Morocco fans rush field, cause 2-hour delay as Argentina loses wild Olympic opener
Argentina's under-23 team was stunned in the opening match of the men's soccer tournament at the Paris Olympics, losing 2-1 to Morocco in a contest that was delayed two hours due to crowd trouble in Saint-Etienne.
The South American side appeared to have secured a dramatic draw after scoring deep into stoppage time of Wednesday's game. But a delayed Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decision disallowed Cristian Medina's late goal.
The celebration of the presumptive equalizer was marred by fans throwing projectiles onto the field in Medina and Argentina's direction after the goal. Some fans also trespassed onto the field and appeared to throw projectiles at Argentina's bench.
The match official halted the game due to the disruptions and the game seemed to be over at 2-2 after players left the pitch.
However, organizers said the game wasn't officially over and kept players at the stadium to potentially restart the match. Fans were asked to leave.
Medina had scored a minute after the allotted 15 minutes of extra time following a wild sequence in which the ball hit the crossbar twice before the Argentine midfielder headed it in.
After spectators left the stadium and shortly before play resumed, VAR said that Argentina was offside in the buildup to the goal and ruled it out. Three minutes were added and Morocco held onto its narrow lead to secure an unexpected victory over two-time gold medalist Argentina.
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