'Argentina are the reigning world champions and are a team who always get to the finals of tournaments,' said Mateta.
"Argentina are the reigning world champions and are a team who always get to the finals of tournaments," said Mateta.
France striker Jean-Philippe Mateta set the tone Tuesday ahead of a quarter-final clash with Argentina in the men’s Olympic football tournament by saying recent bad blood with the South Americans had left on its mark on the country.
That set up a last-eight tie against Argentina, who qualified for the knockout phase earlier Tuesday by beating Ukraine 2-0 in Lyon but missed out on first place in Group B as Morocco pipped them on head to head. The game will be the first meeting of the nations since the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar which Argentina won on penalties after a 3-3 draw, although Argentina’s Nicolas Otamendi and Julian Alvarez are the only players to feature in that match who are involved at the Olympics.
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