“Given what’s been said in the past few weeks, our victory is on the field and off it” - Alexandre Lacazette on beating Argentina in Olympics

France U23 captain Alexandre Lacazette has spoken about beating Argentina U23 in the quarter-finals of the ongoing Olympics in Paris on August 2. The clash notably had a rather fiery end, with both sides engaging in a mass brawl, as tensions boiled over.

After the game had ended, French midfielder Enzo Millot wound off the Argentine bench by celebrating in front of them. While he received a red card for his troubles, it led to a scuffle that took some time to eventually subside.

However, France captain Alexandre Lacazette was pleased that they beat La Albiceleste in their Olympics clash. He said after the game (via The Score):

"A great rivalry has been created between two great soccer nations. But given what's been said in the past few weeks, our victory is there, on the field and off it. We had in mind what was said (in the video). We had to stay focused on the Olympic Games, but maybe it did give us a little bit of extra motivation for us — and for France."

The video Lacazette referred to was a clip from Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez on Instagram live. The clip saw the midfielder and his teammates engaged in alleged racist chants after they won Copa America 2024 in the USA last month. These chants make a mockery of the African heritage and ancestry of a number of players in the France national team.

It has led to strong reactions from numerous quarters, with a number of Enzo Fernandez's French teammates at Chelsea choosing to unfollow him on social media. About the video in particular, Alexandre Lacazette said after the Olympics game:

"It's a pity that such things are said in 2024. But we have faith in FIFA."

This is in reference to the French Football Federation filing an official complaint to FIFA concerning the video.

---

Argentina Under-23 boss speaks after Argentina lose to France in Olympics quarter-final

Argentina Under-23 manager Javier Mascherano has spoken out after he led the Albiceleste to a quarter-final defeat to France in the 2024 Olympics. The defender-turned-coach rued his side's inability to find the net, as they lost 1-0. He said to reporters after the game (via Daily Post):

"The match was practically all us. The only thing we missed was a goal. Football has these things. Sometimes you do everything you can to win it and we did well not to lose it, but we came up empty-handed.

“It’s difficult to understand a game like today’s, where we had little or nothing to show for it and we had a few chances to tie it. It hurts a lot because we had the illusion that this team could go far.”

With the Argentina squad now out of the Olympics, France have found a berth in the semi-final, where they will face Egypt. Les Bleus were the more clinical side, as an early goal from Jean-Philippe Mateta (5') was enough to seal the deal.