Tensions boiled over when France and Argentina met for first time since racist chants

Lacazette wags a finger at Argentina’s players (Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

Back in Bordeaux, with an hour to go before kick-off, as children bounced around to music from a DJ (dropping Daft Punk tunes, obviously), friends played table football and families loitered with hot dogs and drinks, it did not have the feel of a match that had been billed the grudge clash of these Olympic Games.

Yet, thirty minutes later, Argentina’s players were roundly booed as they jogged onto the pitch at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux. It was a reminder of the extra needle that came with this fixture.

Nowhere was this more apparent than during the national anthems when Argentina’s was whistled and jeered. ‘La Marseillaise’ was given a rousing rendition.

Carrying that energy into the start of the game, France came flying out the traps and landed the first blow as Jean-Philippe Mateta — whose father was born in Democratic Republic of the Congo — flashed home a header from a Michael Olise corner.

“With what happened recently, all the French are touched by it,” Mateta had said before the game. The Crystal Palace striker seemed hellbent on taking the game by the scruff of the neck, with him and Olise at the heart of all France’s best play.

The 6ft 4in (193cm) striker gave off the air of a protective older brother sticking up for his younger (and smaller) siblings and made it clear he wasn’t taking any nonsense from Argentina’s defenders, puffing his chest out and jabbing his fingers in their direction during one altercation before half time. He continually turned to the French crowd and urged them to turn up the noise.

After that lively start, the game remained open and frantic but Argentina began to claw their way back into the contest yet squandered numerous chances. Giuliano Simeone’s header was the most glaring miss.

As the match ticked on in the second half, a Mexican wave around the crowd reminded us this was just football at the Olympic Games.

Police in the stands during Friday night’s game (Romain Perrocheau/AFP via Getty Images)

But it roared back to life when Olise thought he had sealed the victory with a late goal. This sparked crazy scenes in the stands and manager Henry on the pitch, only for VAR to intervene.

Then there were ten minutes of stoppage time — a thrilling finish that resembled playground football, as both sides continued to flood forward and create chances. To add to the drama, riot police descended and surrounded the tiny number of Argentina fans.

In the end, somehow, France held firm, with Loic Bade particularly heroic in defence.

Perhaps predictably, given what had come before, it ended in a large scuffle with Enzo Millot, who was substituted in the 95th minute, receiving a red card for seemingly winding up the Argentina bench. Millot’s red card followed 10 yellow cards being dished out by referee Ilgiz Tantashev, including one to Argentina coach Javier Mascherano. Players shoved each other after the final whistle as part of a huge scuffle between the two sides.

The scuffle at the end of the match (BBC)

“It was an important match because we felt insulted, all of France felt insulted, and we ended up as the winners of the game”, Bade said after the game. “It was nothing, we just celebrated and they didn’t like it.”

“Argentina wanted to kill the party, but they made the party even better,” Mateta added.

And so France march on at their home Olympics. But on this evidence, this rivalry is here to stay.

(Top photo: Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

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Publish date : 2024-08-02 22:59:00

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