Argentina U23 coach Javier Mascherano labelled the occurrence that left his team on the wrong end of a 2-1 result against Morocco in the men’s Olympic football tournament opener on Wednesday, “a disgrace” and “a circus”.
Argentina — two-time gold medallists — believed they had fought back for a 2-2 draw in the Group B contest when Cristian Medina netted in the 16th minute of added time, however, the players were taken off the pitch before the referee’s full time whistle as crowd trouble came about.
For a while, the outcome of the match was unknown, with the official IOC website showing it had ended but both teams filed out two hours later to battle three more minutes in an empty stadium as spectators were cleared out.
Medina’s goal was also eventually ruled out for offside after a VAR review as Morocco held on for maximum points.
“I have not been a coach for long, but never in my career as a player have I seen a situation like that,” said Mascherano.
“It is a circus. But that is how it is. We cannot control it. I told the boys that now we need to look forward, try to get the six points that will allow us to qualify and that all this should fill us with energy and anger for what we have ahead of us.”
Mascherano – who was in Argentina’s winning team in 2004 and 2008 – said the captains of the two teams had come to an agreement not to restart the game after Medina’s goal, as projectiles including bottles and plastic cups were thrown and spectators invaded the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard turf.
“The captains decided not to play on at that point, and as time went on different versions [of events] started to appear,” he added.
“The annoying thing is that the match was suspended. If you are going to review something, review it just after the incident,” he said of Medina’s disallowed goal, which appeared to be the equaliser after Giuliano Simeone had earlier pulled one back.
“At no point were we told the goal was not valid.”
Speaking of the decision to bring the players back out later on to complete the match, he stated:
“They called FIFA. I don’t know who took it, but everyone was involved.
“It is a disgrace that this should happen and poison the tournament. This wouldn’t even happen in a neighbourhood tournament. It’s pathetic.
“Beyond the Olympic spirit, the organisation needs to be up to standard and at the moment, unfortunately, it is not.”
Argentina will play their second match on Saturday in Lyon against Iraq, with Morocco trading tackles against Ukraine in Saint-Etienne on the same day.
