Pitch invasion, 16-minute injury time, thieves and more – Everything that happened in Argentina’s controversial defeat against Morocco

From late VAR controversy to 16 minutes of injury time and thieves, Argentina vs Morocco at the Olympics had it all!

Pitch invasion, 16-minute injury time, thieves and more – Everything that happened in Argentina’s controversial defeat against Morocco

Morocco won 2-1 against Argentina after a late goal for La Albiceleste was ruled out by VAR (Via X/@brfootball)

Argentina opened their campaign at 2024 Paris Olympics with an unexpected and ‘controversial’ defeat against Morocco. 2-1 read the final score as VAR overturned a late equalizer for La Albiceleste hours after scoring the goal!

A closer look at the build-up and conduct during the game reveals that it was easily one of the most bizarre and controversial football matches in recent times. To start things off, VAR chalked out a late equalizer by Guiliano Simeone 120 minutes after the goal was scored in the 16th minute of injury time. Fans stormed the pitch, forcing the referee to suspend proceedings for over two hours.

This was followed by an outburst of emotion within the Argentine camp, where head coach Javier Mascherano, Nicolas Otamendi, and many others voiced their disagreement and protest at the same. Eventually, tensions subsided and Argentina was forced to accept defeat. They take on Iraq on the 27th of July in desperate need of a win.

Javier Mascherano claims that they were ‘robbed’ ahead of Group B opener

As if VAR controversy and pitch invasions weren’t enough, former Argentina International and head coach Javier Mascherano claimed that the Argentine camp was robbed ahead of their opener. 

Yesterday, they entered our training and robbed us. Almada was missing a watch, rings and everything at training at the Olympics.
Javier Mascherano told a reporter
Javier Mascherano, Kevin Zenon & Oussama Targhalline
Javier Mascherano claims that the Argentine camp was robbed ahead of their game vs Morocco (Via X/@Argentina)

The manager added that he did not want to make a fuss of the same straight after training. Things got so out of hand in the final minutes of the second half that Mascherano labeled the events as a ‘circus’. The 40-year-old was backed up by his senior-most player Nicolas Otamendi, who labelled the officiating and level of security at the Olympics as a big disgrace.

He revealed that the players were made to wait in the dressing room for more than 90 minutes, all while being uninformed of the proceedings. Otamendi added that neither they nor their opposition were willing to continue playing after the fans stormed the pitch.

Lionel Messi, who was watching on from his home also expressed his frustration in an Instagram story. The Copa America champion and former Olympic gold medalist claimed that the match proceedings were completely ‘insane’.

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