Spain will look to book their place in the knockout round at the Paris 2024 Olympics when they take on the Dominican Republic at Stade Matmut-Atlantique on Saturday afternoon.
Los Quisqueyanos earned their first point at the Games in their opening match against Egypt, while La Roja claimed all three points in their tournament-opener against Uzbekistan.
Match preview
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While few have given the shock debutants a chance of reaching the quarter-final, the Dominican Republic made a solid start to the first-ever Olympic Games, holding a fairly experienced Egypt to a goalless draw.
Los Quisqueyanos were slightly outplayed by the Pharaohs in terms of creating clear-cut chances, but overall, the match was a fairly even one, and the side will be eager to build on that result and prove that their CONCACAF Championship final appearance was no flash in the pan.
However, Ibai Gomez's side have struggled against higher-ranked opponents as we saw in the CONCACAF Championship final when they were thumped 6-0 by the USA and endured a humiliating 7-0 loss to France in preparation for this tournament.
Those results certainly do not bode well for their chances here, against a Spain side bursting with talent, but they would have taken huge confidence from their defensive display in the first match and will need a similar, if not better, performance if they are to have a chance of winning this one.
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Meanwhile, in a summer dominated by the success of their senior team, the weight of expectation is on Spain to deliver at this year's Olympic games.
So far, La Roja have obliged, winning their first match 2-1 against Uzbekistan, with Marc Pubill opening the scoring after 23 minutes and Sergio Gomez scoring a second-half winner, following Uzbekistan's key man Eldor Shomurodov's equaliser before half-time
Despite the victory, it was fairly noticeable that Santi Denia is missing some of his brightest young stars, with the likes of Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Pedri sitting the Olympics out after playing in the victorious Euro 2024 side.
While a point here will almost certainly still guarantee them a pot in the quarter-finals, the silver medalists in Tokyo 2020 will feel that this is a fixture they should win, and doing so will take the pressure off the result in their final group-stage matches against Egypt on Tuesday.
Team News
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The defensive trio of Edgar Pujol, Joao Urbaez and Luiyi de Lucas did excellently to contain the Egyptian forwards, and are likely to remain unchanged this weekend.
Inter Miami attacker Edison Azcona looked bright in his 15-minute cameo off the bench and could make the starting 11 this time, potentially in place of Elche striker Rafael Nunez.
Sergio Gomez, who plays in a more advanced role for his nation than for Manchester City, was heavily involved in the last match, having his penalty saved before going on to net the winner.
Barcelona rising star Pau Cubarsi was hooked at the halftime break by Denia and we could see Real Sociedad centre-back Jon Pacheco take his place in the starting 11 this weekend.
Dominican Republic possible starting lineup:
Valdez; De Lucas, Pujol, Urbaez; Marian, Morschel, Messina, Nunez, Gonzalez; Lorenzo, Urena
Spain possible starting lineup:
Tenas; Miranda, Garcia, Pubill, Pacheco; Gomez, Baena, Oroz, Barrios, Lopez; Ruiz
We say: Dominican Republic 0-2 Spain
While the Dominican Republic made a promising start to their Olympics campaign, they have historically struggled against the bigger European nations, and we feel they will be no match for the Spaniards in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
