By Janina Nuno Rios
PARIS (Reuters) – Argentina’s Cristian Medina scored a last-gasp goal to salvage a 2-2 draw against Morocco in Saint-Etienne before fans invaded the pitch on the first day of action in Group B of men’s soccer at the Olympics on Wednesday.
Argentina were booed by spectators for Enzo Fernandez’s video controversy labelled by the French Football Federation as “racist and discriminatory”.
The gold medal winners in 2004 and 2008 failed to display their best play despite lining up recent Copa America winners Julian Alvarez, Nicolas Otamendi and Geronimo Rulli.
Soufiane Rahimi put Morocco ahead as Achraf Hakimi set him up from the right after a superb passing move in the final seconds of the first half.
Rahimi doubled the advantage and netted his second from the penalty spot in the 49th minute before Giuliano Simeone pulled one back for Javier Mascherano’s side in the 68th.
Medina then found the net 16 minutes into stoppage time before fans stormed the pitch and objects were thrown at players as chaos erupted in the French eastern city.
Meanwhile, Spain, who struggled to find their pace in the opening stages of the game, took the lead in the 29th minute against Uzbekistan with a close-range finish from Marc Pubill off Abel Ruiz’s flicked ball.
Uzbekistan, cheered by an ecstatic crowd, equalised just before halftime thanks to Eldor Shomurodov’s penalty following a VAR review for a Pau Cubarsi foul.
Spain wasted a golden chance to restore the lead after the break when Sergio Gomez’s penalty effort was saved by Abduvohid Nematov, but the Real Sociedad player redeemed himself and found the net in the 62nd minute to earn Spain their first three points in Group C.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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