Formidable Spain aim to deny France in battle for Olympic men’s football gold

PARIS – Thierry Henry’s France are hoping a home crowd at the Parc des Princes can drive them on to win Olympic men’s football gold, but an impressive Spain side will attempt to deny them in the final on Aug 9.

Henry, a France legend as a player, has led his country to the brink of their second football gold medal, exactly 40 years after they won the title in Los Angeles.

That victory over Brazil came just a few weeks after the full French national team lifted their first major trophy by beating Spain on home soil in the final of Euro 84.

Just like then, the finalists will meet at a packed Parc des Princes, where a hostile home support will try to spur France on to victory.

“I am going to be honest, I am mainly happy for Team France because when you see everyone picking up medals all over the place (in other sports), you say to yourself that you can’t let them down,” Henry said.

“You don’t want to be the team that doesn’t win a medal, so at least that is done, and now we will see what colour we get. But honestly, I am living a dream and I don’t want to wake up.”

France have fulfilled their objective by being guaranteed a medal, with Henry succeeding in moulding together a cohesive team, despite a series of rejections from clubs unwilling to release their players for the Games.

Clubs have no obligation to let their players take part in the Olympics, where the men’s tournament is reserved for those aged under 23, except for three overage players.

Kylian Mbappe, the captain and star of the senior national side, wanted to take part but was not released by his new club Real Madrid. Hopes of getting Antoine Griezmann on board were also quickly dashed.

But Les Bleus have been expertly led by the experienced Alexandre Lacazette and his fellow forwards, the bruising Jean-Philippe Mateta and flying Michael Olise.

They won all three group games without conceding a goal, before seeing off Argentina 1-0 in a fiery quarter-final and then showing great character to come from behind and beat Egypt 3-1 after extra time in the last four.

“We have been talking about the Games for a year and a half now and finally we get to go to Paris (for the final),” said Mateta, the Crystal Palace striker who netted twice against the Egyptians.

These may be the Paris Games, but so far Henry’s team have played all their matches elsewhere around the country – in Marseille, Nice, Bordeaux and Lyon.

Spain, meanwhile, began their campaign with a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan in Paris. After easing past Japan in Lyon in the last eight, they had to come from behind to beat Morocco 2-1 in their semi-final in Marseille.

That victory in front of a hostile crowd, achieved thanks to goals by the outstanding Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez and the substitute Juanlu Sanchez, will give the Spaniards confidence that they can handle the crowd and pressure in the French capital.

“It’s another atmosphere that I will like,” said Lopez, who has scored four goals at the Olympics after helping Spain win Euro 2024 against England. “In any situation, we can overcome anything. Now we want to get the gold.”

Coached by former Atletico Madrid defender Santi Denia, Spain are aiming for a second men’s football gold after triumphing in Barcelona in 1992 with a squad including Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique, who are now renowned coaches.

They were silver medallists at Sydney 2000 and again in Tokyo three years ago, but Spain’s record more recently across the board in international football is remarkable.

The men’s senior side won the European Championship in Berlin just in July, following on from the women’s team triumphing in Sydney at the 2023 World Cup.

Less than two weeks ago, they were also the winners of the Under-19 Euro against France, and now they can complete a glorious summer with Olympic gold. AFP