At the head of the French team for the Olympic Games football tournament, Thierry Henry set up a three-week preparation course before the first match against the United States, on July 24 at the Vélodrome.
Thierry Henry leaves nothing to chance. The French U23 team will benefit from three long weeks of preparation before its first match in the men’s football tournament of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, on July 24 at the Stade Vélodrome, against the United States. The Espoirs coach will reunite with his players on Monday July 1 (perhaps at Clairefontaine), after a month of summer vacation (except for those who are playing the final of the Champions League or even Euro 2024 with the A).
As the FFF indicated on Thursday, the French Olympic team will play three preparation matches, against opponents who have not yet been defined. The Bleuets’ first outing will be on Thursday July 4 in Bayonne, at the Jean-Dauger stadium (14,370 seats). Football fans in this land of rugby (and vacationers) will be delighted.
The base camp in Aix
Then head for Aix-en-Provence and the probable base camp of the French during the group stage. After a second meeting in Nice (against the future winner of the Africa-Asia play-off), the third match against New Zealand is also scheduled in Marseille. The players of the 98 world champion will play their two other friendly matches in Toulon, on July 11 and 17, at the Mayol stadium (17,500 seats).
The group of 23 during the March international window brought together for the first time the current Espoirs, notably Guillaume Restes, Castello Lukeba, Malo Gusto, Elye Wahi and Bradley Barcola (but not Rayan Cherki and Mathys Tel), and “the 2001s” Lucas Chevalier, Adrien Truffert, Manu Koné and Khephren Thuram, too old for the qualifiers for the next Euro U23 but eligible for the Games. As a reminder, Henry will be able to call up to three players over the age of 23. And he intends to take advantage of this to strengthen himself with players of great experience.
