Call it footballing justice. Or call it a blatant embarrassment. What enfolded today was downright absurd in each and every way you see it. The Olympics haven’t even officially started yet, and we have already seen a security breach followed by a never-seen-before-in football refereeing moment.
The Football matches at the Summer Games always start before the official starting date of the Games. And that’s to give the footballers the required amount of time to recover between times. And so, with the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony scheduled on July 26, the first round of football matches kicked off today with Argentina vs Morocco today. But no one could’ve predicted how the match would play out.
106th Minute Equaliser
After conceding two shock goals, Argentina were on the verge of a comeback. The officials added on a record FIFTEEN minutes at the end of regulation time with the score being 2-1 in favour of Morocco. It was almost as if Argentina were being given a grace period to get their 2nd goal and equalise. The netizens were absolutely furious and so were all Morocco fans. Many felt it was undeserved for a team to defend for 15 additional minutes.
And their worst fears came true when Argentina’s Cristian Medina equalised in the 106th minute! Now many would feel this was the most unexpected thing that could happen. But what followed was something that has never been done in football.
Pitch Invasion
As soon as La Albiceleste scored their second goal, Fans of both teams broke security protocols and invaded the pitch. According to reports on the internet, several objects were being thrown towards the players as they were being evacuated. It was then that the players understood that the match was suspended and not actually over. But, there was still some time for the game to be played. 3 minutes to be precise. And so, it was decided that the remainder of the match(3 minutes) would be played behind closed doors after all fans were out of the stadium.
The Offside Call
But guess what? There was a final twist in the game still. Moroccan prayers were answered when after almost a 1-2 hour break, the VAR officials decided that the Argentinian equaliser in the 106th minute was in fact, Offside and it was subsequently disalowed! And so, when the game finally restarted with 3 minutes left to play, the scoreline read 2-1 as Morocco managed to hold out Argentina this time around to secure a famous victory in the opening match of their Olympics campaign.
“It’s the biggest circus I’ve ever seen in my life”- Javier Mascherano
The Argentina U-23 coach, and former Argentina player Javier Mascherano who is in charge of the Olympics squad labelled the whole incident as the “biggest circus” he has ever seen in his life. While he might feel so, almost everyone watching the game felt that it was Morocco who was being wronged and the end result of the match was right. That Morocco did in fact deserve to win the match. The additional 16 minutes that the World Champions got are surely a matter of suspicion as it seldom happens in a football game.
But it is equally true that the fan invasion is a disgrace for the Olympics as it shouldn’t have ever happened in the first place. In a parallel world, the Offside decision would’ve been immediate and the match would’ve continued its normal course, instead of being stretched to 4 hours and 11 minutes in total at the end of the “final” Final whistle.
As it was just the opening game of the Summer Games, there was considerably less crowd and the same cannot be expected in future games which means security should be strictly monitored. The Olympics is yet to officially begin and we already have had exhilarating football and major drama breaking out. If this is going to be a regular theme at the Summer Games, sports fans are in for a ride over the next fortnight.
