Korea Thrash Fji, Brazil Held By South Africa.. Recap Of Match Day 1 Of Men's Football At Rio Olympics

Nigeria’s Group Rivals Colombia, Sweden Share Points

Nigeria’s Group B opponents at the Rio 2016 men’s football event, Colombia and Sweden, played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Arena Amazonia stadium in Manaus on Thursday night.

Teofilo Gutierrez scored for Colombia just after 17 minutes. Dorlan Pabon slipped a perfectly weighted through-pass to one of Colombia’s overage stars, Gutierrez, who took a touch and calmly slotted the ball past Linde for the opening goal.

But his opener was cancelled out by Mikael Ishak who fired a thunderous strike from 25 yards leaving Christian Bonilla with no chance with two minutes before half time.

Colombia will face Japan in their next game while Sweden battle 1996 champions Nigeria.

Portugal Stun Argentina In Group D Clash

Argentina got off to the worst possible start in the football event of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after losing 2-0 to Portugal in their Group D clash on Thursday night.

Goncalo Paciencia opened the scoring for Portugal in the 66th minute and in the 84th minute, Pite, who replcaed Sergio Oliveira, sealed the win for Portugal after his long range strike slipped through the fingers of Geronimo Rulli in goal for Argentina.

With the victory, Portugal now top group D with three points, while Argentina occupy the last spot.

Honduras are second in the group after they edged Algeria 3-2 in the group’s other game.

Argentina’s next game comes up against Algeria on Sunday in Rio, while Portugal will go head-to-head against Honduras also in Rio on Sunday.

Arsenal’s Gnabry Scores As Germany Hold Mexico

Olympic gold medallists in 2012 Mexico began their title defence at the Rio 2016 with a 2-2 draw against Germany at the Arena Fonte Nova Salvador on Thursday.

The young Germans had to come back twice to earn a hard fought draw with Mexico in Group C action in Salvador.

After an entertaining first half which ended goalless, 2012 hero Oribe Peralta and one of the three of the over-age players gave the U-23 El Tri the lead in the 52nd minute with a header.

Peralta headed into the top corner from a corner swung in from the left to give Mexico the advantage before Arsenal's Serge Gnarbry restored parity for the young Die Mannschaft six minutes later with a perfect side foot shot.

The Arsenal youngster who came on after just 28 minutes following a knock for Leon Goretzka, cut inside from a fine through ball from defender Niklas Sule and found the far corner of the net with the outside of his right foot.

10-Man South Africa Hold Neymar-Led Brazil

Hosts Brazil were surprisingly held to a 0-0 draw by 10-man South Africa in Group A’s second game in the men’s football event of the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brasilia on Thursday.

Despite parading the likes of Neymar, Marquinhos, Gabriel Jesus, Rafinha and Felipe Anderson, Brazil still could not break the deadlock.

In the second half, South Africa’s Mothobi Mvala was sent off after fouling Zeka but still Brazil could not overcome the resolute South African side.

Brazil’s next game comes up against Iraq on Sunday also in Brasilia. Also on Sunday in Brasilia, Denmark will do battle against South Africa.

Meanwhile the group’s other game between Denmark and Iraq ended 0-0.

Honduras Edge Algeria In Five-Goal Thriller

Honduras started their 2016 Olympic campaign in fine fashion after clinching a 3-2 victory over a much-fancied Algeria in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.

Honduras produced a clinical showing front of goal in the first half, going into the half-time break with a two-goal lead thanks to Romell Quioto and Marcelo Pereira.

Sofiane Bendebka pulled one back for Algeria after the break, only for Anthony Lozano to restore Honduras' two-goal cushion.

Baghdad Boundjah gave Algeria hope of a late comeback after slotting home in the 85th minute, but Honduras were able to withstand a late onslaught and claim a hard-fought victory.

Korea Thrash Fiji

Rio 2016 Olympics campaign couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start for Frank Farina and his Fiji team, smashed 8-0 by South Korea in Salvador.

After a nervy opening period, Fiji would have gone into the break with their heads held high, trailing only 1-0 to Ryu Seung-Woo’s 32nd minute opener.

However, the flood gates opened 15 minutes into the second half as Fiji conceded three goals in the space of a minute, with Suwon Bluewing’s attacking midfielder Kwon Chang-hoon bagging two and Ryu another in the sixty second scoring blitz.

Tottenham Hotspur striker Son Heung-min then got in on the action, slotting a 72nd minute penalty before Suk Hyun-jun added another goal five minutes later.

The onslaught didn’t even let up in added time, with Suk adding to his earlier strike before Ryu completed his hat-trick with 94 minutes on the watch.