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Morocco fans crashed the pitch to protest a late goal by Argentina at the opening match of the Paris Olympics men’s soccer tournament, an angry and bizarre scene that left the game suspended with only minutes remaining.
Objects were thrown and Morocco fans were tackled by security on the field at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne after Argentina tied it 2-2 with a goal from Cristian Medina the 16th minute of added time.
Officials later overturned the Argentina goal that prompted Morocco fans to invade pitch and pause play and ordered play resumed nearly two hours later.
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.
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 potentially 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 time added on.
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 Giuliano 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.
Meanwhile, 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.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.
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