustovoitova arrived in Tokyo to serve the matches of the women's tournament. She missed the first round, but in the second she received an appointment for a rather important duel between the hosts of the Olympics and Great Britain. The referee worked flawlessly, and the British won with a minimum score and guaranteed themselves getting into the playoffs.

However, this match remained the only one among the fairer sex in the second round, in which the teams scored less than three goals for two.

Zambians and Chinese women did their best, hitting each other's gates a total of eight times - 4: 4.

Once again, Barbra Banda came to the fore as part of the African women, who scored a hat-trick in the second meeting in a row.

The striker is now leading the Olympics scorers race alongside the Netherlands' Vivianne Medema.

She, in turn, distinguished herself twice in a spectacular confrontation with Brazil - 3: 3.

And as part of the South American women, the penalty was realized by the 35-year-old six-time winner of the Ballon d'Or Marta, who is also a two-time Olympic champion.

Sweden also guaranteed a ticket to the playoffs. The Scandinavians in another successful match were stronger than Australia (4: 2) and now they will definitely not fall below second place. At the same time, the two best teams from among those who took third positions will reach the quarterfinals, which leaves chances for almost all participants.