France and Argentina players in angry confrontation after Olympic football quarter-final
The hosts edged out the South Americans 1-0 to reach the Olympic semi-finals
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Your support makes all the difference.France and Argentina players and staff clashed on the pitch at full-time as the hosts edged a bad-tempered match 1-0 in Bordeaux to reach the Olympic semi-finals.
Tempers flared after the final whistle as substitutes and coaching staff spilled on to the pitch amid ugly confrontations.
Jean-Philippe Mateta’s fifth-minute header settled the contest to set up a last-four meeting with Egypt, while France’s Enzo Millot was shown a red card after the final whistle.
The scenes come after Argentina players were filmed singing a derogatory chant about the origins of France’s black players in the wake of their Copa America triumph last month.
And tensions were running high from the start in Bordeaux, with the home fans loudly booing Argentina’s national anthem before kick-off.
Earlier on Friday, Egypt claimed a dramatic win on penalties over Paraguay after a 1-1 draw in regular time in Marseille.
Morocco outclassed the United States at Parc des Princes with an emphatic 4-0 win, including two penalties and a strike from Paris St Germain’s Achraf Hakimi, to reach their first Olympic semi-finals.
Spain beat Japan 3-0 courtesy of a Fermin Lopez double and Abel Ruiz’s late effort.
Barcelona midfielder Lopez scored superb goals in the 11th and 73rd minutes, and Ruiz struck late to secure the win for La Roja who beat Japan three years ago in the Tokyo Olympics semi-finals.
Mateta opened the scoring for France after five minutes with a towering header in the six-yard box following a corner.
Argentina pushed for an equaliser, but a glaring miss by Giuliano Simeone and poor finishing denied them.
At Marseille Stadium, Paraguay went close to progress to the semi-finals for the first time since their bronze-medal run at the 2004 Games in Athens.
But Diego Gomez’s 71st-minute strike from a fine Julio Enciso through ball was cancelled out two minutes from time by Ibrahim Adel’s close-range header.
The game was still deadlocked after extra time and Paraguay’s second attempt in the penalty shootout by Marcelo Perez was saved by Hamza Alaa and the Africans converted all their spot-kicks to advance.
Agencies