Football: the French stunned by Mexico at the Olympic Games
Mexican midfielder Erick Aguirre (left) wrestles with French striker Florian Thauvin during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Group A first round soccer match between Mexico and France at Tokyo Stadium, on July 22, 2021. AFP - FRANCK FIFE
Text by: David Kalfa Follow
3 min
The French Olympic football team was swept away 4-1 by that of Mexico in the first round of the Tokyo 2021 Games tournament on July 22.
Forward Florian Thauvin calls on the Bleuets to react in terms of state of mind before their second game, scheduled for July 25 against South Africa.
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From our special correspondent in Tokyo,
André-Pierre Gignac, leader, captain and scorer from the penalty spot, struggles to hide his rage after the sad performance of the French football team at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games on July 22.
The striker's anger contrasts however with the overwhelm of his partners, after the large 4-1 victory for Mexico (goals from Alexis Vega, Sebastian Cordova, Urial Entuna and Erick Aguirre) in Group A of the men's tournament.
Defender Pierre Kalulu, overwhelmed like his partners by more aggressive and more precise Mexicans, struggles to find an explanation. “
In the game we missed a lot of things, both technically and tactically. Fortunately, it happens in the first game, if we can say so,
”sighs the resident of AC Milan.
On the Mexican side, the experienced goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (36) is obviously delighted with the performance of his young partners.
But whoever played in the French Championship from 2011 to 2014 knows that the Bleuets were very far from the mark, at Tokyo Stadium.
“
I know the way France works with young people.
There are a lot of qualities there
, he says.
I know that the France team did not have all its workforce.
That, it must be said, even if it does not change anything
”.
"Kick us in the ass"
Florian Thauvin, one of the three French players over 24 present in Tokyo, does not hide behind this excuse of the many French players who had or wanted to ignore the Olympics. “
For me, we were especially overwhelmed physically, in the duels. Opposite, we saw a team that was ready, whose players know each other much better than us. Us, it's only our second game together. We do not know each other well
, loose the one who evolves in the Mexican championship, like André-Pierre Gignac.
We did not gain confidence tonight. At the same time, this defeat will allow us to kick ourselves in the ass and tell each other that we have to fight together and be irreproachable in terms of our state of mind
”.
Catch-up sessions scheduled for the French on July 25 against South Africa in Saitama then against Japan on July 28 in Yokohama.
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