France 1 Argentina 0
Following their Olympic football quarterfinal match, players from France and Argentina engaged in a series of on-field altercations before sprinting through the tunnel to continue their feud. This was just one example of the growing rivalry between the two teams.
After France won 1-0, teams and staff from both nations fought for several minutes before police intervened to calm tensions amongst supporters. For his involvement in the altercation, France’s Enzo Millot was given a red card following the game, and when the jumbled video evidence is examined, more sanctions might be imposed.
It was almost the ideal evening for France. In response to the racism that surfaced following the Copa America, a player with a Congolese father scored a goal in the victory that eliminated their opponents. Even though Jean-Philippe Mateta was leading Michael Olise, their victory will be overshadowed by what transpired after the final whistle.
Mateta believed that “Argentina wanted to kill the party, but they made the party even better.” However, Millot was sent off at the end of the game because it seemed like he had provoked the Argentina bench. Though they were by no means innocents, the French players later accused the Argentinians of being overly chatty during the match. At one point, Loïc Bade stood over a prone Lucas Beltrán, pointing out the limit of acceptable aggression.
“We felt insulted, all of France felt insulted, and we won the game,” stated Bade. “That was an important match.” “They insulted me throughout the game. They were gesturing, so I’m not sure what they were saying in Spanish.”
Although Thierry Henry, the manager of France’s Olympic team, was known for being as cool under pressure as any diplomat in the world, he did not stand up for Millot. Exasperated, the coach said he could understand players losing their cool during a game, but he wouldn’t want to incite opponents after it was over. He was also dissatisfied with his team’s recklessness in attacking with a one-goal lead in the closing minutes rather than playing keep-ball. “You need to end the game,” he declared. “Our goal is not to have fun here.”
A power trio of jeers, boos, and whistles provided the night’s soundtrack of anger, and Bordeaux saw little of that. Although it didn’t feel particularly Olympic, France, who angrily welcomed the Argentine warm-ups and national anthem, found it to be cathartic. The names of Nicolás Otamendi and Julián Alvarez, who were on Javier Mascherano’s squad and had also participated in the Copa América, drew extra applause during the team announcements.
This rivalry began as a basic game of football rivalry. In the 2018 World Cup, France defeated Argentina in a match that featured Benjamin Pavard’s outside-boot heatseeker. In the wild dream 2022 championship game, Argentina got their comeuppance. At the time, their supporters would sing depraved songs about France, and the players would join in after winning the Copa América the previous month.
This has grown into a minor international crisis that has overshadowed the first meeting between Emmanuel Macron and President Javier Milei of Argentina two weeks ago. Nothing was done to defuse the situation by Milei’s vice president Victoria Villarruel, who declared, “No colonialist country is going to intimidate us for a field song or for telling the truths that they do not want to admit.” “Hypocrites, stop acting like indignation.”
Thus, the meetings between these countries at the Olympics thus far have been tense due to the clearly unresolved issue. During Argentina’s rugby sevens quarterfinal loss to France at Stade de France last week, they were jeered, and they were treated similarly here in Bordeaux.
There were moments when it seemed as though Argentina had been told to play by the rules and let the hosts win. Not more so than in the midst of ten minutes of injury time, when Luciano Gondou leaned back and horribly missed an opportunity to equalize. Mateta appeared to have sealed the victory with a second, but it was disallowed following a protracted VAR delay, adding to the suffering and agitation.
