“Unbelievable,” Lionel Messi wrote on social media after seeing Argentina’s Olympic goal taken away from them against Morocco’s Olympic team on the opening day of Group C of the Paris 2024 men’s football tournament on the evening of July 24 at Stade Geoffroy Stadium (France).
Argentina got off to a poor start against Morocco, trailing 2-0. Javier Mascherano’s men then rallied in the second half and scored two goals in a row, thanks to Giuliano Simeone and Cristian Medina. Notably, Cristian Medina’s equalizer came in the 16th minute of injury time in the second half (there were 15 minutes of injury time).
The match seemed to end with a score of 2-2, but then a turning point happened. Moroccan fans, angry when their team was equalized, immediately attacked the Argentine players, throwing bottles and fireworks onto the field, forcing the tournament organizers to evacuate both teams into the tunnel.
It is noteworthy that players from both teams believed that the match had ended when the referee blew his whistle. However, in reality, the referee only blew the whistle to temporarily stop the match because of fan trouble and resumed the match nearly 2 hours later when all the fans had left.
However, when the match resumed, the referee refused to recognize Medina’s goal after VAR technology determined that there had been an offside error, causing Argentina to lose 1-2 to Morocco.
“It’s unbelievable. It was the biggest circus I’ve ever seen in my life,” Argentina Olympic coach Mascherano said after his team’s confusing defeat.
“The match was postponed for security reasons. But at no time were we informed that the goal would be reviewed. Nor did the referee come to us to explain why the game continued after a two-hour delay.
But we will put this defeat behind us, maintain the positive form of the team as in the second half and aim for the next two wins.
What happened on the pitch was a scandal. This is not a street tournament, this is the Paris Olympics,” coach Mascherano concluded.
