Hosts France reach Olympic semi-finals after downing rivals Argentina
Despite a rich history of competitive encounters, the first-ever Olympic H2H between the two sides carried an extra layer of tension following recent controversies.
Jean-Philippe Mateta, however, quickly eased all nerves inside the Matmut Atlantique, treating the home crowd to a perfectly-placed header into the bottom corner following an inch-perfect corner delivery by Michael Olise within minutes of kick-off, as Thierry Henry’s men grabbed the lead through only their second first-half goal of the tournament.
Argentina looked increasingly exposed on the back foot, with Les Bleus paving way at every given opportunity, although the lack of clinical finishing proved a hard pill to swallow.
At the other end, teenage goalkeeper Guillaume Restes was untroubled for the first half-hour but had to be alert to tip over a vicious long-range effort from Ezequiel Fernández, before Giuliano Simeone somehow headed over unmarked from six yards from an improvised Cristian Medina cross to culminate a disappointing first period for the South Americans.
Javier Mascherano’s men were better for much of the half that ended with a coming-together between Gerónimo Rulli and Mateta. However, despite Argentina’s gradual ascendancy, the momentum clearly rested with the host nation going forward.
France not only had the home advantage working in their favour, but also carried an impressive form coming into the clash, having netted six times following the interval in their previous three games. Mateta failed to add to that tally though, missing an effort in the 69th minute from a similar turn of events that led to him breaking the deadlock.
France then thought they had doubled their lead via Olise in the final few minutes, but referee Ilgiz Tantashev turned spoilsport following a VAR review, penalising Maghnes Akliouche for a foul in the build-up play instead.
The disallowed goal didn’t matter at the end though, as France displayed defensive superiority and comfortably restricted Argentina to register a formidable fourth successive clean sheet victory.
Les Bleus’ ambition to become only the third host nation to win Olympic football gold since 1992 remains alive, but they will have to first better an unbeaten Egypt side in the process. Meanwhile, the Albiceleste continue their Olympic football woes since claiming gold 16 years ago in Beijing.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jean-Philippe Mateta (France)