Uzbekistan Make Olympic Soccer Debut Against Spain

Uzbekistan vs Spain Olympic Soccer: Spain Won Silver at Tokyo 2020

Spain Looking to Emulate Success of Senior Side

Just over a week after Spain’s senior team defeated England in the Euro 2024 Final, their U23 team kicks off their Olympic soccer gold medal bid against debutants Uzbekistan on Wednesday. While Uzbekistan may be short on household names, they shouldn’t be underestimated after an excellent run to the AFC U23 Asian Cup Final.

We’ll take a look at the Uzbekistan vs Spain Olympic soccer odds and preview the match. Stay tuned for that and our Olympic predictions along the way.

Uzbekistan U23 vs Spain U23

⚽ Game: Argentina U23 vs Morocco U23
📅Dayte & Time
:
📍Location: Parc des Princes, Paris, France
📺Stream: NBC Olympics

Uzbekistan vs Spain Head-to-Head:

This is the first Uzbekistan vs Spain Olympic soccer match and the first meeting between their U23 sides. However, Spain’s U21 side did face Uzbekistan U23 in a friendly last year and it finished scoreless.

Uzbekistan: Debutants Aren’t Pushovers

Soccer is rapidly improving in Uzbekistan and their first Olympic berth proves as much. Uzbekistan’s senior team reached the Quarter-Finals of the AFC Asian Cup earlier this year even without captain Eldor Shomorudov and it took penalties to knock them out.

Shomurodov is back from a leg injury and seven players from Uzbekistan’s AFC Asian Cup roster are in their Olympic squad. One of our Olympic Games predictions is that Uzbekistan will be the second team in Group C, after Spain, to go through to the knockout stage.

Getting Roma’s Shomorudov to play in the Olympics is a massive boost, as he’s Uzbekistan’s senior goalscoring leader, with 40 goals in 73 caps. Plus, attacking midfielder Abbosbek Fayzullaev is a player to watch and is one of the best talents Uzbekistan has ever produced.

Fayzullaev plays in the Russian Premier League, with CSKA Moscow, and scored four goals in his debut campaign in 2023-24. Uzbekistan also won their first five matches in the AFC U23 Asian Cup back in April. They kept five straight clean sheets until losing 1-0 to Japan in the final.

A bunch of the players on the Olympic roster are regulars for the senior team, including Shomurodov, Fayzullaev, Oston Urunov, Abdukodir Khusanov, and Husniddin Aliqulov. The senior side haven’t lost a 90-minute match in 2024 and have a good shot at qualifying for their first-ever World Cup. So, keep an eye out for Uzbekistan throughout the tournament.

Spain: Gold Medal or Bust

The Spaniards reached the Gold Medal game of the postponed Tokyo Olympics three years ago but fell to Brazil. La Roja are once again one of the best soccer bets today. They come in at +275 odds to win their first soccer gold medal since 1992. The squad has two European Championship winners with the senior side as well, Fermin Lopez and Alex Baena.

Villarreal’s Baena led La Liga in assists in 2023-24, with 14. Meanwhile, Lopez scored 11 goals in 42 appearances, in all competitions in his first season with Barcelona’s senior side. A major reason Spain have what it takes to win the tournament is their backline.

Eric Garcia and Miguel Gutierrez helped Girona reach the Champions League in 2023-24 for the first time in the club’s history. Meanwhile, Barcelona center back Pau Cubarsi, who’s only 17 years old, had an impressive breakthrough season.

Goalkeeper Arnau Tenas made a few appearances for PSG last season, in relief of Gianluigi Donnarumma. Plus, Pablo Barrios started his fair share of games in midfield for Atletico Madrid, and forward Samu Omorodion scored eight La Liga goals for a surprising Alaves side.

This is a deep Spain roster and they seem to have their sights firmly set on gold.

Match Analysis & Odds

Both teams are solid defensively and that could make this a tactical battle. Still, Samu Omorodion’s pace could cause problems for Uzbekistan’s defense, and having players like Fermin Lopez and Alex Baena certainly gives Spain an edge here.

Spain are -450 favorites for this match and Spain’s -1.5 sits at -140 odds but we do think Uzbekistan can keep this one close. Uzbekistan are a well-organized outfit who are hard to score on and it could take some time for Spain to open the floodgates.

One of our preferred Olympic Games bets for the match is under three goals at even odds as neither team will want to lose their opener. While a draw is priced at +485, bettors can consider Uzbekistan to pull off a big upset at +875 odds.

The Uzbekistan vs Spain Olympic soccer odds also list Uzbekistan +1.5 at +110 and they managed to draw against Spain’s U21 side last October. The debutants would be thrilled with a point on Wednesday.

For Olympic betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.


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