France’s hat-trick hero Andre-Pierre Gignac has reacted to his side’s 4-3 win over South Africa.
The 35-year-old was the hero for Les Bleus U23 side after they came thrice back from behind to beat David Notoane’s men 4-3 on Sunday.
As a consequence, France moved to third spot on the log while South Africa dropped to fourth without any points so far.
Gignac admitted that he almost thought his side would go home early before they gave themselves a chance in their final Group A game against Japan.
“After each South African goal it felt a little more like we were on the plane back,” Gignac told The National.
“We saw the joy after Teji’s goal and we gave ourselves a final against Japan. With heart, we can do well. We don’t want to return to France.”
Gignac is currently the leading goalscorer at the Olympics, with four goals in two games.
South Africa, meanwhile, need to hope that France will lose to Japan in their final Group A game, while they need to beat Mexico by two goals in order to qualify for the knockout stages.
