Morocco fans crashed the pitch to protest a late goal by Argentina at the opening match of the Paris Olympics men’s soccer tournament, an angry and bizarre scene that left the game suspended for nearly two hours with only minutes remaining.
Moments before play resumed, the goal was disallowed by VAR for offside, and Morocco held on for a 2-1 victory. But not before a furious reaction from Morocco fans who thought they’d been denied a critical win.
Objects were thrown and invading Morocco fans were tackled by security on the field at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne after Argentina tied it 2-2 with a goal from Cristian Medina the 16th minute of added time.
There were images of some Argentina players flinching when what appeared to be a flare was thrown. Bottles and cups were strewn over the field by the end. It was initially thought that the full-time whistle had been blown.
WATCH | Olympic match ended as fans storm field after Argentina’s late game-tying goal:
After Argentina’s Cristian Medina seemingly tied their game against Morocco during injury time, fans invaded the field, forcing the game to be halted. Video review later determined a player was offside.
Even FIFA’s website declared the game over. Video boards informed fans the match was suspended and they had to leave the stadium.
About an hour after the incident, organizers at the venue said the match was not officially over and VAR was reviewing whether the goal would stand. Players eventually re-entered the field after a long delay and began to warm up before the game could be concluded.
They played for about three minutes after the resumption before the final whistle was blown.
Morocco had led the game 2-0 before Argentina’s fight back. Giuliano Simeone scored in the 68th minute and Medina levelled the game deep into time added on.
In another men’s game Wednesday, Uzbekistan defeated Spain 2-1.
New Zealand 2, Guinea 1
Ben Waine scored the go-ahead goal and New Zealand won its Group A opener 2-1 over Guinea in Nice.
New Zealand was awarded a penalty in the 24th minute, but Guinea goalkeeper Soumaila Sylla dove to punch away captain Matthew Garbett’s attempt. New Zealand quickly recovered and Garbett scored a minute later for a 1-0 lead.
Aliou Balde appeared to equalize for Guinea in the 62nd minute, but it was ruled offside after video review. The team finally broke through with Amadou Diawara’s game-tying goal in the 72nd.
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New Zealand answered a minute later with Waine’s goal from out in front.
It is the fourth time that New Zealand is making an Olympic appearance. The OlyWhites, as they are known, advanced to the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Games before falling to host Japan on penalties.
Guinea was making its Olympic debut.
The match in Nice was sparsely attended, with temperatures in the coastal city reaching the upper 80s Fahrenheit (30 Celsius). Fans also were late in arriving because of an accident that delayed tram service to the match.
Spain 2, Uzbekistan 1
Sergio Gomez scored the winning goal in Spain’s 2-1 victory over Uzbekistan to open Group C.
The match at Parc des Princes in Paris was the first official competition of the Olympics and drew some 35,000 fans.
Eldor Shomurodov converted on a penalty kick in first-half stoppage time to tie it for resilient Uzbekistan, which was making its first Olympic appearance.
Gomez had a penalty saved by Abduvohid Nematov in the 59th minute, but some three minutes later he scored from about 12 yards out front of Uzbekistan’s goal.
Egypt 0, Dominican Republic 0
Egypt and the Dominican Republic played to a scoreless draw in Group C in Nantes.
Egypt has been to the Olympics 13 times, the most by an African nation, but has never finished higher than fourth. The team made the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Games.
It was hoped that Mohamed Salah would join Egypt as a senior player for the Olympics, but he declined to focus on Liverpool’s pre-season. The team is captained by Mohamed Elneny, the former Arsenal midfielder.
The Dominican Republic was making its Olympic debut.
Source Agencies
