Tag Archives: Olympics 2024

Ugly scenes as France and Argentina players exchange blows after at 2024 Olympics

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Ugly scenes marred France and Argentina’s 2024 Olympics quarter-final match in Bordeaux on Friday night as players clashed on the pitch and in the tunnel at full-time.

Jean-Philippe Mateta’s early strike was enough to send Thierry Henry’s side into the semi-finals at the Matmut Atlantique before tensions flared after the full-time whistle.

It promised to be a spiky affair in the wake of Argentina’s players being filmed singing a racist and discriminatory chant about their French counterparts after winning the Copa America earlier this summer.

That incident intensified a rivalry already ignited by Argentina’s dramatic triumph in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, from which the vile chant surfaced.

The Argentinian national anthem was booed before kick-off, setting the tone for the grudge match that was about to take place in Bordeaux.

The quarter-final clash didn’t disappoint as both teams – brimming with talent – battled for the chance to at least compete for a medal.

Mateta was the difference, reconnecting a familiar link-up with Michael Olise as he headed home from his former Crystal Palace team-mate’s fifth-minute corner.

Olise thought he had doubled France’s lead in the 84th minute before VAR intervened by controversially adjudging Maghnes Akliouche to have committed a foul in the build-up.

Javier Mascherano’s side were left ruing two gilt-edged chances as the full-time whistle blew, setting up a semi-final meeting between the hosts and Egypt.

Following almost 12 minutes of stoppage time, France didn’t have a chance to celebrate their triumph before a scrap broke out on the pitch.

Henry looked visibly annoyed as players piled into each other, aggressively pushing and shoving while others attempted to restore order.

The wild scenes looked to continue down the tunnel before, shortly after, France’s players re-emerged onto the pitch to savour their hard-fought victory with their fans.

Later, Henry confirmed that, amongst the chaos, Enzo Millot, who started in midfield against Argentina, received a red card for his actions.

France’s opponents, Egypt, edged into the semi-finals by beating Paraguay 5-4 on penalties, while Morocco and Spain are set to clash in the other match.

Morocco romped to a 4-0 victory against the USA to start Friday’s action before Spain thumped Japan 3-0, and Egypt and France rounded out the final four.

Les Bleus are the strong favourites to reach the gold medal match, while Spain are slightly favoured to triumph over Morocco to set up a mouth-watering European showdown.

Brazil legend ‘robbed in Paris’ days after Argentina coach Mascherano complained his team were robbed

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Brazil football icon Zico was targeted during a distraction theft in France ahead of the Paris Olympics grand opening after his briefcase containing a reported £420,000 worth of jewels and bank notes was stolen, according to reports.

France is set to officially mark the opening of the Games on Friday evening and are already having their security status tested after Zico had his luxury goods taken while traveling in a taxi.

The 71-year-old had travelled to France to watch the Olympics get underway and is now the alleged victim of a frightening ordeal that has seen him suffer a huge financial loss.

Zico left his hotel in Paris and was traveling with a briefcase containing a diamond necklace, cash and a high-end luxury Rolex watch, as reported by Le Parisien.

It was during the taxi journey that it is reported his vehicle was approached by one individual tasked with distracting the driver while another approached the rear of the car.

Zico’s briefcase was then snatched and the pair quickly made off as the Brazilian lost his chest of valuables during an orchestrated operation carried out in the Olympics host city.

Police have now began an investigation into the incident and France’s Brigade for the Repression of Banditry is expected to be in charge of finding the perpetrators.

Zico is in Paris as part of Brazil’s Olympics delegation that has seen a host of athletes make the trip from the South American nation and hope to lift titles in football and other events.

Other similar incidents are also reported to have taken place at the Games with Argentina head coach Javier Mascherano complaining that his team’s Olympic training base was robbed before their game against Morocco.

“They went into training and they robbed us, in the Olympic Games,” Mascherano said after his team’s chaotic 2-1 defeat.

Chaos as Argentina booed, missiles thrown over Enzo Fernandez racist chants during Olympic match vs Morocco

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Massive chaos engulfed the Olympics on Wednesday as the anger from Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez engaging in a racist singalong with the Argentinian national team spilled into the Games in France, with missiles forcing their game with Morocco to be suspended.

Argentina were booed by fans at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in St-Etienne but the situation worsened when they equalised 16 minutes into stoppage time. Firecrackers, flares and bottles were thrown as Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg told the players to leave the pitch.

More than an hour later, it emerged that VAR had disallowed the goal from Cristian Medina as the teams returned to the field in front of an empty stadium to finish the game. Behind closed doors, they played the final three minutes as Morocco’s 2-1 win was confirmed. There were more than four hours between the start of the match and the final whistle.

The chaotic scenes coincided with Chelsea’s new head coach Enzo Maresca using his first press conference in the United States to play down talk of Fernandez’s footage disrupting their pre-season preparations, claiming they will encounter no issues when he returns.

Argentina’s national anthem was booed pre-match, with the South Americans then going 2-0 down against a well-backed Moroccan team in Saint-Etienne.

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A goal from Giuliano Simeone and a stoppage time effort from Cristian Medina saw Argentina fight back to level the match.

Medina’s last minute goal was followed by a pitch invasion from some Moroccan fans, while flares appeared to have been thrown at Argentina’s players forcing a delay to the match.

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The full-time whistle had not officially been blown in the match, with the score level at 2-2 after Argentina’s equaliser.

Spanish outlet Marca reported that Argentina’s players had been seen flinching after ‘noise bombs’ were allegedly thrown at them in the closing stages.

Players were taken off by the referee for their own safety at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium following the crowd reaction to Argentina’s equalising goal.

A message has been displayed at the stadium, reading ‘your session has been suspended, please leave the stadium’.

Players are now set to complete the final six minutes of stoppage time behind closed doors with fans having since left the venue.

Argentina’s national anthem had been booed ahead of the match amid a racism storm involving Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez.

The South American nation kickstarted their campaign against Morocco, and the players lined up for the customary anthems before kick-off.

As the Argentina anthem played around the venue in Saint Etienne, it was met with widespread boos from the crowd.

And just over an hour after kick-off in the football, Argentina’s rugby sevens side were loudly booed ahead of their clash against Kenya.

The boos drowning out the anthem came just over a week after Chelsea footballer Fernandez filmed himself and his Argentina team-mates singing a chant directed at France’s black players following their Copa America triumph.

The song, which also singles out Kylian Mbappe, was condemned by the French Football Federation who filed a complaint to FIFA.

Photo Credit: Olympics/ x