France coach Henry criticises his players after win over Argentina ends in brawl

PARIS: France coach Thierry Henry called the behaviour of some of his players unacceptable after their 1-0 Olympic quarter-final victory over Argentina in Bordeaux ended in a brawl and a red card for midfielder Enzo Millot.

Hosts France knocked out Argentina on Friday to avenge the country’s defeat in the last World Cup final in a bitter rivalry recently fuelled by a video of Argentine players directing chants labelled as racist at French players.

But the triumph, courtesy of a fifth-minute goal by Jean-Philippe Mateta, was tarnished moments after the final whistle when French celebrations in front of Argentine players led to a brief brawl in which Millot was shown a red card.

“I do not agree with what happened at the end,” Henry told Argentine broadcaster TyC Sports. “One of my players got a red card and I don’t accept that, it shouldn’t happen. I went to shake [Argentine coach Javier] Mascherano’s hand and, when I turned around, it had happened.”

Henry said Millot, who had been substituted late on, was shown a red card after the final whistle.

“He wasn’t on the pitch. Maybe you get sent off because you get a second yellow card to stop someone running through on goal, not when you are on the bench. I am really not happy about that,” Henry told broadcaster France 3.

Aside from the trouble, Henry praised his Argentine counterpart Mascherano after a tight match in which the South Americans pushed for an equaliser but were ultimately held by the French backline.

“We tried to play between the lines but it was very tough,” the former France international said. “Argentina had possession and we played on the counter-attack. The goal came quickly, I don’t want to say that scared us but we had to wait more. That’s not so easy.”

Friday’s clash was the first meeting of the nations since Argentina players were recorded singing racist chants about their French counterparts as they celebrated winning the Copa America in mid-July.

FIFA announced it would investigate the chants, which targeted France’s star striker Kylian Mbappe among others and included racist and homophobic insults.

The Argentina team were met with a hostile welcome, where the crowd loudly jeered their national anthem as the sides met for the first time since the 2022 World Cup final, which the South Americans won on penalties.

Crystal Palace striker Mateta struck five minutes into the quarter-final, meeting Michael Olise’s corner with a superb near-post header.

Giuliano Simeone and Julian Alvarez missed chances for Javier Mascherano’s Argentina, and the exit of the two-time gold medallists means the winner of men’s football gold will not come from Latin America for the first time since Cameroon triumphed in Sydney in 2000.

France could have won by a wider margin, but Olise had a late second goal disallowed for a foul in the build-up.

France play Egypt on Monday for a place in the final in a bid to win their first Olympic footballgold medal in 40 years.

Earlier on Friday, Egypt claimed a dramatic win on penalties over Paraguay after a 1-1 draw in regular time in Marseille.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2024