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(Photo credit: Reuters/Thaier Al-Sudani)
PARIS — Fans invaded and caused chaos during the opening match of the Olympic soccer tournament between Argentina and Morocco on Wednesday, and play was suspended after the score was tied at 2-2 and a VAR review showed Argentina lost 2-1.
Argentina’s Cristian Medina scored in injury time to tie the game at 2-2, but the referee ruled the goal offside about two hours after play was suspended.
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.
After VAR completed its review and ruled the goal invalid, the two teams returned to the field to complete the game in an empty stadium, which lasted 3 minutes and 15 seconds.
“I don’t remember anything like this happening at this level, where the game is stopped for an hour and a half, warm-up for 10 minutes and then three games start,” said Argentina coach Javier Mascherano.
“What happened on the court was a scandal. This was not a community championship. This was the Olympics.”
Organisers later said they were working with the relevant parties to understand the cause of the pitch invasion and determine appropriate measures.
Soufiane Rahimi scored twice for Morocco, the second from the penalty spot early in the second half, before Giuliano Simeone pulled one back for the 2004 and 2008 gold medalists in the 68th minute.
Hosts France then got off to a strong start in Marseille, scoring twice in eight minutes after the hour mark, before Loic Bader’s late header gave France a comfortable 3-0 win over the United States.
Captain Alexandre Lacazette opened the scoring with a superb long-range shot that sent the huge crowd into a frenzy before Michael Olise doubled Thierry Henry’s side’s lead with a fine finish.
After the drama in Saint-Etienne, organisers should be breathing a sigh of relief as Israel’s opening Group D match against Mali at the Parc des Princes in Paris went off without a hitch.
The 1-1 draw was played under tight security amid heightened geopolitical tensions.
Diallo Hamidou’s own goal gave Israel the lead 11 minutes into the second half, but Doumbia Cheickna equalized for the African side with a brilliant header in the 63rd minute.
Earlier at the same venue, Spain beat Uzbekistan 2-1 in their opening Group C match despite struggling in the early stages of the match.
Spain, which won silver at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, took the lead against Uzbekistan in the 29th minute through Marc Poubyl’s close-range shot.
Amid cheers from their fans, Uzbekistan equalised just before half-time with a penalty from Eldor Shomurodov, after VAR had reviewed a foul on Paul Kubarci.
Spain squandered a great chance to regain the lead after half-time when Sergio Gomez’s penalty was saved by Abdulwohid Nematov, but the Real Sociedad player saved face by scoring in the 62nd minute.
“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.”
——Reuters, on-site media correspondent
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