France’s Bordeaux (AP) — On Friday, in a match where players started fighting well after the Olympic men’s soccer semifinals, France defeated Argentina 1-0 thanks to an early goal to advance to the Olympic men’s soccer semifinals in Paris.
For a few minutes, there was pushing until the players were separated. A few moments later, some players from France seemed to be running down the tunnel. However, they promptly went back and performed a lap of honor.
A hostile audience jeered Argentina’s players throughout the game, exploding in cheers when attacker Jean-Philippe Mateta scored his team’s first goal in the fifth minute. Coach Thierry Henry’s team will play Egypt in the round of 16 on Monday in Lyon.
Henry has the all-time record for scoring for the English team Arsenal as well as winning the Olympic men’s soccer semifinals & the European Olympic men’s soccer semifinals Championship with France. He lauded the unwavering mindset of the members of his crew.
He remarked, “In a competition, sometimes victory comes with pain.” Argentina, the two-time Olympic men’s soccer semifinals champions, had a terrible evening of finishing, which was summed up when Luciano Gondou scored a goal well into stoppage time.
When Mateta & Captain Alexandre Lacazette noticed the skirmish, they were celebrating. Henry, Lacazette, and their counterpart Javier Mascherano—who seemed to be preventing one of his own employees from participating—hurried back to assist in breaking it up.
I noticed a lot of things happen as I went to shake the hand of the opposing coach,” Henry remarked. “Seeing things like this bothers me. It wasn’t required.
Inside the stadium, stewards and a few riot police formed a ring surrounding an enclave of Argentina fans, as France fans carried on with their celebrating.
Following the release of a video featuring Argentina players singing an insulting song about French players of African descent after celebrating their Copa America victory last month, the racial prejudice scandal had escalated pre-match emotions.
The fact that Enzo Millot, who was initially replaced, received the red card for his involvement in the fight irritated Henry.
Henry said, “It was meaningless, he wasn’t even on the field (at the Olympic men’s soccer semifinals whistle),” even though we didn’t want to lose somebody to suspension. “That really doesn’t make me happy. The only downside is that you end up with a red card on the bench, but we were all unified.
Giuliano Simeone, the striker, made the biggest mistake of the match as well as the entire competition. Somehow, in a first half that was evenly challenged, he headed far enough from meters out.
When Mateta attempted to check on a teammate receiving treatment inside Argentina’s penalty area during first-half final minute, she was pushed aside, which momentarily escalated tensions. After Lacazette swiftly diffused the situation, Argentina’s goalie Geronimo Rulli wrapped an arm across him.
Mascherano’s yellow card was met with a thunderous crash, and as the second half progressed, the victorious home team taunted their opponents with the song.
They were absent from the scoresheet. Julián Álvarez, the striker for Argentina, shot into the air and threw back his head in shock. Despite winning the Premier League, the Copa America twice, and the World Cup, Alvarez was unable to score in this competition.
With a few minutes remaining in regulation time, France appeared to have scored again, but Michael Olise’s attempt was disallowed after a replay revealed defender Maghnes Akliouche fouling an Argentina player just before. The year France claimed the European Championship in 1984 was also the year it won its first Olympic men’s soccer semifinals title.
The Olympic men’s soccer semifinals champions Argentina in 2004 and 2008 took a roughing from the Bordeaux crowd. Prior to kickoff, the initial few Argentina players emerged to jeers. Then, the majority of the jeering was muffled by the stadium music system.
After kickoff, home fans jeered and shouted in response to Argentina’s national anthem, and when the players touch the ball, they were chanted even more.
The handball team from Argentina was heckled when it approached the South Paris Arena earlier on Friday. During a quarterfinal matchup against the home team last week, a boisterous and persistent booing of Argentina’s men’s rugby the sevens players was witnessed by a crowd of 69,000 spectators at Stade de France.
Security precautions were not heightened in spite of the off-field tensions that precede this Olympic men’s soccer semifinals; according to the local police prefecture, security forces conformed to the original plan. Along with 100 military soldiers, almost 400 police and gendarmerie officials were stationed at the game. Drones were utilized by security workers to ensure the event was kept safe.
Nonetheless, the mood outside of the arena was everything but strained. Without displaying any signs of animosity, supporters of the two teams mixed together, some donning Argentina flags and jerseys bearing the name of sports sensation Lionel Messi on the back.
The actual game was the rematch that French supporters had been hoping for ever since Argentina’s thrilling victory in the 2022 Olympic men’s soccer semifinals on penalties. However, as the competition is mainly for Under-23 teams, superstars like Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé were not there.
The majority of the 42,000 attendees were France supporters. Bordeaux, a six-time French champion, filed for bankruptcy and was subsequently demoted two divisions to the fourth-tier amateur league by the DNCG, France’s Olympic men’s soccer semifinals authority. The legendary French player Zinedine Zidane made his debut with Bordeaux, dubbed “Les Girondins” by French soccer supporters.
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