Akliouche and Magassa help France win Olympics opener vs. USA

The Thierry Henry-managed France Olympics team kicked off their tournament in fine style by defeating USA 3-0, in a match where AS Monaco talents Maghnes Akliouche and Soungoutou Magassa featured.

While neither started the clash, it was great to see Akliouche enjoy 20 minutes of action and Magassa get a few minutes at the end to play their role in the thumping victory.

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Despite the preparation not being ideal for France heading into the showpiece on home soil, there was much to like about how Henry’s side began the competition in style in front of a 67,000 strong crowd inside the Stade Velodrome.

While Les Bleus struggled to stamp their mark as they intended against a resolute USA in the first half, they eventually took control courtesy of three second-half goals from Alexandre Lacazette, Michael Olise and Loic Bade.

Boasting a squad full of quality and game-changers, this certainly helped them swing the match in their favour after enduring periods where they didn’t fully convince.

Hugely motivated and with so much knowledge and experience to impart onto his players, there’s definitely no shortage of desire from the legendary Henry to get the job done. “The Olympics is one of the few things I wasn’t able to play in my life,” he explained to FIFA.

“My generation could’ve played in the Olympics, but we didn’t qualify. It’s always been stuck [in my throat]. I never imagined that one day, I’d be in a situation where I’d be managing a team with the possibility to coach, at home, and win an extraordinary title.”

He then added this on the Olympics website: “If you don’t come to such a tournament for the gold, there is no point coming.”

Following this confident-boosting win, the overwhelming favourites take on Guinea next, which will give this star-studded team and their ASM players a fine chance to keep gathering momentum in their pursuit of a coveted gold medal.