Argentina‘s Olympic team captain Nicolás Otamendi was left angry after a brawl erupted following his team’s 1-0 quarterfinal defeat to France in Bordeaux on Friday.
Argentina were booed throughout the match by a hostile home crowd, and fighting broke out between the players immediately after the final whistle.
There was shoving for a couple of minutes before the players were broken up. Some France players appeared to sprint down the tunnel moments later before coming back out a short time later to perform a lap of honour.
After the scuffle, Otamendi took aim at France defender Loïc Badé, who he thought had over-celebrated in front of the Argentina players’ families.
“I am very angry that they went to where the family members were to celebrate in his face,” Otamendi said.
“[If] he [Badé] feels like celebrating, let him come to where we are and we will solve it there. We’ll talk about whatever we have to talk about.”
Although primarily an under-23 competition, the game was a rematch French fans have been waiting for since Argentina’s dramatic penalty shootout win in the 2022 World Cup final.
A racism scandal had heightened tensions ahead of the game after Chelsea‘s Enzo Fernández posted a video of Argentina players singing offensive chants about French players of African heritage as they celebrated their Copa América victory last month.
France’s Olympic team coach Thierry Henry was just as unhappy with the fight, and was left furious after midfielder Enzo Millot was sent off.
“I went to shake the opposing coach’s hand and all of a sudden I saw a lot of things happening,” Henry told reporters.
“I don’t like seeing this kind of thing. It wasn’t necessary.
“We didn’t want to lose a player [to suspension] but it was pointless, he wasn’t even playing [at the final whistle].
“I’m really not happy about that. We were all united, the only drawback is getting a red on the bench.”
Jean-Philippe Mateta scored in the fifth minute Henry’s team, who will face Egypt in the semifinals.