Javier Mascherano, Argentine’s football coach at the Paris Olympics, labelled the scenes in Saint Etienne a ‘disgrace’ and a ‘circus’ after the players were forced off for nearly two hours by a crowd invasion. Once the dust settled, Mascherano, who won Olympic golds in Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008), was left to reflect on a 2-1 defeat to Morocco, which damaged Argentina’s hopes of progress from a group that also contains Iraq and Ukraine.
“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, whose wards had come back from 2-0 down to snatch what appeared to be a last-gasp equaliser through Cristian Medina in time added on to the 15 additional minutes of injury time at the end of the second half.
“It is a circus. But that is how it is. We cannot control it.
“It is a disgrace that this should happen and poison the tournament. This wouldn’t even happen in a neighbourhood tournament. It’s pathetic.”
Medina’s ‘goal’ went in not long after 4pm, and was followed by bottles and other projectiles raining down on the pitch, some near the celebrating Argentine players. A group of Moroccan supporters also invaded the playing area, forcing riot police to step in and escort the players off the pitch. Minutes later, a message flashed on the stadium’s big screen. “Your session has been suspended please make your way to the nearest exit.”
The players reemerged into an empty stadium at 5:45pm and warmed up before the last three minutes kicked off at 6pm. By then, the referee had already gone to the pitch-side screen and chalked off Argentina’s equaliser, after VAR spotted a player offside.
Morocco’s goals came from the boot of Soufiane Rahimi, either side of half-time, while Giuliano Simeone, son of Diego Simeone – Argentina legend and currently Atletico Madrid coach – pulled one back for one of the tournament favourites. Ultimately, though, the on-field action was merely a footnote on a day when the crowd behaviour asked worrying questions about the tournament’s organisation