France’s grudge match with Argentina ended in ugly scenes after Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the only goal to put the hosts into the Olympic semi-finals on Friday with a 1-0 win, joining Spain, Morocco and Egypt.

Tensions spilled over at full-time in Bordeaux with rival players and staff clashing on the pitch and confrontations continuing down the tunnel.

Crystal Palace striker Mateta struck five minutes into the  quarter-final, meeting Michael Olise’s corner with a superb near-post header.

That proved enough for the hosts, coached by Thierry Henry, to reach the last four, where they face Egypt.

Friday’s clash was the first meeting of the nations since Argentina players were recorded singing racist chants about their French counterparts as they celebrated winning the Copa America in mid-July.

FIFA announced it would investigate the chants, which targeted France’s star striker Kylian Mbappe among others and included racist and homophobic insults.

The Argentina team were met with a hostile welcome, where the crowd loudly jeered their national anthem as the sides met for the first time since the 2022 World Cup final, which the South Americans won on penalties.

Henry said midfielder Enzo Millot, who had been substituted late on, was shown a red card after the final whistle.

“He wasn’t on the pitch. Maybe you get sent off because you get a second yellow card to stop someone running through on goal, not when you are on the bench. I am really not happy about that,” Henry told broadcaster France 3.

Giuliano Simeone and Julian Alvarez missed chances for Javier Mascherano’s Argentina, and the exit of the two-time gold medallists means the winner of men’s football gold will not come from Latin America for the first time since Cameroon triumphed in Sydney in 2000.

France could have won by a wider margin, but Olise had a late second goal disallowed for a foul in the build-up.

– Spain and Morocco march on –

They will now be heavy favourites to win a semi-final in Lyon on Monday against Egypt, who beat Paraguay 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Marseille.

Ibrahim Adel was Egypt’s hero, scoring a late equaliser in normal time and then converting the winning penalty in the shoot-out, in which Paraguay’s Marcelo Perez was the only player to fail to score.

Earlier a brilliant brace by Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez helped fire Spain to a 3-0 win over Japan in Lyon.

Lopez, a member of Spain’s triumphant Euro 2024 squad, blasted in the opener from range in the 11th minute.

The Barcelona midfielder struck again on 73 minutes with another goal of the highest quality as he controlled a Sergio Gomez corner before volleying in from the edge of the box.

Captain Abel Ruiz wrapped up the win for Spain, Olympic champions in 1992 and silver medallists three years ago in Tokyo.

Spain go through to a last-four clash in Marseille with Morocco, who outclassed the United States, winning 4-0 in Paris.

Soufiane Rahimi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after he was fouled in the box just before the half-hour mark.

That was a fifth goal in four games for the tournament’s top scorer.

Morocco doubled their lead on 63 minutes when Abde Ezzalzouli set up Ilias Akhomach to finish at the near post.

Captain Achraf Hakimi, playing on his Paris Saint-Germain home ground, ran through to make it 3-0 and substitute Mehdi Maouhoub added another penalty in stoppage time.

“If we keep playing like this we will deserve to be in the final,” said Akhomach.

“Other countries might be talked about more than us but we know what we want. We came here to win.”

Nigeria’s Chukwuebuka Enekwechi has made it to the final of the men’s shot put event at the 2024 Olympic Games, DAILY POST reports.

Enekwechi advanced into Saturday’s final, placing fifth overall in qualification Group B.

The 31-year-old threw a distance of 21.13m to earn himself a place in the final.

The African champion is the first Nigerian to make it to the final of any event at the ongoing games.

It would be recalled that Enekwechi made it to the final of the shot put event four years ago in Tokyo.

He would be hoping to make it to the podium by finishing in the top three.

Nigeria’s Badminton star, Anuoluwapo Opeyori, crashed out of the 2024 Paris Olympics after losing his second consecutive match against China’s Li Shi Feng 2-0 in a Group N encounter.

Opeyori started his Olympics campaign on a sad note when he lost his first match against Switzerland’s Tobias Kuenzi 2-0 (20-22, 14-21)on Tuesday.

It was not a straightforward victory for Li Shi Feng as Opeyori gave him a tough run. The first set ended 21-17 in favour of the Chinese.

Opeyori bounced back in the second set with an impressive performance to lead 11-7 before Li Shi Feng fought back to win 21-17 to end his Olympics campaign in the first round.

He is Nigeria’s only representative in Badminton and his exit ends Nigeria’s chances of winning any medal in Badminton.

Opeyori is delighted with the opportunity to showcase his talent at the Olympics.

He said, “I am so impressed with my performance; I gave a good account of myself in the men’s singles playing against one of the best players in the world. The Olympics gave me an opportunity to get exposed properly and I am wishing myself all the best.”

Opeyori joins the table tennis quartet of Aruna Quadri, Fatimo Bello, Offiong Edem and Omotayo Olajide to crash out of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Clinical Japan beat Nigeria 3-1 in the final Group C women’s football event at the Paris Olympics to send the African giants home, The PUNCH reports.

First-half goals from Maika Hamano, Mina Tanaka, and Hikaru Kitagawa ensured that Futoshi Ikeda’s ladies finished second in the group to book a place in the quarter-finals of the tournament at the expense of Nigeria.

Randy Waldrum kept faith in the side that lost 1-0 to Spain in their second game, with Chiamaka Nnadozie starting in goal for the Falcons while Michelle Alozie, Tosin Demehin, Chidinma Okeke, and Osinachi Ohale played in defence.

The duo Christy Ucheibe and Deborah Abiodun played in the pivot positions with Jennifer Echegini, Rasheedat Ajibade, and Toni Payne in midfield, while Asisat Oshoala played in the attack.

From the sound of the whistle, the Falcons ceded possession to their opponents, allowing the 2011 Women’s World Cup winners to dictate play.

Mina Tanaka tested Nnadozie in the 6th minute, but the goalkeeper comfortably saved the half-volley shot from the winger.

There was a scary moment for the Falcons in the 16th minute as the Asians had a glorious chance to score the opener, but the shot was well blocked by Ohale. 

Four minutes later, Japan took advantage of a poor defensive, with their pressure eventually paying off in the 22nd minute as Maika Hamano Cooly finished off a fine pass from Riko Ueki, who beat Nigeria’s offside trap.

Futoshi Ikeda’s side continued to dominate possession and almost got the second goal three minutes after scoring the opener.

Ten minutes after breaking the deadlock, the Japanese got the second goal as Mina Tanaka was the quickest to react to a Ueki fine header that hit the crossbar.

There was a shout for a handball in the 34th minute after Ajibade’s fine cross hit the hand of Rion Ishikawa, but the referee allowed play to continue to the disappointment of the Falcons.

The Falcons began to take control of possession and were rewarded for their effort in the 42nd minute. Following a neat exchange of passes between Abidoun and Echegini, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder rifled a shot into the top corner to beat Ayaka Yamashita and get Nigeria back into the game.

However, five minutes into the additional time of the first 45 minutes, left-back Hikaru Kitagawa ended any hope of a comeback for Nigeria as her curly shot from the set piece beat Nnadozie to restore the Asian two-goal lead.

Just two minutes into the second half, Echegini almost got the second goal for Nigeria. The midfielder drifted in from the left blank, but her shot was headed out by the Japanese defender.

In the 54th minute, Venezuela referee Emikar Calderas awarded Japan a penalty after Ajibade was adjudged to have committed a foul in the penalty box, but the decision was overruled by the VAR.

The Falcons threw everything in their arsenal at the Asians, hoping to get back in the game, but they were unable to beat their opponent’s defence for the second time.

With the clock ticking down, the 11-time Africa champions went all out in search of a consolation goal but wasted several chances to find the back of the net.

The defeat means the Falcons are out of the tournament after losing all their three group games to finish bottom of Group C with zero points.