Argentina coach Javier Mascherano fumed at the farcical ending that saw his side lose 2-1 to Morocco in their men’s Olympic football tournament opener Wednesday. Two-time gold medalists, Argentina thought they had earned a share of the spoils, leveling the match at 2-2 when Cristian Medina scored in the 16th minute of added time. But crowd disturbances broke out, with players taken off the pitch before Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg had a chance to blow the final whistle.
The result of the game hung in the balance for a while, for on the official IOC website it was claimed that everything had come to an end. However, after two hours, both teams returned to the pitch and played out the remaining three minutes amidst an empty stadium. After consulting VAR, Medina’s goal was ruled out for offside. Thus, with two goals from Soufiane Rahimi, Morocco got all three points.
Mascherano, the gold-winning player in 2004 and 2008, was quite furious with all this. “It is a circus. But that is how it is. We cannot control it,” Mascherano said as he called on his players to now turn their attention to the next two matches and try to get the necessary six points to make it out of the group stages.
Trouble began when projectiles came onto the pitch and spectators invaded the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. Captains of both teams first refused to play on. Mascherano condemned the tardy review process and the subsequent decision to play hours later. “It is a disgrace that this should happen and poison the tournament,” he said.
The next match that Argentina will have is against Iraq on Saturday in Lyon, while Morocco faces Ukraine in Saint Etienne on the same day. The incident has thrown a shadow over the tournament, raising serious questions about the organizing and officiating standards of the marquee event.
