Lionel Messi shocked by controversial call against Argentina in Paris Olympics
The opening day of the football event at the Paris Olympics saw a dramatic match between Argentina and Morocco. The match played in Saint-Etienne was a roller coaster of emotions as a late goal by the South American giants was disallowed two hours later.
Argentina was down 1-2 during the injury time, at 90+16’ Cristian Medina scored an equalizer. But the goal was ruled out after the play was suspended for two hours.
Also Read: Argentina wins record 16th Copa America title
Why was the play suspended during the Argentina vs Morocco match in the Paris Olympics?
The match was suspended because, just after an equalizer came from Medina, the spectators started throwing bottles, and plastic cups and several spectators entered the pitch. Thus, the referee promptly blew the whistle to halt the match.
This outrage of fans was due to a controversial ‘racist’ song Argentinan players sang attacking France players during their Copa America title-winning celebration in the team bus.
Meanwhile, both teams left the pitch after the whistle was blown, however, the referee had not blown for full-time. The outcome of the match was completely unclear until both the teams came back to the ground to play for 3 more minutes. This time stands were emptied of spectators.
Argentina’s football legend, Lionel Messi, took to social media as he was stunned by the decision taken by the referee. Taking to his Instagram story Messi wrote “Insolito”. This means ‘unbelievable’ or ‘unusual’ in English. Notably, Lionel Messi was not part of Argentina’s Olympic squad.
Argentina’s manager Javier Mascherano was also stunned by what happened during the match. He didn’t hesitate to describe this event as the biggest circus he’d ever seen in his life.
Meanwhile, Argentina is one of the strongest teams in the Paris Olympics football event. There was speculation that strong Argentina could win the Olympic Gold for the third time. Earlier, they had won Gold in 2004 and with Lionel Messi in 2008.
Argentina’s performance was surprisingly dull, considering they had Copa America champions Nicholas Otamendi, Julian Alvarez, and Geronimo Rulli in their lineup.
