A fan invasion in the opening match of the Olympic football tournament between Argentina and Morocco on Wednesday caused chaos, with Argentina eventually beaten 2-1.
Argentina’s Cristian Medina scored deep in injury time to salvage what looked like a 2-2 draw, but with VAR having ruled out Argentina’s equaliser, Morocco secured a controversial 2-1 victory.
There were images of some Argentina players flinching when what appeared to be a flare was thrown. Bottles and cups were strewn over the field by the end.
Fans stormed pitch and threw bottles as Argentina v Morocco descended into chaos to kick off Olympics
The Olympics website also showed the match as “interrupted.”
About an hour after the incident, organisers at the venue said the match was not officially over. Players were being kept at the stadium to resume play. Video boards informed fans the match was suspended and they had to leave the stadium.
The boxscore on the Olympics’ media website said there would be a video review of Medina’s goal to check for possible offsides.
Morocco had led the game 2-0 before Argentina’s fight back.
Giuliano Simeone scored in the 68th minute and Medina leveled the game deep into stoppage time.
Argentina were booed by spectators for Enzo Fernández’s video controversy labelled by the French Football Federation as “racist and discriminatory.”
The gold medal winners in 2004 and 2008 failed to display their best play despite lining up recent Copa América winners Julián Álvarez, Nicolás Otamendi and Gerónimo Rulli.
Soufiane Rahimi put Morocco ahead as Achraf Hakimi set him up from the right after a superb passing move in the final seconds of the first half.
Rahimi doubled the advantage and netted his second from the penalty spot in the 49th minute before Simeone pulled one back for Javier Mascherano’s side in the 68th.
Medina then found the net 16 minutes into stoppage time before fans stormed the pitch and objects were thrown at players as chaos erupted in the French eastern city.
Israel’s national anthem was loudly jeered before the team kicked off play in a 1-1 draw with Mali later in the day.
The game began with a massive security presence outside the stadium amid an increasingly strained international climate that has Paris’ safety efforts squarely in the spotlight.
The Israel team arrived under a heavy police escort, with motorbike riders at the front and about a dozen riot police vans following behind. Armed police officers patrolled the Parc des Princes stadium, one with a rifle resting on his shoulder. France’s Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, and Paris police chief Laurent Nunez arrived at the stadium at about 7:30 p.m.
The atmosphere outside the venue was calm, however. Fans from both countries mingled, holding up flags and posing for photos.
Mali fans sang proudly when their anthem was played first. When it came to Israel’s anthem, boos and whistles immediately rang out. The stadium speaker system playing the anthems then got notably louder in what seemed like an effort to drown out the jeers.
Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, left, challenges Argentina forward Julián Álvarez in the men’s group B match on Wednesday
Once play began, Israeli players were booed each time they touched the ball. Security officials intervened in what appeared to be a heated argument between some fans.
The commotion occurred near where one woman was holding a Palestinian flag. Two other people holding Palestine flags then stood next to the woman.
The game finished 1-1, with Israel taking the lead after an own goal from defender Hamidou Diallo in the 57th minute. Mali equalized a few minutes later on Cheickna Doumbia’s powerful header, drawing wild celebrations from the large contingent of Mali fans.
France beat the United States 3-0 thanks to a second-half barrage as the teams began play in Group A.
After a scoreless first half, the floodgates opened when Alexandre Lacazette, one of France’s senior players in the squad, lashed a shot past U.S. keeper Patrick Schulte to make it 1-0.
Michael Olise, who just made a high-profile move from Crystal Palace to Bayern Munich, doubled the lead soon after and Loïc Badé smashed home a header before full-time to give Thierry Henry’s host side the opening win and top spot in Group A.
Before finding its stride, France had to battle hard against a U.S. team that saw a shot from Djordje Mihailovic hit the cross bar when the game was still goalless. Lacazette’s goal came almost immediately after.
The United States, making a first Olympic appearance in men’s soccer since 2008, is in third behind New Zealand, which beat Guinea 2-1 in the other Group A match of the day.
Spain, who struggled to find their pace in the opening stages of the game, took the lead in the 29th minute against Uzbekistan with a close-range finish from Marc Pubill off Abel Ruiz’s flicked ball.
Uzbekistan, cheered by an ecstatic crowd, equalised just before halftime thanks to Eldor Shomurodov’s penalty following a VAR review for a Pau Cubarsí foul.
Spain wasted a golden chance to restore the lead after the break when Sergio Gómez’s penalty effort was saved by Abduvohid Nematov, but the Real Sociedad player redeemed himself and found the net in the 62nd minute to earn Spain their first three points in Group C.
Meanwhile, Ben Waine scored the go-ahead goal and New Zealand won their Group A opener 2-1 over Guinea in Nice.
New Zealand were awarded a penalty in the 24th minute, but Guinea goalkeeper Soumaila Sylla dove to punch away captain Matthew Garbett’s attempt. New Zealand quickly recovered and Garbett scored a minute later for a 1-0 lead.
Aliou Balde appeared to equalise for Guinea in the 62nd minute, but it was ruled offside after video review. The team finally broke through with Amadou Diawara’s game-tying goal in the 72nd.
New Zealand answered a minute later with Waine’s goal from out in front.
It is the fourth time that New Zealand are making an Olympic appearance. The OlyWhites, as they are known, advanced to the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Games before falling to host Japan on penalties.
Guinea were making their Olympic debut.
In Group C in Nantes, Egypt and the Dominican Republic played to a scoreless draw.
Peter Gonzalez’s apparent goal for the Dominican Republic early in the match was called back because of a foul in the run-up.
Egypt have been to the Olympics 13 times, the most by an African nation, but have never finished higher than fourth. The team made the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Games.
It was hoped that Mohamed Salah would join Egypt as a senior player for the Olympics, but he declined to focus on Liverpool’s preseason. The team is captained by Mohamed Elneny, the former Arsenal midfielder.
The Dominican Republic were making their Olympic debut.
Shunsuke Mito and Shota Fujio scored two goals each in Japan’s 5-0 rout of Paraguay in Group D.
Japan took full advantage of Paraguay being reduced to 10 men in Bordeaux when Wilder Vera was sent off in the 25th by scoring four goals in the second half. Vera was shown red following a VAR review of a foul on Yu Hirakawa.
By that point, Mito had already opened the scoring in the 18th. He added a second in the 63rd.
Rihito Yamamoto made it 3-0 six minutes later and Fujio, who came on for Mito in the in the 73rd, rounded off the win with goals in the 81st and 87th.
Substitute Ali Jasim came on to seal a 2-1 comeback win for Iraq against Ukraine in Group B.
Ukraine had led through Valentyn Rubchynskyi’s opener in the 53rd in Lyon, but Iraq was quickly given the chance to level from the penalty spot.
Aymen Hussein converted in the 56th and Ali struck the winner in the 75th.
Iraq is top of the group, level with Morocco on three points.
Credit: Reuters / AP
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