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1 month ago
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Argentina head coach Javier Mascherano could not hide his fury after witnessing his side lose their highly-controversial Olympic football opener to Morocco on Wednesday.
La Albiceleste's 2-1 defeat by the North Africans was only confirmed after both sets of players had returned to the field following a delay of more than an hour due to Morocco fans invading the pitch after Argentina had netted an equalising goal in the 106th minute of the match.
Argentina had fought back from 2-0 down to appear to have snatched a point in the match. The fixture was listed as being delayed with the score level at 2-2, with both Argentina and Morocco listing the match as a result on social media.
In remarkable scenes, players were then recalled to complete the closing stages of the match.
A VAR review on Argentina's goal found that Medina had been offside, with Argentina's equaliser subsequently ruled out.
Argentina manager Javier Mascherano described the situation as 'the biggest circus' he had ever seen
Argentina thought they'd grabbed a late equaliser following Cristian Medina's (No 8) 106th-minute header
The game was suspended for over an hour after Morocco fans invaded the pitch following the strike
French police officers descended onto the pitch to clear supporters from the Saint-Etienne turf
Mascherano, who is Argentina's boss at the Games, fumed when asked about the situation post-match. He described the incident as 'the biggest circus I've ever seen in my life'.
'I don't have an explanation for the players.' he continued in his post-match interview. 'They were reviewing a play for an hour and twenty minutes. Let me continue the game, don't stop me to continue three minutes after an hour and a half.
'The game was suspended for security reasons. When we had no news, we started to notice things. We don't like this kind of thing to happen either. We don't want to be favored or made fun of. Now we have to turn the page and look for the two victories that we will need to qualify.
'What happened on the field was a scandal. We have to focus on our own. Obviously it is confusing but now we have to look forward, this is over, it is over. We have to focus on the two games. Keep the anger and use it in the next games.'
Behind closed doors, players saw out the final three minutes of the clash as Morocco’s 2-1 win was confirmed. There were more than four hours between the start of the match and the final whistle.
Referee Glenn Nyberg disallowed the strike after the players had returned to finish the clash behind closed doors
Argentina legend Lionel Messi, who is not playing in the tournament, took to social media after the extraordinary scenes.
'Insolito,' he wrote on his Instagram story, which means 'unbelievable.'
The pre-match build-up had surrounded the anger from Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez engaging in a racist singalong with the Argentinian national team.
The anger spilled into the Games in France, with missiles forcing their game with Morocco to be suspended.
Argentina were booed by fans at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in St-Etienne but the situation worsened when they equalised 16 minutes into stoppage time.
Just over an hour after kick-off in the football, Argentina's rugby sevens side were loudly booed ahead of their clash against Kenya.
Morocco celebrated their unlikely and highly-controversial win after the final whistle
The boos drowning out the anthem came just over a week after Chelsea footballer Fernandez filmed himself and his Argentina team-mates singing a chant directed at France's black players following their Copa America triumph.
The song, which also singles out Kylian Mbappe, was condemned by the French Football Federation who filed a complaint to FIFA.
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