On this day seven years ago, Argentina won their second straight Olympic gold, beating Nigeria 1-0 with a goal from Angel di Maria.
They played the final at noon at the National Stadium in Beijing, where the temperatures reached 42° Celsius. The heat was so oppressive that officials twice stopped the match so that the players could rehydrate.
The Nigerians tightly marked strikers Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero, but that allowed enough space for di María to exploit for the goahead goal in the 58th minute—he chipped the Nigerian keeper after receiving the ball from Messi.
It was only his second goal of the tournament, but it was the one that mattered the most.
1953: Alberto Ascari disobeys team orders to lead home a Ferrari 1-2-3 and seal himself a second World Championship.
2004: Ethiopian Meseret Defar wins the 5,000m gold at the Athens Olympics edging her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba.
2009: England beat Australia in four days at The Oval to regain the Ashes by winning the series 2-1. Ricky Ponting became the first Aussie captain since Billy Murdoch in 1890 to lose the Ashes twice in England.
