Former Liverpool star Javier Mascherano was caught up in chaos at the Olympics as his Argentina side were forced to flee the pitch amid a pitch invasion.
Although the opening ceremony of the Paris games are still yet to take place, the football competition has already begun, with the first round of fixtures taking place this week. Argentina was pitted against Morocco in their opening game in Group B, with former Reds midfielder Mascherano managing his nation.
He didn’t get off to the best of starts though, with Argentina falling 2-1 down and needing to find a late equalizer to rescue a point. They seemed to have found it deep in the 16th minute of stoppage time when Cristian Medina managed to turn the ball home after relentless pressure on the Morocco goal.
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That sparked anger from the African nation’s fans inside the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne though. Supporters were seen racing past stewards and invading the pitch, leading the referee to send both sets of players off the pitch.
Riot police were deployed in front of the tunnel, although it didn’t stop missiles being thrown from the stands as Argentina’s players ran for safety. A message was displayed on the big screen in the stadium telling fans: “Your session has been suspended please make your way to the nearest exit.”
It was then reported that the final three minutes remaining in the game would be played with no fans in attendance, although it was more than an hour before play resumed. To make matters worse for Argentina and Mascherano, their goal had been ruled out by VAR.
Once the players did return, Morocco managed to hang on to their lead to claim victory and move top of their group. There was evidence of a hostile atmosphere from early on in the game after Morocco fans could be heard booing Argentina’s national anthem.
And there was more panic elsewhere at the Olympics after a bomb scare before Spain’s meeting with Uzbekistan in Paris. According to Bild , an unattended bag was spotted between the Parc des Prince and Roland Garros, with local police services cordoning off the area.
The game was also hit by ticketing issues which left thousands of fans stuck outside the stadium, with many of them missing the start of the game – something Liverpool fans will know all too much about after the chaos before the 2022 Champions League final.
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