VAR And Pitch Invasion Takes Centre Stage As Morocco Defeats Argentina At The Olympics Despite A Late Equalizer

Written By Onyeka Daniel

It was an absolute game of chaos and goals at the ongoing Olympics tournament as Argentina faced off against Morocco in the male football event in the group stage (group B) at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Etienne. Crowd trouble forced the first football match of the Olympics to be delayed by more than an hour.

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Argentina, one of the favourites to win the men’s Olympic football tournament – incredibly saw a 106th-minute equaliser against Morocco to make it 2-2 officially ruled out more than two hours after the goal had been scored, as the Albiceleste’s hopes of avoiding a third straight group-stage elimination at the Games suffered a setback.

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The game was played at a fast pace, but neither team was able to register a shot on target in the opening 30 minutes, with captain Nicolás Otamendi, one of Argentina’s three overage players, also fresh from winning the Copa America, had the best chance during that period when he headed wide from Thiago Almada’s floated free-kick.

The deadlock was finally broken before the half time break, and it was Akhomach who played a key role in the goal as his outrageous backheel released Bilal El Khannouss, whose low cross was turned home smartly by Soufiane Rahimi, despite Rulli diving at his feet.

Soon after the break, former Barcelona winger Akhomach was the architect of Morocco’s second goal, running Otamendi ragged before being pushed over by Julio Soler, with Rahimi stepping up to score the resulting penalty confidently and double his tally in the 51st minute.

Argentina head coach Javier Mascherano tried to shake things up, by introducing Giuliano Simeone, son of Atlético Madrid coach, Diego, replacing Kevin Zenón. For Morocco’s coach, Tarik Sektioui, he chose to take off Akhomach, with Abde Ezzalzouli coming in.

In the 68th minute, Soler made amends for his earlier penalty concession with a well placed cross that was converted by Simeone at the back post, setting up a pulsating finale. Morocco’s goalkeeper denied Julián Álvarez late on in normal time before an astonishing 15 minutes of added time were signalled at the end of a bad-tempered second half.

However, after looking like they’d weathered the storm, the Atlas Lions saw their dreams of a historic victory seemingly shattered at the death when Cristian Medina nodded in from virtually on the goalline after Argentina had hit the bar twice in the build-up to the goal.

In the aftermath of that goal, a number of cups and bottles were then thrown at the celebrating Argentina side before what appeared to be a flare landed near the players and coaching staff.A number of fans In Morocco colours also ran on to the pitch. The referee immediately took the players off the pitch and a message on a big screen in the stadium said:

“Your session has been suspended please make your way to the nearest exit.”However, it was then reported the final three minutes remaining in the match would be played in an empty stadium with no fans present. After two whole hours, play resumed.

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But before the match could be played to a finish, it was announced that Argentina’s potential equaliser was actually ruled out by a video assistant referee decision that showed a player was offside before Medina scored. It definitely showed another side the use of VAR. Elsewhere, Spain defeated Uzbekistan 2-1, Egypt and the Dominican Republic played out a goalless draw and New Zealand defeated Guinea 2-1.

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