France demolished the United States in the middle. How the veteran star lit up!
Alexander Mulyanov July 25, 2024, 00:37 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Lacazette has a goal plus an assist. Henri’s team is now almost certain to come out on top.
The heated first round of the Olympic Games, which was punctuated by a joyful referee decision in the match between Argentina and Morocco, ended with a clash between France and the United States. The match can be considered a clash between two favourites in the group: the other two rivals are Guinea and New Zealand.
The hosts have a strong core of world-class talent and some experience: Michael Olise, Manu Kone, Lacazette. The Americans have seven MLS representatives at the same time.
The match started with a small initiative from the United States: the French watched intently for the first five minutes and gave the ball away. But after that everything fell into place: the United States looked to counterattack vertically and quickly, France looked to roll and dominate.
By far the most scandalous match of the day:
But aspirations remained aspirations: the first 10 minutes of the “spectacle” of the match resembled Southgate’s peak England, nothing more. Here, in the 11th minute, the first corner came, a little later a moth flew into the camera – the whole review of the first quarter of the match. And France did not really capture the space, and the United States did not carry out good counterattacks. The general outlines of the US plan became visible in the 21st minute: the opponents lost the ball and tried to press, but the team quickly brought the ball to the left flank, and then found a vertical continuation along the tape. In an instant, all the pressure disappeared and the Americans were able to move the ball to the right and then bring the attack to a strike.
France, meanwhile, tested the team and reached a peak in the first half, gradually taking more and more of the ball and pushing the defence into the area. Creativity was lacking: one of the main stars, the playmaker Michael Olise, seemed to disappear from the radar and played alone. His role was partially taken over by the point guard Kone: in the first half he made three shots from distance and sharpened the game with vertical passes.
But this was obviously not enough for victory. France went into the break with a three-shot lead, but none of them were really dangerous.
French and American players fighting for the ball
Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
The match was very reminiscent of a series of boring matches from the last European Championship, but the second half changed the situation a lot. Firstly, Lacazette came to life: he began not just to play in the post, but to immerse himself more actively in the game and open up deep. Secondly, Olise suddenly came to life. Thirdly, France began to press more often and even ran towards the goalkeeper at the end of the match.
The United States continued to attack, with Djordje Mihailovic even hitting the crossbar. But in the 61st minute, it was the French who deservedly took the lead. Taking advantage of the gap in the centre, Lacazette made a deep run, received the pass and, after walking slightly with the ball and lifting his foot to shoot, fired low into the far corner.
Lacazette after the goal
Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
One more shadow hero should be noted in this part of the match. Guillaume Rest, the youngest player in the starting line-ups of both teams, put out the fire in the eyes of the Americans in time: he reflected two shots from close range in the 61st and 63rd minutes of the match. The Americans immediately tried to come back and cross, but all the headers were saved by the 19-year-old goalkeeper. The boy is considered one of the main talents of the French championship.
The American attacks died down, and already in the 69th minute Michael Olise scored a similar goal: from about the same distance as Lacazette, he shot into the same far corner. And in the 85th minute Luak Bade brought the score to a head, finishing off a corner kick. In the 25th minute of the first half, he was unable to get his foot in the door, and in the second half he calmly finished off his opponent. Football is a game of contrasts.
Uzbekistan also played today:
CSKA star had a sad start to the Olympics. Faizullaev “scored” a penalty and Uzbekistan lost
Guillaume Rest still missed his goal eight minutes into added time, but only because he was offside. The referee disallowed the goal, France nullified all of the Americans’ attempts at attack. 3:0: class victory and a serious bid to move out of first place.
