05/08/2024 17:50hs. Updated on 05/08/2024 19:04hs.
France beat Egypt 3-1 after extra time in the semi-final of the Olympic Games. The gold medal will be decided against Spain next Friday at 13:00 at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
The key player in Thierry Henry’s side’s qualification was Argentina’s executioner in the quarter-finals, Jean-Philippe Mateta. The striker equalised in the 37th minute of the second half, finishing one-on-one after a great pass from Olise. At the start of extra time, the Crystal Palace striker scored the 2-1, with a header, shortly after Omar Fayed was sent off in Egypt for a naive protest.
With the advantage on the scoreboard and one more man, the game seemed decided and the feeling became a certainty when Olise, in the final stage of extra time, scored the 3-1.
Mateta is one of three players over 23 years old chosen by Henry for the competition. Before the match against Argentina, he had declared that the squad felt affected by the video broadcast by Enzo Fernández during the celebrations of the Copa América title by the team managed by Lionel Scaloni.
The celebration of Jean-Philippe Mateta (Reuters).
For France, this is their first Olympic final in 40 years, after winning the gold medal in 1984, after beating Brazil, with figures such as Guy Lacombe and Dominque Bijotat.
France, however, had a tough time in the first half. Egypt was clearly superior, had eight chances to score and Mahmoud Saber’s 1-0 seemed insufficient compared to the difference shown by the Africans.
A controversy
Towards the end of the second half, there was a very controversial play. The VAR called the Honduran referee Héctor Said Martínez for a possible penalty for France, for a handball by Fayed. The central referee, after watching the play on the monitor, decided not to sanction the foul because he considered that there had been a push by Loic Badé, the Frenchman from Sevilla who had provoked the Argentine fans in the quarter-finals.
From observing the play, it does not appear that the displacement was generated on the African player.
Look at the video
Olympic Games 2024 –
The handball that the referee went to review at the VAR
It was Fayed’s handball, but the referee called a foul on Badé (Reuters). The penalty claim. Mahmoud Saber celebrates the 1-0 (Reuters). Jean-Philippe Mateta celebrates the equaliser.
