Argentina ready for hostile reception vs. France
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Argentina are expecting to face a hostile atmosphere when they take the field to face hosts France in the quarterfinals of the men's Olympic soccer tournament in Bordeaux on Friday.
The context comes amid fallout from a video of Argentina players singing an offensive song about French players of African heritage as they celebrated their Copa América victory last month.
The same chants -- by some Argentinian fans -- emerged before Lionel Messi's Argentina team beat France in the World Cup final in 2022.
The French public has already used an Olympic venue to vent -- Argentina's men's rugby sevens players were raucously and constantly booed by a Stade de France crowd of 69,000 during a quarterfinal against the home team. That's extremely rare in rugby.
"We can expect a climate of hostility," Argentina goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli, a part of the 2022 World Cup-winning squad told reporters Thursday. "Nothing that doesn't happen in other situations but maybe it's more explicit against us.
"You go out on the field and they whistle our anthem, like they did against our rugby team. We know this isn't against us but about what happened in the World Cup and afterward. But either way, it will be a beautiful game to be in.
"It will be a special match because it is the first one after the World Cup final and all the circumstances of these last few months. And we are Argentina, winners of the World Cup and Copa América so everyone wants to beat us."
Gerónimo Rulli and Argentina are prepared to face a fired up crowd against France in Bordeaux. Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
In the fallout from last month's video, the French soccer federation filed a complaint with soccer's world governing body, which investigated, and it reached political levels. Argentine President Javier Milei and French President Emmanuel Macron met in Paris, where they appeared to put aside the controversy.
France's Olympic soccer coach Thierry Henry didn't want the fracas to take full focus during his pre-match news conference Thursday.
"I won't talk about that," said Henry, a member of France's 1998 World Cup-winning squad. "There's a desire to only talk about the match. It is important."
Argentina have already endured a rocky Olympics just to make it this far.
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Their opening game against Morocco ended with a pitch invasion and objects launched onto the field by Morocco fans, after Argentina scored what it thought was an equalizing goal 16 minutes into stoppage time. The goal was then ruled out nearly two hours later by VAR for an offside.
To add to Argentina's frustrations, the team's Olympic training base was targeted by thieves before the match.
Argentina coach Javier Mascherano insisted his team focus on the challenge of a France team that reached the quarterfinals with three wins and no goals conceded in Group A.
"My message to the players is that we are going to play against the host team and the fans are going to be in their favor. It also happened in our games with Morocco and Iraq. We have to focus on what we can control and what we can control is playing football. Can't waist energy on other things"
Though France appear to be the favorite, Henry said he was still wary of Argentina.
"Another competition is starting, everything changes. One mistake and you're on the way out," said Henry. Argentina is "a very good team: They have youth and experience in every department."
The winner meet either Egypt or Paraguay in the semifinals on Monday. The Olympic gold medal match is scheduled for Aug. 9 in Paris.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: espn.co.uk
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