Paris Olympics: Lacazette inspires the Bleuets

In difficulty against the United States, the French Espoirs team relied on its captain Alexandre Lacazette to ensure victory (3-0).

28 years later, the French team has won an Olympic football tournament. After a long period of uncertainty, the Bleuets finally responded to this major global event. But it was not an easy task, even if the final score (3-0) hardly suggests it.

The Blueberries were non-existent for an hour

Against the United States, Thierry Henry’s men suffered for over an hour before finally being able to breathe. Not very exciting in the game, they were put to the test at the back. There would have been nothing illogical if the Americans had opened the scoring in this game. Aaronson (39e) and Mihailovic (59e) were all close to scoring in favor of their team. The crossbar was notably a savior for the Bleuets.

The United States therefore let their chance slip away. The French, for their part, had maximum success. Without any clear opportunity created in the first period, except for an unconvincing strike from Mateta (46e), they opened the scoring with their first real attempt. It was scored by their providential man, Alexandre Lacazette. The “general” relieved the entire Vélodrome with a cross shot from outside the area (61e). It took some inspiration from the captain to allow the locals to get out of the trap.

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Lacazette in all the good moves

At 1-0, everything became easier for the Tricolores. And the break followed quite quickly. At the 69eand following another good piece of work from Lacazette, Michael Olise managed to open up the path to goal and arm himself in turn. The strike from the future Bavarian was not very powerful, but it was precise enough to trap the last American bulwark. In eight minutes, France went from fear of fiasco to relief and a feeling of duty accomplished. And at the end of the match, they even allowed themselves the luxury of making the score worse through Loic Badé, who scored with a header after a corner (85e).

With this victory, even if it is lucky, France puts itself in the best position to ensure qualification for the quarter-finals. A second success, against Guinea or New Zealand, and the ticket for the quarter-finals would be in the pocket.