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The 2024 Paris Olympics also confirmed something: at least in football – and perhaps this extends to other sports as well – the duel between Argentina and France can now be classified as an international classic. After the most epic final in the history of the World Cup in Qatar, anger, rage and rivalry created the conditions. Everything that happened afterwards reinforced it. Yesterday in Bordeaux, a large number of blue, white and red fans felt the intensity of this new rivalry. This time the result was France. Thierry Henry’s team defeated Javier Mascherano’s team 1-0 and entered the semi-finals.
Striker Jean-Philippe Mateta headed in the first goal after just five minutes, sealing the final duel in the Olympic quarter-final, which ended in shoving, insults and fights between players, assistant coaches and fans: it could be said that this was far from the imagined Olympic spirit.
The fans did not help to reduce the pressure either. The Bordeaux stadium was packed with 42,000 spectators, who hurled insults at the Albiceleste from the moment they took to the pitch to warm up, before heating up the atmosphere further by blasting the Argentine national anthem.
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Whistles. This has happened in previous matches and was probably prompted by racist and homophobic chants directed at Mbappe and his French counterparts by players as the United States celebrated its recent Copa America title.
And, of course, there was the blow inflicted in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, where Messi and Co. beat Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, all absent from Bordeaux yesterday.
After taking full points in Group A, the French team, led by “Titi” Henry, felt at one with their compatriots in the stands from the start of the match: an atmosphere of hostility and something that did not match the French composure.
Captain Alexandre Lacazette, Matata and winger Michael Olise drove Mascherano’s defence crazy, invading the opposition defence multiple times, sometimes from above and sometimes from below.
Mascherano’s team, which finished second in Group B, already showed flaws in football, and they equalized thanks to a shot by Ezequiel Fernandez (29) and a very clear shot by Giuliano Simeone (36), but goalkeeper Guillaume Restes or a poor shot.
“I leave with sadness, obviously I think we deserved more than what we got, well, nothing, football has these things. Unfortunately today the ball didn’t want to go in and we have to leave,” Mascherano announced later in the mixed zone.
During the match, the atmosphere in Bordeaux was calm, with few Argentine fans present, expecting to claim their third gold medal (Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, with Mashche present), but as the minutes wore on, the pressure grew until the end, when, after struggles and shoving on the court, the French player celebrated with the elbow of Celeste in white, another example of a rivalry that could continue to intensify with the repetition of duels between the two equipments.
Now, France is on its way to a second gold medal, following its first in Los Angeles in 1984.
Milo’s “inciting hatred” gesture
Frenchman Enzo Milo made an obscene gesture towards the bench as he celebrated Argentina’s 1-0 win in the Olympic quarter-finals.
After the match, the attacker stood in front of his Argentina teammates with a smile on his face and made some gestures that caused discomfort to the Argentine team, who gathered to rebuke the Frenchman’s actions, but others stepped in to prevent the confrontation from escalating.
Nicolas Otamendi, Leandro Bray and Lucas Beltran were the three Argentines who led the counterattack against Milo and clashed with the French team, with both teams almost involved in the fight.
Goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli, on the other hand, got into an argument with left-back Kylian Cirdilia after a challenge at half-time as France were already winning 1-0 in Bordeaux.
The moment did not go unnoticed by Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev, because as the Argentine walked through the tunnel towards the dressing room after the match and the locals returned to celebrate with the fans, he ejected Milot for making a gesture that “they are inciting hatred”, meaning they will miss the semi-final against Egypt.
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