The Egyptian football team was defeated by its French counterpart during the semi-final at the onging Paris Olympic Games on Monday, dashing the hope of the football fans at home who were wishing for a historical breakthrough in the world's most popular sport.
African countries lost both men's football semi-finals. First, Morocco let a lead slip against Spain. Then, the host France took out Egypt in extra time. It was heartache for football fans in Cairo. What appeared to be a strong Egyptian grip over the match collapsed just eight minutes before the main-time ended, when the Pharaohs lost their 1-0 lead. France scored an equalizer that pushed the game into extra time. Egyptian fans were devastated when the team's top defender Omar Fayed got a red card, just a few minutes into the first extra time. The North African team no longer posed any threat to the hosts. France easily took the lead and then sealed its victory with a third goal. "For a moment I hoped for the gold medal. I see the players playing well together. With every match they play they become stronger. They have a very good coach who won gold medal before. I think they can win bronze and make Egypt proud," said Mohamed Shedeed, an Egyptian football fan. "Watching the first and second matches, no one thought we would reach this far in the competition. I am very sad because we could have won this match against France after we scored. Our focus shifted to defense," said Hamada Seyam, an Egyptian football coach. Egypt will be playing against Morocco for third place on Thursday. So the bronze medal is definitely African. But Egypt and Morocco will also be clashing for the honor of being the first Arab team to win an Olympic medal in football.
Egyptian football fans disillusioned by Olympic football semi-final defeat
Some of the humanoid robots that will take part in a half-marathon race in Beijing scheduled for later this month have completed their first road test.
The race, set for April 13 in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area in the capital city's southeast, will feature both robotic and human athletes competing on the same route but on separate tracks to ensure safety for all participants.
The competition is open to global robot companies, research institutes, robot clubs and universities. So far, 23 organizations have signed up for the competition, and six robot teams have participated in the road test held at midnight on March 28-29.
After all-round inspections and adjustments, a 1.8-meter-tall robot named Tiangong Ultra from the Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robots set off first. The robot finished the race by around two hours and 52 minutes.
The robot departed afterwards is a 1.2-meter-tall humanoid from the Noetix Robotics, a company founded in Beijing in 2023. The main features of the robot are the advanced joint design and drive system, which has highly flexible movement capabilities and can achieve rapid movements, make turnings and complete complex movements, according to its developers at the site.
To complete the 21-kilometer half marathon, each robot has to undergo several battery replacement operations along the way, which took about five minutes each time. Each team showed different technical features and tested different contents. A team from Shanghai mainly focused on the adaptability of the robot's sole to the road surface. "We must work to improve its uphill and downhill capabilities, its endurance, its operating stability, and some algorithm strategies to a higher level," said Bi Bei, head of the structural development of the Shanghai-based Cyan Robotics.
Humanoid robots complete first road test for half-marathon in Beijing
