The men’s Olympic team have been defeated 3-0 by gold medal favourites and hosts France in Marseille, ending their Paris 2024 journey.

Darren Bazeley’s side can take heart from claiming their second-ever Olympic win at the tournament, following their opening game 2-1 victory over Guinea, and they held their own in Marseille against Les Bleus, keeping the game to 1-0 until the 71st minute.

The French opened the scoring in the 19th minute after an unfortunate rebound fell to Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta, and the Premier League striker finished precisely from a tight angle.

The French retained their narrow lead until the final 20 minutes of the game, when two quick goals in the 71st minute (Désiré Doué) and 74th minute (Arnaud Kalimuendo) saw the game get away from the Kiwi side.

Speaking after the game, head coach Darren Bazeley said:

“We knew it was going to be a really challenging game, the third game in our group against the hosts and a very good team, and I thought we got into the game very well.

“France gave us some problems, but I thought we defended really well, a lot better than we did against America, and we got into some good areas, had some good possession, and started to get into the game.

“Then, halfway through that first half, we conceded a goal, which was a little bit unlucky with a deflection, but it was a lovely finish from the lad who's a very good player. And then we stayed in the game.

“Obviously, we knew that France were going to create lots of opportunities. I thought Alex was very good in goal, made some good saves, and I thought we defended with a lot of heart. We had our moments where we played some good possession. We played out from the back, through the thirds, and got into some good areas where we had a few opportunities, and that's tournament football.

“For us to have won tonight and qualified through, we needed to take our moments and probably needed a little bit of luck, and we didn't get that.”

Article added: Wednesday 31 July 2024