France – Spain: Men’s Olympic football final – live | Football

45+4 minutes This chance leads to 90 seconds of relentless pressure from the French, with Tenas denying a free shot from Mateta and Olise converting a clever volley. Only way past the far post. After a clumsy foul in the penalty area, there was also a penalty appeal; again, the referee was not interested.

45.+2 minute: Great save from Tenas! France almost scored in added time, although I think it would have been ruled offside. Truffert's deflected cross from the left found Mateta at the near post and his close-range header was brilliantly deflected away by Tenas. It was not just the reaction but also the strength of the wrist to direct the ball wide of the goal and not into the net.

45 minutes It will be seven minutes injury time. A bit strange.

43 minutes France need half-time. It's strange to say that about a team that's 3-1 down because they need every second they can get, but they've completely lost the plot.

41 minutes Oroz plays a clever pass to Miranda, whose shot from a tight angle is saved by Restes. Miranda, the Bologna left-back, has caused France plenty of problems and was instrumental in the second and third goals.

39 minutes “How old is Lopez?” asks Krishnamoorthy V. “A few times you see him steal the ball after being surrounded by three or four blue shirts. It reminds me of Iniesta. Spain seems to be secured for the next decade.”

He is 21. The future is looking increasingly bright for Barcelona too.

38 minutes What is the French word for “head off”? They have been exhausted since going down 3-1 and have not been able to overcome the shock of conceding three goals in 11 minutes, even though they were probably the better team.

36 minutes Kone gets a yellow card for a foul on Oroz. Some of the earlier tackles were probably worse, but the referee had to show a French player a yellow card sooner or later. Kone took the ball.

34 minutes The public and the French players are going through different phases of grief. At the moment they are angry.

They desperately need a goal or even just a chance to help them refocus. Right now they're fouling everything that moves.

33 minutes “After the poor performance of the women's team in the bronze medal match, this is redemption,” says Charles Antaki. “Perhaps the Roja's redemption.”

32 minutes Now Lacazette is lucky not to get a yellow card after a bad tackle on Barrios. Seconds later, Miranda goes down holding his face after Millot hits him in the neck.

31 minutes This was not a typical Spanish performance. France dominated the game, but Spain were completely merciless.

29 minutes Baena moved the foam just before the free kick, but I don't know if it made a difference. France looks shocked.

The free kick was quite far to the left of the center. Baena curled the ball over the head of Kone, who didn't jump properly, and beat the unprepared Restes at the near post. My goodness.

GOAL! France – Spain 1:3 (28. Baena)

27 minutes The marauding Miranda is cynically blocked by Sildillia on the edge of the penalty area. He should have been cautioned for that.

It was another good move by Spain. Someone played a cross pass to Miranda, the overlapping left-back, who delivered a fantastic cross to Ruiz, who caught Bade the wrong way at the near post. Ruiz's close-range shot was desperately parried by Restes, but Lopez took the rebound with considerable glee.

GOAL! France – Spain 1:2 (25. Lopez)

23 minutes Garcia and Mateta both remain down after a collision on the edge of the box. France believe Mateta was fouled and replays suggest they may have a reason, but the referee does not believe so.

21 minutes Lacazette wins a corner for France, which leads to another. Olise fires the ball home and Mateta's header is too close to Tenas. It was a decent effort as he had to duck to get the ball and then twist his neck to direct the header towards goal.

Spain played the ball beautifully on the right side before passing the ball upfield to Baena. He ripped France open with a diagonal through ball to Lopez, who had a lot of space in the box. Lopez took the chance at the first opportunity, firing a slightly shabby but very effective shot past Restes into the left corner.

The defense looked shaky, but it was still a beautifully worked goal for Spain.

GOAL! France – Spain 1:1 (18. Lopez)

17 minutes “The Spanish goalkeeper's mistake reminds me of Luis Arconada's blunder 40 years ago, when these two nations met in the last final at the Parc des Princes (2-0 to France, who thus won the 1984 European Championship),” writes Amar Breckenridge.

That's a great comparison – I just realized that Arconada also made a mistake.

16 minutes “I just watched the first goal at least five times in slow motion,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “Does that count as an assist for Spain?”

14 minutes France are currently in the lead. Millot's cross hits Miranda and just misses Mateta in front of the goal.

What a strange goal. A cross from the right was half-blocked near the byline, then a Spanish defender missed the ball under pressure from Lacazette. Millot ran towards the loose ball on the right edge of the box and curled it straight in, but Tenas – who was wrong-footed towards the near post – could only fire the ball into the other corner of the net.

GOAL! France – Spain 1:0 (Millot 11)

7 minutes Abel Ruiz threatens to go crazy on the left and runs after a long pass, but Bade catches him and takes him away without much fuss.

5 minutes The game started with interruptions, and yes, I know there's a more elegant way to say that, but I can't think of it. A start with interruptions just sounds weird.

3 minutes Now Fermin Lopez is on the ground after Lukeba kneed him nearby. It was an accident but looked pretty painful and Lopez is still writhing in pain as he is treated.

2 minutes “It had better be good,” says Charles Antaki angrily. “The Spanish women's team was a total dud against a terribly defensive Germany. The game was decided by a successful penalty that was poorly taken and not particularly deserved anyway. So far: Spain zero, entertainment zero. It's time for Fermin Lopez and co. to step up their game.”

1 minute Sergio Gomez goes down holding his face after Sildillia gives him a handoff. The crowd roars loudly and he finally gets up.

1 minute Beep, beep! Spain, in their pale yellow third kit, kicks off from right to left before our eyes.

“Hello Rob”, says Peter Oh. “If someone thinks there is nothing between France and Spain, then I say: look at the map and apologize to the next Andorran.”

As the players stand during the national anthems, Here is a brief reminder of the two teams.

France (possible 4-3-1-2) leftovers; Sildillia, Bade, Lukeba, Truffert; Millot, Kone, Chottard; Olise; Mateta, Lacazette.
Substitutes: Nkambadio, Akliouche, Cherki, Doue, Kalimuendo, Locko, Magassa.

Spain (possible 4-2-3-1) Tenas; Pubill, E. Garcia, Cubarsi, Miranda; Barrios, Baena; Oroz, Lopez, Gomez; Ruiz.
Substitutes: S Garcia, Bernabe, Camello, Gutierrez, Pacheco, Sanchez, Turrientes.

referee Rafael da Silva Alves (Brazil)

France has already won this competition once, in Los Angeles in 1984. Their star player was Lens striker Daniel Xuereb, who scored four times in three knockout matches, including the decisive goal in the 2-0 win over Brazil in the final.

Spain has only won gold once in men’s football, 1992 in Barcelona. A star-studded team – Pep, Albert Ferrer, Kiko, Abelardo, Alfonso, Luis Enrique – defeated Poland 3-2 in a classic final.

Read Jonathan Liew about Thierry Henry

For all the talent in this France team – Michael Olise, Mateta, Alexandre Lacazette – it is Henry who will give Friday's Olympic final against Spain its shine, its shape and its meaning. As a player, Henry won everything. As a coach, he won nothing, and so it was fair to wonder whether he had any future in a career for which he clearly had so much passion and enthusiasm.

About the team

preamble