Thierry Henry’s France are targeting a place in the Olympic men’s football gold medal match as they face Egypt in the semi-finals on Monday, while Spain take on impressive Morocco.
France are dreaming of a second men’s football gold – 40 years after their first – on home soil and will be overwhelming favorites against the Egyptians in Lyon.
Henry’s side did not concede a goal on their way to the semi-finals, going through the group stage with three wins from three before beating two-time Olympic champions Argentina 1-0 on Friday.
That match in Bordeaux was marred by clashes between opponents and full-time staff, but before that Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the decisive goal early on.
Henry later compared his side to the famous French men’s handball team of the 1990s, which notably won an Olympic bronze medal and a world title and was nicknamed the “Nutters”.
“I call my players crazy, in a good way,” said Henry, France’s all-time great who won the World Cup and European Championship as a player.
“I had the opportunity to play in many competitions. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy what I was doing, but the Olympics are different.”
France have failed to secure the services of superstar striker Kylian Mbappe but have a strong side in the games where men’s football is reserved for under-23 players, with the exception of three senior players.
Every member of their starting line-up against Argentina, including captain Alexandre Lacazette and new Bayern Munich signing Michael Olis, played regularly in one of Europe’s big five leagues last season.
Henry has plenty of options and will need to find a replacement for Enzo Millot against Egypt after the Stuttgart midfielder was sent off late in the quarter-final.
Midfielder Manu Kone is also suspended as France bid to reach the final at the Parc des Princes in Paris next Friday.
Egypt are targeting a first Olympic football medal after surprisingly topping their group ahead of Spain before knocking out Paraguay in the round of 16.
Egypt is captained by former Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny, who is coached by Brazil’s Rogerio Micale – who led his native country to gold at Rio 2016.
The winner of the men’s football gold will travel outside Latin America for the first time since 2000, and there is the possibility of an all-North African final.
Morocco were outstanding in reaching the semi-finals, topping their group ahead of Argentina and beating the United States 4-0.
They can fancy their chances in Marseille against Spain, who are hoping to win football gold for a second time after their senior national team triumphed at Euro 2024, 32 years after winning the Barcelona Games.
Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez was Spain’s star player in a comfortable quarter-final win over Japan, with the midfielder, who has been part of the Euro campaign, scoring the brace.
Morocco have quality across Spain and they know Spain too – captain Achraf Hakimi and exciting winger Ilias Akhomach were born and raised there, while Abde Ezzalzouli moved to the country as a child and now plays in La Liga for Betis.
“We deserve to be in the semi-finals and if we keep playing like this we deserve to be in the final,” said Akhomach, the 20-year-old Villarreal star.
“France and Spain are better sounding names given what they’ve done before. Morocco haven’t won anything.” It is true that other countries can be talked about more than us, but we know what we want. We came here to win.”
