24th of July marked the unofficial start to Paris Olympic Games 2024 as football and rugby group stage event got underway in the capital city. A Messi less Argentina took the ground to take on African giants Morocco in their first group stage clash but the game was full of events which no football fan want to experience. Talking about the result of the match, Morocco put up a stellar show to pip the world champs 2-1.
Morocco’s Soufiane Rahimi had scored both goals for the African team, first in the extra time before the half time and then again from the penalty spot to double his side’s lead. Giovanni Simeone would pull one back for Argentina but the recently crowned Copa America champions couldn’t find another goal till the 16th minute of added time when it looked like Cristian Medina had equalized for the 2008 Olympics gold medal winners. However, the celebration was cut short as the stadium was thrown into disarray with Moroccan fans entering the playing arena and throwing bottles and other objects on the Argentine players. It was also alleged that they also set off fire near the Argentine bench.
“Unbelievable 😳” – Lionel Messi on Instagram after the Argentina-Morocco match at the Olympics was restarted and Argentina’s goal was taken back for offsides, resulting in a win for Morocco. pic.twitter.com/E1f6iJXBYm
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 24, 2024
As a result, the referees had to stop the match for time being. After order was restored in Saint-Etienne and the teams had left the field, they discovered that the match had not been completed but suspended by officials.
🤯 INCROYABLE SÉQUENCE : l’arbitre d’Argentine-Maroc annule le deuxième but argentin… deux heures après la suspension de la rencontre !
Les joueurs sont revenus sur le terrain pour disputer les trois dernières minutes et le Maroc s’est finalement imposé 2-1 #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/1XswW8uXin
— Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) July 24, 2024
Both the teams returned to the stadium after 2 hours when stadium was emptied to play the remaining 3 minutes of the game behind closed doors. Interestingly, the equalizer by Argentina was ruled as no goal as VAR showed off side position for Cristian Medina. At the end, Morocco got crucial 3 points to kickstart their Olympic campaign on a high in a highly chaotic match.
QUE MIERDA HACEN pic.twitter.com/B32BpkIL3q
— RC (@rivercopero_) July 24, 2024
Notable players for Argentina included Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez and captain Nicolas Otamendi. Star attraction Lionel Messi is not a part of the Olympic bound squad.
In other results of the day- Spain defeated Uzbekistan 1-2, Egypt and Dominican Republic game ending in a draw and New Zealand defeating Guinea 2-1.
