Javier Mascherano’s Argentina and Tarik Sektioui’s Morocco locked horns on the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard for the primary match of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Wednesday, July 24 — two days forward of the primary occasion. Morocco had been comfortably higher than Argentina in all departments, however they didn’t go into the tunnel as match-winners, at the very least the primary time.
Because of invaders and objects thrown on the pitch, the match was deserted in harm time with the scoreline studying 2-2. Nonetheless, all gamers had been requested to attend within the dressing room, because the organizing committee meant to finish the match. They had been additionally checking for a attainable offside in Argentina’s equalizer, which got here by way of Cristian Medina within the sixteenth minute of harm time.
When Argentina and Morocco returned to the pitch — nearly two hours after leaving it — VAR dominated out Medina’s aim as offside. La Albiceleste couldn’t discover a reply within the remaining three minutes and succumbed to a controversial 2-1 defeat of their 2024 Paris Olympics opener.
Argentina Obtained A Hostile Reception At Paris Olympics 2024 Opener
Because of Enzo Fernandez’s controversial video, two-time (2004, 2008) Olympic gold medal winners Argentina bought a hostile reception at their 2024 Paris Olympics 2024 opener in opposition to Morocco. Within the video, the Chelsea midfielder and a few of his countrymen sang a controversial track geared toward French soccer gamers throughout Argentina’s 2024 Copa America celebrations. The French Soccer Federation has labeled the track “racist and discriminatory” and has vowed to take authorized motion in opposition to Argentina’s senior staff.
French spectators contained in the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard bought the chance to indicate their anguish, and they didn’t let it cross them by. They booed Argentina each alternative they bought and gave Morocco the backing they by no means would have anticipated. The Atlas Lions, led by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star Achraf Hakimi, delivered a efficiency worthy of applause, going 2-0 up by the 51st minute.
Within the second minute of first-half harm time, Bilal El Khannous arrange Soufiane Rahimi from inside the world, permitting him to poke it residence from shut vary. Then, 4 minutes into the second half, Julio Soler shoved Ilias Akhomach after he breached the field, giving freely a penalty. Rahimi stepped up for the spot-kick within the 51st minute and comfortably put it away to make it 2-0 for Morocco.
Julio, nonetheless, made amends for his mistake by helping Guiliano Simeone for Argentina’s first aim of the sport within the 68th minute.
A Weird Finish Secures Victory For Morocco
Because of accidents and different interruptions, the sport prolonged for a whopping quarter-hour after the usual 90. Argentina piled males ahead in the hunt for the elusive equalizer and seemingly bought it within the sixteenth minute. Medina discovered himself in the proper place on the proper time, as he nodded the ball in after the crossbar had come to Morocco’s rescue not as soon as however twice.
The tip of Morocco vs. Argentina was wild 🤯
▪️ Morocco led 2-1 going into stoppage time
▪️ Cristian Medina scored for Argentina within the 90+sixteenth min
▪️ Followers stormed the pitch and objects had been thrown at gamers
▪️ After order was restored and each groups had left the sector, they… pic.twitter.com/dxYkpEQijG— B/R Soccer (@brfootball) July 24, 2024
As Argentina followers had been celebrating, hostile French followers threw cups, bottles, and even pyrotechnics at them. To guard the gamers from objects and followers storming the pitch, the referee suspended play and took them down the tunnel.
When each units of gamers returned to the empty stadium after roughly 100 minutes, VAR confirmed that Bruno Amione was in an offside place within the build-up to Medina’s aim. Morocco, rejuvenated by the information, held on to their lead and got here away with a large 2-1 win.
