"Henry ghosts in yet another final" - Fans react as Spain defeat France in men's football final to win gold medal at 2024 Olympics
Fans reacted as Spain beat hosts France 5-3 after extra time in a thrilling gold-medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Friday (August 9) to reign supreme. It's La Roja's first gold at the event since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
In an instant thriller at the Parc des Princes in the French capital, Enzo Milliot gave the hosts the perfect start by opening the scoring inside 12 minutes. La Roja, though, hit back through a seven-minute Fermin Lopez brace to assume control of the contest.
In the 28th minute, Alex Baena put his team 3-1 ahead before France fought back in the last 11 minutes. Maghnes Akliouche pulled one back before Jean-Philippe Mateta's 93rd-minute penalty forced extra time.
However, Thierry Henry's side couldn't complete their comeback. La Roja scored two unanswered goals through Sergio Camello in the second period of extra time as they became the Olympic champions for the first time in 32 years.
One fan took a tig at Henry, tweeting:
"HENRY GHOSTS IN YET ANOTHER FINAL"
Another commended Barcelona's famed La Masia academy for Spain's success:
"Where would Spain be without La Masia?"
Others posted similar reactions, with one attempting to open up France's pain of losing to Argentina in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final:
"Argentina and Messi are very happy. Madrid they feel the pain"
Stop That Messi commented:
"Barcelona. Argentina wins again. Cry everyone."
Woss posted:
"Let's laugh at France"
The win continues Spain's recent football success, with the senior side winning Euro 2024 last month, while the under-19 side won the European title, a year after La Roja won their first women's World Cup.
How many Spain players did the Euro 2024-Olympics men's football gold medal double?
Less than a month earlier, Spain won a record fourth European Championship by beating England 2-1 in the Berlin final. It marked their first European title since their 4-0 win over Italy 12 years ago in Kiev.
Incidentally, only two players from La Roja's Euro 2024-winning squad also played at the Paris Olympics. They are FermÃn Lopez and Alex Baena. While Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Pedri are also under-23, they were given rest after their exploits in Germany last month.
Lopez - who played only 21 minutes in the 1-0 group-stage win over Albania - played a key role in their Olympics final win over France, with a quickfire first-half double.