Sergio Aguero struck twice in the space of five second-half minutes as defending champions Argentina defeated archrivals Brazil 3-0 to advance to the finals of the Olympic football tournament today.

Juan Roman Riquelme completed the scoring from the penalty spot after Aguero was upended in the box by Breno.

Sergio Aguero scored twice in five minutes

Brazil came close to pulling one back with the score still at 2-0 when Alexandre Pato fired home after Ronaldinho hit the post with a free-kick, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

To compound the misery for Carlos Dunga’s men, Lucas Leiva and Thiago Neves both received late red cards for cynical challenges on Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano.

In the other semifinal Nigeria thrashed Belgium 4-1 to set up a repeat of the 1996 Final, which the Africans won 3-2 in Atlanta. A double from Chenedu Ogbuke and further strikes by Adefemi Olubayo and Chibuzor Okonkwo put the game well out of reach before Laurent Ciman tallied a late consolation for the Belgians.

Semifinal Results

Nigeria 4 (Olubayo 17, Obguke 59, 72, Okonkwo 78), Belgium 1 (Ciman 88)

Argentina 3 (Aguero 53, 58, Riquelme pen 76), Brazil 0

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