The Ivory Coast beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 in the Kingdom’s opening Olympic soccer match on Thursday in Yokohama, Japan.
Ivory Coast’s Franck Kessie scored the go-ahead goal in the 66th minute in a disappointing start for the Kingdom’s Tokyo dreams. On the Saudi side, Salem Al-Dossari scored the Kingdom’s lone goal in the match.
The match was competitive and at times, testy, with tensions boiling over at one point between Aboubacar Doumbia of Ivory Coast and Salman Al-Faraj of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia hasn’t been to an Olympics in soccer since 1996. The Kingdom was the betting underdog today against the Ivory Coast, which was making its first Olympic appearance since the 2008 Beijing Games.
Kessie, who plays for AC Milan, scored off a pass from Manchester United forward Amad Diallo, the AP reports. The two teams are in a tough group at the Olympics with Brazil, the gold medalists from the 2016 Games, and Germany, the silver medalists who lost to the Brazilians on penalties at the Maracana Stadium.
Saudi Arabia has increasingly invested in developing and growing its own professional soccer league and young Saudi talent at the sport, both as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 social and economic reform plans.
Saudi Arabia plays Germany next on July 25.
