The French men’s team, calm, joins Argentina in the quarter-finals

Thierry Henry’s players beat New Zealand (3-0) on Tuesday to conclude the group stage, which allows them to finish first in their group.

They just had to finish the job and the Blues did it, brilliantly. They imposed themselves with mastery against New Zealand, Tuesday July 30, in Marseille (3-0), and concluded their group stage with a third success in three matches. Now qualified for the quarter-finals, they will face Argentina for a shock against the new rival of the moment in Bordeaux, on August 2. All the lights are green before this summit meeting against another candidate for the Olympic podium.

No risks were taken for this third match in six days, played in over 30 degrees. Thierry Henry gave the vast majority of his key players a rest. Alexandre Lacazette did not play a single minute of play, as did Michael Olise and Manu Koné. Only two starters from the previous outing, against Guinea, started: defender Castello Lukeba and striker Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Captain of the day, the latter opened the scoring quickly to put the Blues on the right track. After a series of complicated dribbles by Rayan Cherki, which confused the New Zealand defense, the ball came to him in the middle of the box. With a clever left-footed dive, he allowed himself to lob the goalkeeper and two defenders to send the ball into the net, just under the crossbar (19th), scoring his first goal of the tournament.

In addition to giving the usual starters a bit of a rest, Thierry Henry took advantage of this match to mobilise his entire group, including the reserves. Recalled for the occasion, Chrislain Matsima and Andy Diouf were ready and motivated. The latter stood out with his desire to verticalise the game and his physical power. “As I often say, you don’t win a competition with eleven players. Everyone has to participate and that’s where we need other players.”the coach had assumed on France Télévisions before kick-off.

Only one man will be able to end this day frustrated: Rayan Cherki. The Lyon midfielder had a blast with the ball. But he tried so hard to score that he was ultimately never rewarded. None of his seven shots (attempted in an hour of play) found the back of the net. Ironically, the Blues killed the suspense without him, barely ten minutes after he came off.

By dint of bringing the surplus in the area, the French attackers saw the ball constantly come back to their feet. First, Désiré Doué made the break by recovering the ball after a tackle on Andy Diouf in the area (71st). Then, Arnaud Kalimuendo made it 3-0 after a blocked shot from Doué, closing his foot (74th). Attractive, Thierry Henry’s players ended the match with a good stat sheet: 31 shots and 63% possession. Goalkeeper Obed Nkambadio only had to make one save. But what a masterful save, on an attempted lob at the very end of the match.

Paradoxically, this match played in a relaxed manner and without the majority of the starters will remain the one with the fewest drawbacks of this group stage concluded without a single goal conceded. For the first time since the Atlanta Games in 1996, the Blues will play in the knockout phase of the Olympic Games. To imitate the gold medalists of 1984, there are still three matches to win. Three steps not necessarily easy to take.