RIO DE JANEIRO – Fiji got their first goal in a major soccer finals on Sunday but Mexican striker Erick Gutiérrez got four to give the holders a 5-1 win on a day that Portugal struggled to beat Honduras and Germany shared the points in a thrilling game with South Korea.
Fiji, who have never made a World Cup finals and are competing in their first Olympics, looked to have recovered from Thursday’s 8-0 drubbing by South Korea when Roy Krishna put them ahead in the 11th minute.
However, Gutiérrez had three goals in the first 13 minutes of the second half to give Mexico the upper hand. Carlos Salcedo added a fourth in the 67th minute before Gutierrez added another five minutes later with a delightful chip over the keeper.
Honduras got off to an even better start against Portugal when Alberth Elis put them ahead in the first minute.
Tobias Figueiredo levelled the score for the Europeans 20 minutes later and Paciencia got the winner in the 36th minute.
The result means Portugal have a 100 percent record, while Honduras have three points. The other two teams in Group D, Argentina and Algeria, play later on Sunday.
The most exciting game of the day was in Salvador, where South Korea, making a record eighth consecutive appearance in the Olympics, took a deserved lead against Germany through Hwang Hee-chan in the 25th minute.
However the Germans came into the game and Arsenal’s Serge Gnabry got an equaliser 12 minutes before halftime.
Germany have never won Olympic gold in soccer and they came out equally strong at the start of the second period and Davie Selke put them ahead in the 55th minute.
Their lead, though, lasted only a minute, as Spurs striker Son Heung-min scored a lovely solo goal after bamboozling German defenders with some nifty footwork.
Suk Hyun-jun put South Korea ahead with three minutes to go when he fired home a close range effort after poor defending by the Germans.
But Gnabry’s last-minute free kick was deflected into the net to give the Germans a share of the points.
The result means Korea lead the group on goal difference from Mexico, with both teams on four points. Germany have just two but face Fiji, who have allowed 13 goals in two matches, in their final match on Wednesday.
Hosts Brazil face Iraq in the evening’s big game.
