France coach Thierry Henry called the behaviour of some of his players unacceptable after their 1-0 Olympic quarterfinal victory over Argentina in Bordeaux ended in a brawl and a red card for midfielder Enzo Millot.
Host France knocked out Argentina on Friday to avenge the country’s defeat in the last World Cup final in a bitter rivalry recently fuelled by a video of Argentine players directing chants labelled as racist at French players.
But 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.
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“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 equaliser but were ultimately held by the French backline.
“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 plays Egypt on Monday for a place in the final in a bid to win its first Olympic football gold medal in 40 years.
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