Reigning Olympic men’s football champions Brazil qualified for this summer’s tournament in Japan with a 3-0 win over Argentina on Sunday.
Brazil had to beat their arch rivals in the Colombia qualifier in order to join them as one of South America’s two representatives at the Tokyo Games.
Paulinho scored the opener after 11 minutes before Matheus Cunha added a second on the half-hour mark and a third early in the second half.
Argentina had already qualified for Tokyo after winning their first two matches in the round-robin qualifying tournament. Uruguay lost out despite beating hosts Colombia 3-1 earlier on Sunday.
Brazil won the gold medal at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, giving them the last major international title to have eluded them.
In the women qualifiers, second-half goals from Lynn Williams, Lindsey Horan and Megan Rapinoe gave the United States a 3-0 win over Canada in the final of the CONCACAF women’s Olympic qualifying tournament in southern California on Sunday.
Both nations had already booked their spots at the Tokyo Games with semi-final victories – the United States beating Mexico 4-0 and Canada edging Costa Rica 1-0 – turning the final into a relaxed, celebratory occasion in Carson.
Williams broke the deadlock when she rifled home a fierce strike in the 60th minute. Horan made it 2-0 with a well-taken shot 11 minutes later before substitute Rapinoe wrapped up the scoring.
The United States, who won the Women’s World Cup in France last year, lost to Sweden in the quarter-finals of the 2016 Olympic tournament.- Reuters
