France beats Egypt 3-1 and will face Spain in the men's soccer final at Paris Olympics

LYON, France (AP) — Thierry Henry stood with his arms outstretched, facing the jubilant crowd and soaking up the atmosphere.

The final of the men’s soccer tournament at the Paris Olympics was in sight after France had been pushed to the limit by Egypt in Monday's semifinal at Stade de Lyon.

Jean-Philippe Mateta, meanwhile, was being mobbed by his teammates after scoring his second goal in a 3-1 win that sets up a final against Spain at Parc des Princes on Friday.

“It was like, I don’t know how to say — it was incredible,” Mateta said.

France vs. Spain means there will be a European gold medalist at the Olympics for the first time in 32 years.

The host nation's place in the final looked in serious doubt as Egypt was closing in on an upset after leading through Mahmoud Saber’s 62nd-minute goal.

France had hit the frame of the goal on three occasions before Mateta equalized in the 83rd and sent the game into extra time.

His second came in the 99th and Michael Olise added France's third in the 108th.

“It’s not easy, right? We knew that. But at the end of the day, we kept on coming. We kept on trying. We kept on creating from the wing and trying to play and we got our reward,” France coach Henry said.

While this ensures gold for a European team for the first time since Spain’s victory at Barcelona 1992, it also ends the dominance of Latin American nations after the last five editions of the tournament saw victories for Brazil and Argentina — two each — and Mexico.

It also gives Henry the chance to added to his storied career, having won the World Cup and European Championship with France as a player.

This would be his first major honor in a coaching career that is still early in its development.

“I’m not there yet. We have the medal, that’s for sure. Let’s not talk about the gold,” he said.

France’s only Olympic gold came at Los Angeles 1984 and it also took silver when the Games were held in Paris in 1900.

One of the pre-tournament favorites, Henry's team had gone into the semifinal with a perfect winning record, having taken maximum points in the group phase and beaten Argentina in the quarterfinals.

But Egypt had already proved capable of upsetting the odds by beating Spain to top its group. And it came so close to another surprise win when Saber flashed a shot past France goalkeeper Guillaume Restes.

By that point, Loic Bade had already headed against the foot of the post in the first half.

Egypt’s goal sparked a reaction from the French fans, who roared loudly to try to lift their team.

Egypt keeper Alaa Hamza denied Alexandre Lacazette from point blank range. France hit the frame of the goal twice more in the space of seconds when Lacazette headed against the foot of the post and Bade hit the bar with a follow up header.

The equalizer finally came when Olise strode through the middle of the field and slipped a pass into the run of Mateta.

With Hamza advancing to cut down the angle, Mateta got to the ball first and swept home.

France thought it had won a penalty deep into stoppage time when VAR reviewed a handball by Omar Fayed.

Referee Said Martinez spent agonizingly long reviewing the sideline monitor before eventually determining there had been a foul in the buildup.

While that was a reprieve for Egypt and sent the game to extra time, Fayed was sent off in the 92nd, having been booked during heated scenes when the potential penalty was being reviewed.

France took advantage of the extra man and went ahead through Mateta’s second goal of the match.

Once again Olise was at the heart of it — swinging a ball into the box for Kiliann Sildillia head across goal. Mateta rose and headed past Alaa.

Olise then got on the score sheet himself firing low with a first time left-footed shot from inside the box.

“We showed the team that we have character, and we showed the fans and everyone that we have character,” Mateta said. “We can believe we can score, and we do.”

Egypt, which has finished fourth on two previous occasions — Amsterdam 1928 and Tokyo 1964 — will play Morocco in an all-African bronze medal match in Nantes on Thursday.

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

France's Jean-Philippe Mateta, top, heads the ball to score his side's 2nd goal in extra time during the men's semifinal soccer match between France and Egypt, at Lyon Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

France's Kiliann Sildillia, right, is fouled by Egypt's Osama Faisal during the men's semifinal soccer match between France and Egypt, at Lyon Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Egypt's Hossam Abdelmaguid, left, pulls on the jersey of France's Alexandre Lacazette during the men's semifinal soccer match between France and Egypt, at Lyon Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Egypt's Mahmoud Saber, right, celebrates with teammate Zizo after scoring his side's opening goal during the men's semifinal soccer match between France and Egypt, at Lyon Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Egypt's Mahmoud Saber shoots to score his side's opening goal during the men's semifinal soccer match between France and Egypt, at Lyon Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Egypt's Mahmoud Saber, right, is congratulated by teammates after scoring his side's opening goal during the men's semifinal soccer match between France and Egypt, at Lyon Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Egypt's players celebrate their side's opening goal scored by teammate Mahmoud Saber during the men's semifinal soccer match between France and Egypt, at Lyon Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Egypt's Zizo reacts after missing an opportunity to score during the men's semifinal soccer match between France and Egypt, at Lyon Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

France's Jean-Philippe Mateta, right, scores his side's first goal past Egypt's goalkeeper Hamza Alaa during the men's semifinal soccer match between France and Egypt, at Lyon Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

France's Jean-Philippe Mateta celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the men's semifinal soccer match between France and Egypt, at Lyon Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

France's Jean-Philippe Mateta (14) celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's 2nd goal in extra time during the men's semifinal soccer match between France and Egypt, at Lyon Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

France's Jean-Philippe Mateta celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's 2nd goal in extra time during the men's semifinal soccer match between France and Egypt, at Lyon Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

France's Jean-Philippe Mateta(14), left, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's 2nd goal in extra time during the men's semifinal soccer match between France and Egypt, at Lyon Stadium, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Decines, France. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two people who prosecutors say were motivated by white supremacist ideology have been arrested on charges that they used the social media messaging app Telegram to encourage hate crimes and acts of violence against minorities, government officials and critical infrastructure in the United States, the Justice Department said Monday.

The defendants, identified as Dallas Erin Humber and Matthew Robert Allison, face 15 federal counts in the Eastern District of California, including charges that accuse them of soliciting hate crimes and the murder of federal officials, distributing bombmaking instructions and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

Humber, 34, of Elk Grove, California, and Allison, 37, of Boise, Idaho were arrested Friday. Humber pleaded not guilty in a Sacramento courtroom Monday to the charges. Her attorney Noa Oren declined to comment on the case Monday afternoon after the arraignment.

It was not immediately clear if Allison had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

The indictment accuses the two of leading Terrorgram, a network of channels and group chats on Telegram, and of soliciting followers to attack perceived enemies of white people, including government buildings and energy facilities and “high-value” targets such as politicians.

“Today’s action makes clear that the department will hold perpetrators accountable, including those who hide behind computer screens, in seeking to carry out bias-motivated violence,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, the Justice Department's top civil rights official, said at a news conference.

Their exhortations to commit violence included statements such as “Take Action Now” and “Do your part,” and users who carried out acts to further white supremacism were told they could become known as “Saints,” prosecutors said.

Justice Department officials say the pair used the app to transmit bomb-making instructions and to distribute a list of potential targets for assassination — including a federal judge, a senator and a former U.S. attorney — and to celebrate acts or plots from active Terrorgram users.

Those include the stabbing last month of five people outside a mosque in Turkey and the July arrest of an 18-year-old accused of planning to attack an electrical substation to advance white supremacist views. In the Turkey attack, for instance, prosecutors say the culprit on the morning of the stabbing posted in a group chat: “Come see how much humans I can cleanse.”

A 24-minute documentary that the two had produced, “White Terror," documented and praised some 105 acts of white supremacist violence between 1968 and 2021, according to the indictment.

“The risk and danger they present is extremely serious," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, the Justice Department’s top national security official. He added: “Their reach is as far as the internet because of the platform they’ve created.”

Telegram is a messaging app that allows for one-on-one conversations, group chats and large “channels” that let people broadcast messages to subscribers. Though broadly used as a messaging tool around the world, Telegram has also drawn scrutiny, including a finding from French investigators that the app has been used by Islamic extremists and drug traffickers.

Telegram's founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, was detained by French authorities last month on charges of allowing the platform’s use for criminal activity. Durov responded to the charges with a post last week saying he shouldn’t have been targeted personally and by promising to step up efforts to fight criminality on the app.

He wrote that while Telegram is not “some sort of anarchic paradise,” surging numbers of users have “caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform.”

Associated Press reporter Trân Nguyễn contributed from Sacramento, California.

FILE - The Department of Justice seals is seen during a news conference at the DOJ office in Washington, May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)