La Roja beat the Ivory Coast 5-2 on Saturday in a thrilling match to progress to the semi-final of the Olympic Games. The game had finished 2-2 on 90 minutes, but Spain showed their quality in extra-time to score three times and pull away.
The Ivory Coast took the lead in the tenth minute through Eric Bailly. Dani Olmo then drew Spain level on the half-hour mark, before Max Gradel appeared to have nabbed it late on when he made it 2-1 in injury time.
Rafa Mir was on hand to save the day, however, and equalise again just two minutes after. Mikel Oyarzabal then scored a penalty in extra-time before Mir struck twice to complete his hat-trick and send Spain through.
Japan, New Zealand, Brazil, Egypt, South Korea and Mexico are now fighting for a place in the semi-final with Luis de la Fuente’s side. Spain have been able to call upon six players from Luis Enrique’s senior squad, and have been explicit in targeting gold.
There was a little bad news for Barcelona, however. Oscar Mingueza was forced off with an injury, a relapse of the problem that occurred in the game against Egypt. The Catalan had returned to training last Tuesday but missed Wednesday’s game with Argentina. It’s unknown how long he’ll be absent for.
