Silver medal for Michael Olise and France after defeat in Olympics final
By Tom Vinall
Michael Olise and France were beaten in the final of the Paris Olympics on home soil, with Spain coming out on top to clinch a 5-3 win after extra time.
As always, Olise started as the number 10 in Thierry Henry’s diamond formation. It was the dream start for Les Blues, who took the lead after 11 minutes, but Spain scored three unanswered goals themselves in the following 17 minutes to race into a 3-1 lead.
The Parc Des Princes was absolutely stunned into silence, and France struggled to get a foothold back in the game. In the second half, Olise was moved to the right-wing as Henry tried to change things up.
Olise was given license to drive inside and make things happen, as the French performance improved, but it wasn’t to be.
France got a goal back, which was assisted by Olise, before Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a penalty in injury time to level the game.
The full-time result was France 3-3 Spain and a further 30 minutes were in order. Spain scored in the first half of extra-time, and ran out 5-3 victors in a crazy encounter.
Olise won 15/18 ground duels, had 8/8 successful dribble attempts, drew four fouls, had four shots, and created six chances. He assisted France’s second goal with a free-kick.
Michael Olise scored two goals and assisted five at the Paris Olympics
Watching the game, there were several occasions where Olise was trying to string things together but his team-mates just weren’t on the same wavelength. This won’t be an issue at Bayern next season when Olise will be linking up with the likes of Jamal Musiala, Harry Kane and Mathys Tel.
Despite the disappointment of losing the gold medal match, particularly on home soil, Bayern’s new signing can still be proud of his tournament. The 22-year old registered two goals and five assists in six games, with five of those being starts. He further registered four big chances created, put up 4 key passes per game, and 2.7 dribbles per game.
On top of all that, he still takes home an Olympic silver medal, which shouldn’t be scoffed at - even if he, and France, really wanted the gold instead.
The next game Michael Olise plays will be in a Bayern Munich shirt and fans can not wait to see him play in Bavaria. The DFB-Pokal game vs Ulm next Friday could be the perfect chance to integrate Olise into the side, although it may come slightly too soon for him.