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PARIS: Fans invaded and caused chaos during the opening match of the Olympic football tournament between Argentina and Morocco on Wednesday, with Argentina eventually losing 2-1 after the match was suspended with the score tied at 2-2 and after a VAR review.
Argentina’s Cristian Medina scored in injury time to tie the game at 2-2, but the referee made the decision about two hours after play was suspended, when the two teams returned to play in an empty stadium.
The two teams played for 3 minutes and 15 seconds after VAR completed its review and ruled the goal invalid.
When order was restored in Saint-Etienne and the teams left the pitch following the fan invasion, they discovered the match had not been completed but had been suspended by the referee.
The venue manager told Reuters the match had been suspended and a decision on whether to complete it was under discussion.
Just before 7pm local time, the teams returned to the field for a second warm-up in preparation for the final minutes of play.
The 2004 and 2008 gold medallists are not in great form despite being on par with recent Copa America winners Julian Alvarez, Nicolas Otamendi and Geronimo Rulli.
In the final seconds before the end of the first half, Achraf Hakimi passed the ball from the right and Soufiane Rahimi assisted to help Morocco take the lead.
Rahimi doubled the lead in the 49th minute and scored a second goal from the penalty spot before Giuliano Simeone pulled one back for Javier Mascherano’s side in the 68th minute.
Medina scored a goal in the 16th minute of stoppage time, after which fans stormed the pitch, throwing objects at the players and chaos broke out in the eastern French city.
Spain beat Uzbekistan 2-1 in their opening Group C match at the Parc des Princes.
Spanish players celebrate a goal. — Reuters
Spain, which had been unable to find its form in the early stages of the match, took the lead against Uzbekistan in the 29th minute when Marc Pubill scored from close range after receiving a shot from Abel Ruiz.
Amid the cheers of a frenetic crowd, Uzbekistan equalised just before half-time with a penalty from Eldor Shomurodov, after VAR had reviewed a foul on Paul Kubarci.
“For me, Uzbekistan was no surprise,” Spain coach Santi Denia said. “We achieved our goal but it was a very difficult match and now it’s time to raise the level. That’s my job, I have to get the message across better.”
“I told the players at halftime to improve the circulation of the ball, which is what we lacked. We have to improve on that. If we do that, we will have more options to get the win.”
Spain squandered a great chance to restore their lead after half-time when Sergio Gomez’s penalty was saved by Abduwohid Nematov, but the Sociedad player saved face with a goal in the 62nd minute. — Reuters
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