PARIS: Thierry Henry's France are hoping a home crowd at the Parc des Princes can drive them on to win Olympic men's football gold but an impressive Spain side will attempt to deny them in Friday's final.
Henry, a France legend as a player, has led his country to the brink of their second football gold medal, 40 years after they won the title in Los Angeles.
That victory over Brazil came just a few weeks after the full French national team lifted their first major trophy by beating Spain on home soil in the final of Euro 84.
Just like then, the nations will meet at a packed Parc des Princes on Friday when a hostile home support will try to spur France on to victory.
They have already effectively fulfilled their objective by being guaranteed a medal, with Henry succeeding in moulding together a cohesive team after initially being met by a series of rejections from clubs unwilling to release their players.
Clubs have no obligation to let their players take part in the Olympics, where the men's tournament is reserved for those aged under 23 with the exception of three who are over-age.
Kylian Mbappe, the captain of the senior national side, wanted to come but was not allowed by his new club Real Madrid. Hopes of getting Antoine Griezmann onboard were quickly dashed.
The new Juventus midfielder Khephren Thuram was initially in the squad before being obliged to return to his employer.
But Les Bleus have been expertly led by the experienced Alexandre Lacazette and his fellow forwards, the bruising Jean-Philippe Mateta and the flying Michael Olise.
They won all three group games without conceding a goal, before seeing off Argentina 1-0 in a fiery quarter-final and then showing great character to come from behind and beat Egypt 3-1 after extra time in the last four.
"We have been talking about the Games for a year and a half now and finally we get to go to Paris," said Mateta, the Crystal Palace striker who netted twice against the Egyptians.
This may be the Paris Games, but so far Henry's team have played all their matches elsewhere around the country, in Marseille, Nice, Bordeaux and Lyon.
Meanwhile, Spain began their campaign with a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan in Paris. After easing past Japan in Lyon in the last eight, they had to come from behind to beat Morocco 2-1 in their semi-final in Marseille.
That victory in front of a hostile crowd, achieved thanks to goals by the outstanding Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez and the substitute Juanlu Sanchez, will give Spain confidence that they can handle the crowd and the pressure in the French capital.
"It's another atmosphere that I will like," Lopez, who has scored four goals at the Olympics after helping Spain win Euro 2024, told FIFA.com.
"In any situation, we can overcome anything. Now we want to get the gold."
Coached by the former Atletico Madrid defender Santi Denia, Spain are aiming for a second men's football gold after triumphing in Barcelona in 1992 with a squad including Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique.
They were silver medallists in Tokyo three years ago, but Spain's record more recently across the board in international football is remarkable.
The men's senior side won the European Championship just last month, following on from the women's team triumphing at the World Cup last year.
Less than two weeks ago they were the winners of the Under-19 Euros, and now they can complete a glorious summer with gold. --AFP