A true Golden Goal - USSR vs Brazil - Football - 1988 Seoul Olympic Games

The football Olympic gold medal did not come easily in the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games. Brazil and the Soviet Union made it to the final after tough matches against Germany and Italy, respectively. The Soviets had beaten Italy in the extra-time by 3-2; while Brazil had beaten West Germany in the penalty shoot-out. The Soviet Union was a previous Olympic champion at the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games. Brazil, on the other hand, aimed for its first ever Olympic gold medal. During the 90 minutes, both team’s top goal-scorers had put their name in the scoreboard. Romário scored first at the 29th minute for Brazil and Savichev at the 60th minute, found the equalizer converting a penalty-kick. With the match level at the final whistle, teams would go into extra-time. In an electrifying extra-time Brazil went into attack and had several opportunities only to be denied by the Soviet defense. Until the USSR found a counter attack and scored its second goal with Savichev. As the tournament regulations determined, the match did not finish immediately after the Soviet goal. However, as the Brazilians were not able to get past the Soviet defense, Savichev’s goal became a definite Golden Goal.