The Moroccan team defeats the Argentine team in a match that was stopped for 2 hours.
The Moroccans took the lead at the end of the first half with Rahimi. In the second half, Akhomach was brought down by Soler in the penalty area, the center forward 9 went to take the penalty and scored his second goal of the game. Javier Mascherano passed to Simeone, who reduced the deficit for the Argentine team 12 minutes after coming on. The Argentine team tried to equalize, but were hampered by great saves from Munir. At the end of the second half, the referee gave 15 minutes of injury time, the Argentine team went all out and managed to equalize in the last play, with two balls hitting the crossbar before Medina scored the goal that made the score equal.
Unhappy with the result and the extra time, Moroccan fans invaded the field and threw objects onto the field. The players, referees and coaching staff went to the locker rooms and the game was interrupted. The game was only restarted almost 2 hours later. Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg called offside and the game was changed to 2-1. He allowed four more minutes to be played and the Moroccans came out on top.
The controversy and confusion
Well, Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg signaled 15 minutes of added time at the end of the second half. And with that, the Argentine team went after the Moroccans and managed to score in the last kick, in an almost unbelievable play. There were 5 shots in total and 2 balls hit the crossbar until Medina temporarily equalized the score. The game was interrupted right after the goal and several Moroccan fans invaded the field before the players even left.
In addition to the invasions shortly after the Argentine team tied the game, fans of the Moroccan team threw bombs and objects at the Argentine players, who left the field in a hurry to avoid being hit. The game was interrupted and the stadium was evacuated by the organizers. And for security reasons, the goal play was not reviewed by the video referees and the game was stopped with the score at 2-2.
After Argentina’s second goal, Moroccan fans threw bombs and other objects at the South American players, who quickly left the field to avoid being hit. Several people also invaded the pitch and stadium security had a hard time controlling the invaders’ tempers.
The players, the team and the referees left the pitch much later than scheduled, due to the lack of security at the stadium, which was evident with the mass invasion of the pitch after the equalizing goal. The decision to return to the game was made more than 1h30 after the stoppage and, after returning to the pitch, the referee went to the monitor, reviewed the play and confirmed that Amione was offside in the play that led to Medina’s goal.
The match was therefore confirmed with a score of 2-1, the Moroccan team withstood the pressure and came out with the victory in the match.