Argentina made a disastrous start to their Paris Olympics campaign. It was a dramatic occasion in Saint-Etienne where Morocco defeated the reigning World Champions 2-1 in the first game of Group B.
Following the loss, Argentina coach Javier Mascherano revealed that some rival fans invaded his training session and robbed some belongings of the players. He also slammed the Olympic organising committee, describing the opening match as a “circus”.
Mascherano was irked with the crowd, which mostly included Morocco fans. They started throwing bottles from the stands after Argentina’s Cristian Medina scored a late equalizer but the goal was overruled later. Some fans also invaded the pitch, leading the security personnel to intervene.
“I can’t explain what happened. We spent about an hour and a half in the dressing room where they never told us what was going to happen. The Moroccan captains didn’t want to play, we didn’t want to continue, and fans threw things at us. It’s the biggest circus I’ve ever seen in my life, I don’t know why they spent an hour and 20 minutes reviewing a play,” Javier Mascherano told reporters, as per Reuters.
About the training scandal, Javier Mascherano was quoted as saying by CBS Sports, “Yesterday, they entered our training and robbed us. Thiago Almada was missing a watch, rings and everything at training at the Olympics. We didn’t want to say anything after the training.”
Argentina had almost secured a 2-2 draw but Cristian Medina’s header in the extra time was adjudged off-side after a VAR check. When Argentine players were celebrating the goal, the crowd at the stadium caused trouble, forcing match referee Glenn Nyberg to blow the final whistle.
The footballers were taken off the pitch and a text on the giant screen read, “Your session has been suspended, please leave the stadium.” Two hours later, both teams returned to the field to play the remaining three minutes. The referee disallowed the goal by Cristian Medina and Morocco finished the Olympics opener with three points.
Argentina will be determined to bounce back in the upcoming match at the Paris Olympics. They have built a formidable squad featuring quite a few players from the 2022 World Cup-winning team. In their next game, Argentina will face Iraq.
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