"Unbelievable" is a short status line written on a black background posted by Argentine superstar Lionel Messi right after the match between U23 Argentina and U23 Morocco in the opening match of the 2024 Paris Olympics ended.
Meanwhile, Mr. Javier Mascherano - head coach of U23 Argentina - affirmed: "This is the biggest farce I have ever seen in my life."
The competition took place on the evening of July 24 (Vietnam time). Because they are two candidates to win the gold medal, both teams launched their strongest lineups and entered the match cautiously. The highlight in the first minutes was that the two sides continuously collided.
Despite being rated higher, U23 Argentina was led 2-0 by Morocco. It wasn't until the 68th minute that Giuliano Simeone scored a goal to equalize 1-2 to give Argentina U23 hope of winning points.
Controversy broke out when the referee gave the second half 15 minutes of extra time. Right in the last minute of extra time, Argentina U23 launched the final attack and Cristian Medina accurately headed the ball from close range to score a 2-2 equalizer for Argentina U23.
This made Morocco's enthusiastic fans angry, continuously throwing bottles, flares and flooding onto the field. Players from both teams ran into the tunnel to avoid the crowd.
At this time, many international news sites showed the match as completed. However, the Paris 2024 Olympic homepage announced that the competition had been postponed.
The referee did not let the match end but let VAR check Cristian Medina's goal and asked players from both teams to wait in the dressing room.
After nearly 2 hours, when the stadium was empty and everyone thought Argentina U23 had won a valuable point, the referee announced that Medina's goal was not recognized because a player with a blue and white striped shirt had jumped. offside when participating in an attack situation.
Argentina U23 and Morocco U23 players had to go on the field to play 3 more minutes of extra time. In the end, U23 Morocco won with a score of 2-1.
This is the first time since VAR was officially applied by the World Football Federation (FIFA), a situation was "whisked" after nearly 2 hours.
ESPN wrote: "Many people believe that it took VAR more than 90 minutes to determine that Argentina U23's goal was invalid. However, that was determined as soon as this semi-automatic offside technology take part.
Because Medina's goal caused an extreme reaction from fans on both sides, making the decision that the goal was invalid at that moment could have caused additional crowd problems.
The organizers may only feel safer when the field is cleared and the stadium is closed before announcing the disallowed goal through VAR and the match restarts for another 3 minutes."
