France Olympic soccer team head coach Thierry Henry breathes a sigh of relief after the final.
France’s Olympic soccer team came from behind to defeat Egypt 3-1 in the quarterfinals after a hard-fought, one-man advantage in extra time at the Stade Grupama in Lyon, France, on Saturday (June 6).
It was France’s first Olympic final appearance in 40 years, since winning gold in Los Angeles in 1984.
France will face Spain in the final. It will take place on Tuesday at 1 a.m. at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
In their home Olympics, France kept four clean sheets in a row to reach the semifinals, including a win over Argentina in the quarterfinals.
Against Egypt in the quarterfinals, France conceded a goal in the 17th minute through Saber Mahmoud.
With the deficit deep, France managed to find an equalizer in the 38th minute of the second half. ‘Wildcard’ Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the game-tying goal.
No further goals were scored by either team in regulation time.
The match went into overtime.
Egypt was outnumbered. In the first two minutes of extra time, 토토사이트 추천 defender Fayed Omar was sent off for accumulating cautions.
France played one man up. In the ninth minute of the first overtime, Mateta scored the equalizer.
With the momentum in their favor, France sealed the game with a goal from Oliseh three minutes into the second half of extra time.
“The relief of securing a medal is honestly huge,” said Henri after the game, “but we know that the final against Spain is going to be really tough.”
France are determined to come out on top as it is their home Olympics.
Meanwhile, in the other quarterfinal, Spain defeated Morocco 2-1 to reach the final.
Spain will be returning to the top of the podium 32 years after the 1992 Barcelona Olympics on home soil.