France vs USA Preview & Prediction | Paris 2024 Olympics | Men’s Football | Group Stage
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For want a better of expression, this Group A encounter has a ‘very Olympics’ feel about it as the hosts and men’s football gold medal favourites France take on one of the powerhouses of the Olympic movement in the United States on Wednesday.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Wednesday 24th July, 2024, UK – 8:00pm / US ET – 3:00pm / US PT – 12:00pm
HOW TO WATCH THE PARIS OLYMPICS ON TV: UK – BBC is the main broadcaster while some event will be televised on Eurosport / US – NBC is the main broadcaster while some events will be shown on NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network and Telemundo
HOW TO WATCH THE PARIS OLYMPICS ONLINE: UK – BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website & Eurosport Player / US – Events can be streamed on the relevant streaming platforms of NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network and Telemundo
FRANCE PREVIEW: THIERRY’S DREAM
Thierry Henry was appointed manager of the France U21 team last year and will hope for the historic and romantic success of winning a gold medal in Paris. He has to deal with quite a few irritations in the build-up, though, with one of those being Kylian Mbappe having to stay with new club Real Madrid, despite his outspoken desire to play in the tournament.
The French have also been unable to select Lucas Chevalier, Bafode Diakite, Leny Yoro, Warren Zaire-Emery, Bradley Barcola, Mathys Tel, Maxime Esteve, Khephren Thuram and Lesley Ugochukwu. That doesn’t mean they do not still have an extremely strong squad but it is nowhere near what it could have been.
UNITED STATES PREVIEW: MENTALITY OVER EXPERIENCE
With former Yugoslavia U18 international and former USA U19 boss Marko Mitrovic at the helm, Team USA will be hoping to delve into some of the Team USA Olympic spirit and mentality, rather than the inferiority complex and underachievement that has dogged their football or ‘soccer’ sides throughout history.
Their three overage players for the tournament are Walker Zimmermann, Miles Robinson and Djordje Mihailovic with some of the standout stars of the U23 side, such as Chelsea duo Gabriel Slonina and Caleb Wiley, Gio Busio of Venezia and Wolfsburg’s Kevin Paredes the key men for their campaign.
FRANCE VS UNITED STATES PREDICTION
France are the pre-tournament favourites with the majority of their bookmakers and the strength in depth of France’s youth production line is shown massively here because, despite the pullouts, they still have the likes of Michael Olise, Rayan Cherki, Adrien Truffert, Castello Lukaba, Maghnes Akliouche, Desire Doue and Bradley Locko within their squad. USA will fancy their chances of getting through the group but their bigger games are coming up against New Zealand and Guinea. A comfortable home win is to be expected in this opener.
FRANCE VS UNITED STATES TIP: FRANCE TO WIN -1 HANDICAP
