France win over Argentina sparks ugly scenes in Olympic grudge match
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Jean-Philippe Mateta (left) celebrating with teammate Alexandre Lacazette after scoring for France on Aug 2.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
PARIS – France’s grudge match with Argentina on Aug 2 ended in ugly scenes after Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the only goal to put the hosts into the Olympic football semi-finals, joining Spain, Morocco and Egypt.
Tensions spilled over at full time in Bordeaux, with rival players and staff clashing on the pitch and confrontations continuing down the tunnel.
Mateta struck five minutes into the quarter-final and that proved enough for France, coached by Thierry Henry, to reach the last four, where they will face Egypt.
The clash was the first meeting of the nations since Argentina’s senior team were recorded singing racist chants about their French counterparts as they celebrated winning the Copa America in July.
Argentina’s Olympic team – comprising mainly Under-23 players – were met with a hostile welcome, with the crowd loudly jeering their national anthem as the sides met for the first time since the 2022 World Cup final, which the South Americans won on penalties.
Their captain Nicolas Otamendi – 36 and one of three overage players allowed at the tournament – appeared to be heavily involved in the brawl after the match, but ESPN reported that it was France’s Enzo Millot who sparked the fight after he celebrated in the faces of his rivals.
“I don’t agree with what happened at the end of the match. My player (Millot) got a red card and I don’t accept it, it shouldn’t happen,” Henry said.
“I couldn’t control what happened. I went to greet the coach and when I turned around, what happened, happened. We won, but I didn’t like what happened at the end with my player.”
French striker Jean-Philippe Mateta scoring the only goal of the quarter-final match at the Bordeaux Stadium on Aug 2.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Giuliano Simeone and Julian Alvarez missed chances for Javier Mascherano’s Argentina, and the exit of the two-time gold medallists means the winners of men’s football gold will not come from Latin America for the first time since Cameroon triumphed in Sydney in 2000.
France will now be heavy favourites to win a semi-final in Lyon on Aug 5 against Egypt, who beat Paraguay 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Marseille.
Marcelo Perez was the only player to miss from the spot, with Ibrahim Adel the hero for Egypt. He equalised two minutes from time before scoring the decisive final penalty.
Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez scored a brace to help Spain beat Japan in another quarter-final game at the Lyon Stadium on Aug 2.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Earlier, a brilliant brace by Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez helped fire Spain to a 3-0 win over Japan in Lyon.
Lopez, a member of Spain’s triumphant Euro 2024 squad, blasted in the opener from range in the 11th minute.
The Barcelona midfielder struck again on 73 minutes as he controlled a Sergio Gomez corner before volleying in from the edge of the box.
Captain Abel Ruiz wrapped up the win for Spain, Olympic champions in 1992 and silver medallists at Tokyo 2020. The Spaniards go through to a last-four clash in Marseille with Morocco, who outclassed the United States 4-0.
In the women’s tournament, four-time champions the United States became the first team to reach the semi-finals after a 1-0 extra-time win over London 2012 runners-up Japan on Aug 3, courtesy of Trinity Rodman’s stunner.
They will face either defending champions Canada or Germany in the last four. The other semi-final will see either world champions Spain or Colombia take on hosts France or Brazil.
The results of their quarter-final matches were unavailable at press time. AFP, REUTERS
