2024-08-03 05:35:02
France vs Argentina
France’s Crystal Palace connection was enough to lift Thierry Henry‘s men past heated rivals Argentina 1-0 and into the 2024 Paris Olympics semifinal round.
Michael Olise fizzed a fifth-minute corner kick toward the penalty spot, and Jean-Philippe Mateta darted to the front post to turn a header inside it the goal and send the Matmut Atlantique into early glory.
After a few close bids to make it 2-0, France needed help at the other end. Goalkeeper Guillaume Restes took to the air to make an outstretched save on a solid Ezequiel Fernandez effort from outside the 18.
France thought it had a two-goal lead when Maghnes Akliouche set up Olise for a deflected finish, but VAR spotted a foul on Akliouche in the build-up.
Argentina missed myriad chances to get a goal over the 90 minutes, and boss Javier Mascherano saw Giuliano Simeone, Nicolas Gondou and Julian Alvarez get into dangerous positions and fail to convert their opportunities.
France won gold on U.S. soil in 1984 but has been awaiting its return to the podium with just two appearances out of UEFA’s deep qualifying field (1996, 2020).
