THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) - Iraq's dream of an Olympic soccer gold medal ended Tuesday as Paraguay scored a 3-1 victory to set up a South American showdown with Argentina in the final.
Jose Cardozo scored two first-half goals and Fredy Bareiro made it four in three games as Paraguay outplayed the gallant Iraqis in the semifinal.
Razzaq Farhan's strike for Iraq eight minutes from the end had its noisy fans roaring but turned out to be no more than consolation.
Argentina had already beaten Italy 3-0 in the other semifinal and the result is that a new champion will be crowned at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday because neither finalist has won the title.
Tuesday's victory guarantees Paraguay its first Olympic medal of any kind and it will be silver at least, while Iraq faces Italy for the bronze in Thessaloniki on Friday.
The loss was a letdown for the 1,000 or so Iraqi fans who banged drums, waved flags and chanted constantly at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium.
While Argentina and Italy were expected to reach the last four, Iraq has been the big surprise of the tournament, especially in the context of the daily bombings and shootings back home.
The players qualified for both the Olympics and the Asian Cup finals without being able to play a single game on home turf while fearing for friends and family back home.
Iraq reached the semifinals after beating medal contender Portugal 4-2, Costa Rica 2-0 and Australia 1-0. Despite a 2-1 loss to Morocco, Adnan Hamad's men finished top of their group.
Paraguay, which eliminated Brazil during the South American qualifying round, opened with a 4-3 victory over Japan, beat Italy 1-0 in group play and then edged South Korea 3-2 in the quarterfinals.
Iraq's 20-year-old goalkeeper, Nour Sabri, made a good blocking save from Cardozo in the early stages but he was beaten in the 17th minute.
Bareiro jumped to head on a long clearance and Cardozo got clear of a defender to shoot past the 'keeper. Nour was shown the yellow card for arguing with the referee that Cardozo was offside.
Paraguay frequently opened up the Iraqi defense and had the ball in the net again in the 30th minute when Cardozo deflected in a teammate's long range shot but he was offside.
Iraq almost leveled a minute later. Qusai Munir was unmarked in front of goal only for Paraguay goalkeeper Diego Barreto to dive low to his right to push the ball round the post with a top quality, reflex-action save.
A second goal for Paraguay seemed inevitable, however, although it came with the Iraqis again claiming offside.
The Paraguayans made a quick counter attack from their own area and Cardozo dribbled past a defender into the penalty area. The ball rolled past Bareiro who was several meters offside but made no effort to play it and Cardozo ran on to turn the ball past the 'keeper.
Iraq coach Hamad made two changes at halftime and Emad Mohammed almost pulled a goal back only to shoot wide of the far post after a good interpassing move by the forwards.
But Nour was forced into an acrobatic one-handed save to keep out a shot from Bareiro on another swift Paraguay counter attack had opened up the Iraqi defense.
Nour dived to his right to fist away a 20-meter drive from Edgar Barreto but was lucky to see Bareiro shoot over the bar from Cardozo's knockdown in the 60th minute.
Unable to unlock Paraguay's well-organized defense, Iraq turned to long range shooting and, after Younis Mahmoud had forced Barreto to fist away a powerful 20-meter drive, Salih Sadir curled a shot just over the bar. A heading chance then fell to Mahdi Karim from a left wing free kick but he directed well wide of the post.
The fightback was short lived however as Paraguay scored a third in the 68th minute. Nour did well to push a shot from Cardozo onto the post but Bareiro was unmarked to shoot home the rebound.
Although Iraq was guilty of trying to walk the ball into the net, its inventive forward play deserved a goal and it came with eight minutes to go when Emad squeezed a pass through to Razzaq and he blasted the ball into the roof of the net from 12 meters.
Fox Sports
Jose Cardozo scored two first-half goals and Fredy Bareiro made it four in three games as Paraguay outplayed the gallant Iraqis in the semifinal.
Razzaq Farhan's strike for Iraq eight minutes from the end had its noisy fans roaring but turned out to be no more than consolation.
Argentina had already beaten Italy 3-0 in the other semifinal and the result is that a new champion will be crowned at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday because neither finalist has won the title.
Tuesday's victory guarantees Paraguay its first Olympic medal of any kind and it will be silver at least, while Iraq faces Italy for the bronze in Thessaloniki on Friday.
The loss was a letdown for the 1,000 or so Iraqi fans who banged drums, waved flags and chanted constantly at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium.
While Argentina and Italy were expected to reach the last four, Iraq has been the big surprise of the tournament, especially in the context of the daily bombings and shootings back home.
The players qualified for both the Olympics and the Asian Cup finals without being able to play a single game on home turf while fearing for friends and family back home.
Iraq reached the semifinals after beating medal contender Portugal 4-2, Costa Rica 2-0 and Australia 1-0. Despite a 2-1 loss to Morocco, Adnan Hamad's men finished top of their group.
Paraguay, which eliminated Brazil during the South American qualifying round, opened with a 4-3 victory over Japan, beat Italy 1-0 in group play and then edged South Korea 3-2 in the quarterfinals.
Iraq's 20-year-old goalkeeper, Nour Sabri, made a good blocking save from Cardozo in the early stages but he was beaten in the 17th minute.
Bareiro jumped to head on a long clearance and Cardozo got clear of a defender to shoot past the 'keeper. Nour was shown the yellow card for arguing with the referee that Cardozo was offside.
Paraguay frequently opened up the Iraqi defense and had the ball in the net again in the 30th minute when Cardozo deflected in a teammate's long range shot but he was offside.
Iraq almost leveled a minute later. Qusai Munir was unmarked in front of goal only for Paraguay goalkeeper Diego Barreto to dive low to his right to push the ball round the post with a top quality, reflex-action save.
A second goal for Paraguay seemed inevitable, however, although it came with the Iraqis again claiming offside.
The Paraguayans made a quick counter attack from their own area and Cardozo dribbled past a defender into the penalty area. The ball rolled past Bareiro who was several meters offside but made no effort to play it and Cardozo ran on to turn the ball past the 'keeper.
Iraq coach Hamad made two changes at halftime and Emad Mohammed almost pulled a goal back only to shoot wide of the far post after a good interpassing move by the forwards.
But Nour was forced into an acrobatic one-handed save to keep out a shot from Bareiro on another swift Paraguay counter attack had opened up the Iraqi defense.
Nour dived to his right to fist away a 20-meter drive from Edgar Barreto but was lucky to see Bareiro shoot over the bar from Cardozo's knockdown in the 60th minute.
Unable to unlock Paraguay's well-organized defense, Iraq turned to long range shooting and, after Younis Mahmoud had forced Barreto to fist away a powerful 20-meter drive, Salih Sadir curled a shot just over the bar. A heading chance then fell to Mahdi Karim from a left wing free kick but he directed well wide of the post.
The fightback was short lived however as Paraguay scored a third in the 68th minute. Nour did well to push a shot from Cardozo onto the post but Bareiro was unmarked to shoot home the rebound.
Although Iraq was guilty of trying to walk the ball into the net, its inventive forward play deserved a goal and it came with eight minutes to go when Emad squeezed a pass through to Razzaq and he blasted the ball into the roof of the net from 12 meters.
Fox Sports
