France coach Thierry Henry called the behavior of some of his players unacceptable after their 1-0 Olympic soccer quarter-final victory over Argentina in Bordeaux ended in a brawl and a red card for midfielder Enzo Millot.
Hosts France knocked out Argentina on Friday to avenge the country’s defeat in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final in a bitter rivalry recently fueled by a video of Argentine players directing chants labeled as racist at French players.
However, the triumph, courtesy of a fifth-minute goal by Jean-Philippe Mateta, was tarnished moments after the final whistle when French celebrations in front of Argentine players led to a brief brawl in which Millot was shown a red card.
Photo: AFP
“I do not agree with what happened at the end,” Henry told Argentine broadcaster TyC Sports. “One of my players got a red card and I don’t accept that, it shouldn’t happen. I went to shake [Argentine coach Javier] Mascherano’s hand and, when I turned around, it had happened.”
Aside from the trouble, Henry praised his Argentine counterpart Mascherano after a tight match in which the South Americans pushed for an equalizer, but were ultimately held by the French back line.
“We tried to play between the lines but it was very tough,” the former France international said. “Argentina had possession and we played on the counter-attack. The goal came quickly, I don’t want to say that scared us, but we had to wait more. That’s not so easy.”
France are to play against Egypt tomorrow for a place in the final in a bid to win their first Olympic soccer gold medal in 40 years.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
Italy crashed to a 3-0 loss away to Norway, as the four-time FIFA World Cup champions made a disastrous start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday, while Belgium had to settle for a draw in North Macedonia. Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland all scored in the first half in pouring rain in Oslo as Norway made it a night to forget for Italy, who missed out on the past two World Cups. “I have no explanation. Our supporters don’t deserve this kind of match. We need to do some soul-searching. It’s unacceptable,” Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
RSS