Thierry Henry’s Bleuets beat Paraguay 4-1 and start their preparation for the Olympics in an ideal way – Libération

For its first preparation match before the Games, the French Olympic team overcame a tenacious Paraguayan team on Thursday July 5 in Bayonne.

An offensive performance that bodes well, three weeks before the opening ceremony. The French Olympic team, coached by its selector Thierry Henry, launched its Olympic campaign in the best possible way, beating Paraguay 4 goals to 1 on Thursday, July 5 in the Bayonne night. In one match, the Bleuets have therefore scored more goals than the Bleus in four matches at the German Euro.

Double by Jean-Philippe Mateta

The evening had started badly. Quickly trailing on a goal from Juan Calcedo after three minutes of play, the French initially lacked realism in front of the net. Before getting back into the game with a double from Jean-Philippe Mateta (45th and 51st from a penalty). At 27, the Crystal Palace striker is one of the players over 23 selected for the Olympic Games, along with his 33-year-old captain, Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette.

With the changes made at half-time, the Bleuets finally took control of the game and rolled out the last twenty minutes, Rayan Cherki (72nd) then Arnaud Kalimuendo (86th) each scoring a goal to secure the victory. The next preparation match will be played this Saturday, July 6 against the Dominican Republic.

In a press conference, coach Thierry Henry expressed satisfaction with “the content” of his players against a Paraguayan team that was “direct, combative, quickly in transition” and “that resumed and played before” the French. “I was hoping for exactly that,” declared the 1998 world champion, who was able to “see where we could be physically.”

The former Gunners also highlighted his team’s efforts: “we found a lot of things that we had worked on, I saw a lot of good things and also bad things, it’s normal for a preparation match,” he commented on the L’Equipe channel. “It’s still a friendly match, the guys had their minutes, no one got injured and we have two days of rest,” added Henry, optimistic.

The French team will launch its Olympic campaign on July 24 against the United States at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, before facing Guinea in Nice three days later and New Zealand on July 30, again at the Vélodrome.