Messi claims Olympic gold

August 25, 2008

Messi magic and an Angel Di Maria finish brought Argentina a 1-nil win, and a well-deserved Olympic gold, over Nigeria on Saturday, August 23.

Messi brilliantly worked himself away from the tough Nigerian defense and fed the ball to Di Maria to coolly slot it in the Nigerians’ net in the 58th minute.

Although most conditions during the Beijing Olympics had been uncharacteristically cool and all football matches played during the night-time, the final men’s match was played at in 35-degree weather during the afternoon. FIFA instituted breaks in the middle of each half for the sake of the athletes’ health.

The weather, however, did not affect goalscorer Angel Di Maria’s outlook on the match.

“It was a dream game. All I could think of was thank God the ball went over the line and now thanks to that I have a gold medal,” Di Maria said.

And Di Maria and his teammates truly deserve that gold medal. Argentina remained unbeaten in Beijing, and played brilliant attacking football in order to keep that record.

With this win, Argentina continues to prove its dominance in youth team tournaments. The nation is now holder of two consecutive Olympic titles (2004 and 2008), as well as two consecutive U-20 World Cup titles (2005 and 2007).

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