Argentina, led by legend Javier Mascherano, will face Morocco in the men's football tournament curtain-raiser at the Paris Olympics 2024.
ARU23 vs MRU23 Match Details
Date: Tuesday, 23 July 2024
Time: 15:00 (CET), 18:30 (IST)
Venue: Saint-Étienne
ARU23 vs MRU23 Match Preview
Argentina aims to win their third Gold medal in their 10th appearance at the Olympics guided by their manager Javier Mascherano who was part of the squad in the previous two successes. The Barcelona legend won Argentina’s first-ever Olympic Gold in 2006 and defended it in the next edition as an overage player. He would like to repeat the trick as the head coach of the side but first, they need to navigate their way out of the group stage after getting eliminated in the previous two campaigns from the same stage. However, La Albieceste could dream of a far more positive campaign this time with Copa America-winning stars like Julian Alvarez and captain Nicolas Otamendi part of the squad. Argentina alongside Paraguay qualified for the Olympics from CONMEBOL and will face Morocco, Iraq and Ukraine in their group. On paper, Mascherano’s team are favourites to end up as group winners so they will hope to forget their surprise 1-0 defeat to Guinea in the last warm-up friendly for a positive start to the tournament.
The U-23 AFCON champions Morocco are making their eighth Olympics appearance and will face Argentina in the opener hoping to create a shock. The Atlas Lions are among the four African sides competing in the Paris Olympics 2024 wanting to reach far into the contest with Achraf Hakimi bringing the experience of the fairytale semi-final run at the World Cup two years ago. Only two teams from the continent have won the Gold at the Olympics and Morocco is willing to add their name to the list possessing a strong squad. Tarik Sektioui's side are eyeing a first Olympic knockout since 1972 after suffering just three losses in a year. They also lost just once in the three friendlies since Sektioui took charge after former boss Issame Charai's surprise relief of his duties despite the AFCOn success. However, they will want to keep their cool against La Seleccion in the opener with the prime objective being avoiding defeat.
ARU23 vs MRU23 Predicted Lineups
Argentina U23
Rulli; Lujan, Di Cesare, Otamendi, Amione; Ignacio Fernandez, Almada, Echeverri; Alvarez, Beltran, Simeone
Morocco U23
Mohamedi; Hakimi, El Wafi, Boukamir, Nakach; Targhalline, Bouchouari, Richardson; Akhomach, Rahimi, Abde
ARU23 vs MRU23 Dream11 Match Prediction
Argentina are expected to shake away their loss in the last friendly game with a winning start in the Olympics 2024. We predict a 2-1 win against Morocco.
ARU23 vs MRU23 Dream11 Top picks
Captain Pick: Julian Alvarez
Vice-captain Picks: Ignacio Fernandez
ARU23 vs MRU23 Dream11 Team Suggestion
GK: Mohamedi (Cr - 7)
DEF: Hakimi (Cr - 9), Otamendi (Cr - 9), Di Cesare (Cr - 8.5)
MID: Ben (Cr - 8), Fernandez (Cr - 8.5), Almada (Cr - 7.5), Echeverri (Cr - 8)
FW: Abde (Cr - 8.5), Alvarez (Cr - 9), Beltran (8)
Vice-captain: James Rodriguez
Captain: Lionel Messi
