A match for the gold medal. The Blues had certainly dreamed of it, here they are in Paris, at the Parc des Princes, to play the final of the Olympic football tournament, Friday August 9. The goal was the Olympic medal, now assured, but Thierry Henry’s players have always wanted to win the gold medal. Against Spain, the team with the most experienced players at the top level, the Bleuets will have to be solid without the ball and take advantage of the smallest spaces.
Jean-Philippe Mateta, a providential man. With Alexandre Lacazette at his side and Michael Olise, his former partner at Crystal Palace, behind him, Jean-Philippe Mateta seems to be the right choice for Thierry Henry. Chosen as one of the wild cards (player over 23 years old), the former Lyon player has been piling up the goals since the start of the tournament. Behind the Moroccan Soufiane Rahimi (six goals), he is the top scorer with the Spaniard Fermin Lopez (four goals). In addition to scoring in the last three games, he has scored important goals, such as the equalizer in the semi-finals against Egypt.
A habit for the Spanish. Seeing Spain in the final of the tournament is anything but a surprise. La Rojita is almost always present in the finals of the U21 competitions. In the last seven U21 Euros, the Spanish have been finalists five times and have won the trophy three times. Last year, with the same generation of players, they reached the final of the tournament before losing to the English (1-0).
Already in the biggest clubs. The French and the Spanish have players in their ranks who are already confirmed at the very highest level. Thierry Henry, for example, is lucky to be able to count on Castello Lukeba and Loïc Badé, starting defenders at RB Leipzig and Sevilla FC. But also on Maghnes Akliouche (AS Monaco), Désiré Doué (Stade Rennais) and Michael Olise, recently transferred to Bayern Munich. The Spanish are also well-endowed with Fermin Lopez, a recent European champion with the senior team, Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia from Barça.