Jean-Philippe Mateta and Michael Olise found the back of the net as France came from behind to defeat Egypt 3-1 after extra time in Monday night’s Paris 2024 Olympics semi-final, Afrosport reports.
The Pharaohs overcame Paraguay on penalties in the quarter-finals while Les Bleus got the better of tournament favourites Argentina.
The North African giants were seen as underdogs coming into this contest but they shocked the crowd in Lyon when Mahmoud Saber put them ahead in the 62nd minute.
Time as ticking for the French to find a response and it finally came through Crystal Palace star Mateta in the 83rd minute.
Thierry Henry’s men thought they had a penalty deep in added time which would have afforded them the opportunity to win the game, the referee however ruled against it after consulting with the pitch side video replay monitor.
Egypt were reduced to 10 men at the beginning of extra time after defender Omar Fayed was shown a second yellow card.
This helped France gain momentum and they got further goals courtesy of Mateta and his former Palace teammate Olise, now at Bayern Munich.
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Les Bleus triumph 3-1 against Egypt in the semis! The dream is still alive π₯π€©
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β French Team ββ (@FrenchTeam) August 5, 2024
Les Bleus will face Spain in the final on Friday for the gold medal while Egypt will battle it out with North African rivals Morocco for the bronze medal.
