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Paris 2024 – Football: a tense end to the match between France and Argentina
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At the final whistle, French and Argentinian players came to blows on Friday in Bordeaux. A French player received a red card, but that did not spoil the party.
Les Bleus won a memorable victory on Friday, August 2, by beating Argentina (1-0) in the quarter-finals of the men’s Olympic football tournament. At the end of a match as close as it was tense, between two ambitious and rival nations, a fight broke out between the players of the two teams just after the final whistle.
After an initial calming down, the scuffle resumed in the corridor. A few minutes later, the Blues made a triumphant return to the pitch at the Bordeaux stadium. “We know how Argentines are. They wanted to spoil the party, but it’s even better.”reacted the only scorer of the evening Jean-Philippe Mateta in the mixed zone. Around him, the Blues all had a mischievous smile on their lips, but they themselves were not able to recount in detail what happened in these scuffles. Some, like the experienced Alexandre Lacazette, did not want to make too much of it, nor project themselves too much on the gold medal.
Speaking to France Télévisions, Thierry Henry immediately wanted to say all the bad things he thought about this chaotic end to the match. “I don’t like this kind of thing. I haven’t seen the footage again, but I was informed that it [Enzo Millot] took a red. It wasn’t necessary”supported the coach. In the mixed zone, Millot confirmed that he had indeed received a red card which will deprive him of the semi-final.
“We all went to celebrate in front of their bench. It was a bit of a joke, but the referee was strict. It was a bit euphoric. It’s fair game, the referee doesn’t understand that.”he reacted, perhaps unaware of his coach’s angry state. “I didn’t understand why he gave me the red card”he continued, while Mateta amused himself by calling him “loco” (“crazy” in Spanish) in front of the journalists.
“If he gets a red card, it’s because he did something”insisted Henry, angry with his player, because this suspension cannot be compensated by the inclusion of a reserve on the match sheet against Egypt in the semi-finals (knowing that another key midfielder, Manu Koné, will also be suspended, for accumulation of yellow cards). Not enough to disorient the coach, who calls for “enjoy the moment” and for whom the fight does not spoil the flavor of the qualification of his players. “They are not the ‘Barjots’, but I call them the madmen, but not in reference to the end of the match”he concluded on a positive note.