Bitter soccer rivals France, Argentina meet in Olympic quarters amid racism spat

PARIS (AP) — A racism scandal has heightened tension for the Olympic quarterfinal confrontation between bitter football rivals France and Argentina at the Paris Games on Friday.

There’ll likely be booing at the venue in Bordeaux.

The fallout from a video of Argentina players singing an offensive song about French players of African heritage as they celebrated their Copa America victory last month has become political.

The derogatory chants singled out France players of African heritage, from several countries, and holding a French passport.

The same chants — by some Argentinian fans — emerged before Lionel Messi's Argentina team beat France in the World Cup final in 2022.

The French public has already used an Olympic venue to vent — Argentina’s men's rugby sevens players were raucously and constantly booed by a Stade de France crowd of 69,000 during a quarterfinal against the home team. That's extremely rare in rugby.

France's Olympic soccer coach Thierry Henry didn't want the fracas to take full focus during his pre-match news conference Thursday.

“I won’t talk about that,” said Henry, a member of France's 1998 World Cup-winning squad. “There’s a desire to only talk about the match. It is important.”

In the fallout from last month's video, the French soccer federation filed a complaint with soccer's world governing body, which investigated, and it reached political levels. Argentine President Javier Milei and French President Emmanuel Macron met in Paris, where they appeared to put aside the controversy.

The national anthems, shortly before 9 p.m. on Friday night, will offer an indication whether fans have done the same.

Recent indications suggest otherwise.

Soccer rivalry

The Olympic quarterfinal is a rematch French fans have been waiting for since Argentina’s dramatic penalty shootout win in the 2022 World Cup final.

Because it's primarily an Under-23 tournament, the superstars of that World Cup final — Messi and Kylian Mbappé — won’t be playing. Nor will Argentina’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who carried a doll with Mbappé’s face on it during an open top bus parade to celebrate the World Cup victory. That final in Qatar finished 3-3 after extra time with France rallying back with an Mbappé hat trick.

This time, France appears to be the favorite.

For Henry's squad it has been a smooth path to the last eight with three wins and no goals conceded in Group A.

Still, he's wary.

“Another competition is starting, everything changes. One mistake and you're on the way out,” said Henry, who is Black. Argentina is "a very good team: They have youth and experience in every department."

Things were relatively rocky at the Olympics for coach Javier Mascherano's Argentina in Group B.

Their opening game against Morocco ended with a pitch invasion and objects launched onto the field by Morocco fans, after Argentina scored what it though was an equalizing goal 16 minutes into stoppage time. Only to have it ruled out nearly two hours later by VAR for an offside. To add to Argentina's frustrations, the team’s Olympic training base was targeted by thieves before the match.

Goal threats

French veteran Alexandre Lacazette, who scored 19 league goals for Lyon last season, has formed a dangerous-looking attack with Jean-Philippe Mateta. They're well supported by Michael Olise, a recent signing by Bayern Munich.

Manchester City striker Julián Álvarez, who won the World Cup and the Copa America with Argentina, has started all three group games but is still looking for his first goal of the tournament.

The winner meets either Egypt or Paraguay in the semifinals on Monday. The Olympic gold medal match is scheduled for Aug. 9 in Paris. ___

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games