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Paris Olympics 2024, Group Stages, 24/07/2024
The wait was finally over for the Thierry Henry and the France U23s. The preparation for the Paris Olympics had been far from smooth with the French Football Federation suffering numerous withdrawals in the months and weeks leading up to the opening night game against the USA. Henry’s call for the Marseille public to support the team had been received and there was a feverish atmosphere at the Stade Vélodrome. It was up to the USA to do their best to kill the noise in the stadium and that was exactly what they achieved in the first half.
Les Bleus struggled against a USA team that was happy to sit back and look to create danger on the counterattack. France looked limited in finding a way through the low block. A fluid midfield shape rotated without purpose never shifting the white shirts around, and could never create a passing angle into their veteran attacking partnership of Alexandre Lacazette and Jean-Philippe Mateta opting instead to shoot from distance in piques of frustration.
France slowly grew into the game as half-time approached, and the blue shirts were able to swarm the box and begin to put Patrick Schulte under pressure as they fired crosses into the box. However, it would be down the other end that the best chance of the half came. The US attacked with Brenden Aaronson on the left wing. The forward managed to shimmy into the box and force Guillaume Restes into an instinctive save.
Half time brought few changes. France lost some of the momentum that had been building and frustration slowly began to seep into the crowd. Les Bleus looked at their best when they could hit the USA in transition and did not have to rely too much on their capacity to build attacks against a rigid shape. And again it was the US who felt the most likely to open the scoring as a thunderous potshot from Đorđe Mihailović ricocheted kindly for France off the crossbar.
It would take a moment of individual brilliance for France to find the opener. And that is what the nation would end up relying on. Lacazette received the ball some distance from the box and became the latest Frenchman to try his luck. His shot was struck neatly and it swept past Schulte. A game that had fallen into a lull exploded into life as the US went down the other end as John Tolkin forced another brilliant save from Restes.
Olise had been quiet throughout the evening but he picked his time to announce his presence. The newly signed Bayern Munich picked up the ball near the edge of the box, turned and fired a curling effort home to double the score for the hosts. Henry made his substitutions with Arnaud Kalimuendo and Maghnes Akliouche coming on for Mateta and Enzo Millot. France looked a far more comfortable side with the two goal deficit to protect them.
France had looked far from a coherent side at times this evening, but what they had shown was an acute eye for goal. And their confidence certainly grew as they overcame a difficult US side. A third goal was the cherry on the cake for the hosts as a corner from Joris Chotard found Loïc Badé who powered a header into the back of the net. The USA will feel hard done on an evening where Henry’s side could rely heavily on their embarrassment of riches (even with a team that looks far removed from the coach’s original vision after all the withdrawals).
France Player Ratings
Guillaume Restes, 7
The goalkeeper was not called upon frequently throughout the opening fixture against the US. However, he was vital when needed. His reflex saves managed to stifle a dangerous-looking US side and eventually helped to create a comfortable night for the Olympic hosts.
Adrien Truffert, 5
Castello Lukeba, 6
Loïc Badé, 7
Kiliann Sildillia, 5
Michael Olise, 6
A big-money move to Bayern Munich was the reward for another brilliant season with Crystal Palace for Michael Olise. However, the winger struggled to emulate that form with the Olympic squad. He had a quiet evening for the most part but when it mattered he was able to make his mark on the game. A fantastic goal created simply from his own imagination helped secure this result.
Enzo Millot, 5
Joris Chotard, 6
Manu Koné, 5
Alexandre Lacazette, 6
Like Michael Olise, Alexandre Lacazette had a quiet evening that was largely spent complaining at the errant passes his teammates made towards him. However, like Olise, his quality was able to shine through and drag the France squad into the lead.
Jean-Philippe Mateta, 4
The Crystal Palace striker was living off scraps throughout the game. He struggled with an in-possession shape that rarely found a pass into his feet and it was hardly surprising that he could not provide a bigger impact on the match.
