France set up Argentina showdown in men's Olympic football
The Peninsula
Paris: Franceset up a potentially explosive quarter final showdown with Argentina in the men s Olympic football tournament after beating New Zealand 3...
Paris: France set up a potentially explosive quarter-final showdown with Argentina in the men's Olympic football tournament after beating New Zealand 3-0 in their final group game on Tuesday.
Argentina had sealed their last-eight spot earlier in the day and France joined them in the knockout phase with Jean-Philippe Mateta, Desire Doue and Arnaud Kalimuendo scoring for the hosts against New Zealand in Marseille.
France finish on top of Group A with three wins out of three and no goals conceded, with the United States going through as runners-up after seeing off Guinea 3-0, Kevin Paredes scoring twice.
That means Thierry Henry's French side will take on Argentina in Bordeaux on Friday after the South Americans, two-time gold medallists, went through in second place in Group B thanks to a 2-0 win over Ukraine in Lyon.
Thiago Almada's superb strike gave Argentina the lead just after half-time and substitute Claudio Echeverri sealed their victory late on.