A 3-0 victory to start a major competition, at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille. This is the result of the French Olympic team, Wednesday evening, against the United States, to launch its tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Thierry Henry, the Espoirs coach, still has in mind the 3-0 inflicted on South Africa on June 12, 1998 for France’s debut at “its” World Cup. A starter, the young striker scored his team’s third goal in added time after provoking the second (an own goal from Pierre Issa). “Titi” himself draws a parallel between his players’ match and 98.
“The match was very similar to the South Africa match, because the first 20 minutes, with the fear, the stress and the emotions… I can understand it. It happened to me too.”launched the 46-year-old coach. Before continuing his analysis of a very dull first period: “We played against an American team that remembered what we did in a friendly match. They never came to press, they stayed low. We had trouble understanding that we had to commit the guys who stayed where they stayed. It’s always easier to play between the lines than when someone is waiting for you. They’re a very good team. I told you in the press conference: it’s difficult to play against this team.”.
Thierry Henry thanks the Vélodrome
The French team finally broke the deadlock after an hour of play thanks to two perfect strikes from the outside, from captain Alexandre Lacazette (61st) and attacking star Michael Olise (69th). It was central defender Loïc Badé, the third player over 23 (with “Laca” and Jean-Philippe Mateta), who wrapped up the scoring at the end of the match (85th).
Thierry Henry thanked the Marseille public: “I also have a word to say about the crowd, because, at a certain point, it’s a game of chess. It’s not easy to watch a match when a team plays a low block and doesn’t come to press you, when you try to open them up without you also going, since it can start on the counterattack. It wasn’t easy. The crowd knew how to be patient and above all encourage us. That really makes the difference. Afterwards, unlike previous matches, we didn’t create a lot of chances, but we scored.”We will have to create as many opportunities and score as many goals against Guinea on Saturday evening in Nice.
