Alvarez wanted to lead Argentina to win their first match in the Olympics in the absence of their all-time greatest player, Lionel Messi. But, things didn’t necessarily go as planned. Argentina suffered a tough loss in their first game of the Paris Olympics yesterday due to a refereeing call by VAR that saw the game turn on its head.
Would Argentina have won if the call had sided with them instead of their opponents, Morocco? Maybe, maybe not. The only thing we know for sure is that Alvarez, the Manchester City winger, and his team are now zero points in their Group — meaning they could potentially be out of the Olympics before they even make it to the knockout stages.
Argentina Loses Olympics Opening Match
The Paris Olympics kicked off on Wednesday with the opening ceremony down the streets of the French capital. Teams, individuals, and spectators all joined to celebrate this incredible international competition taking place in this romantic European city, with some teams noting they had their first day of games, matches, and races the next day. Numerous matches were played all across the country on Thursday, where others had to wait a few more days to get started. Alongside the Argentina game, Uzbekistan faced off against Spain, Egypt played the Dominican Republic to a 0-0 draw, Guinea was edged out barely by New Zealand 2-1, and Japan destroyed Paraguay 5-0.
But, Argentina was nowhere near as fruitful as Japan. They ended up surprisingly losing their first game in Group B to Morocco, a team that was surely the underdog headed into the game. Alvarez, one of the star players for his national team and Manchester City youngster, didn’t have many opportunities in the match to assist a teammate or score himself. In the last thirty minutes of the game, his side increased their energy and pressure but it was to no avail. Morocco already had a two-goal advantage heading into the last half hour of the game, which saw them sit back well, defend, and prevent Argentina from having many goal-scoring opportunities.
And that wasn’t the end of the drama. The Moroccan fans rushed onto the field at the end of the game due to the lack of security, inciting some violence, disruptions, and chaos at the game. The match was suspended for more than 90 minutes when Moroccan fans invaded the pitch, threw trash onto the ground, and protested a late goal by Argentina more than 15 minutes into added time. However, controversy ensued when Argentina’s late goal was ruled out by VAR, stating that Medina was offside. This late call allowed Morocco to maintain the comfortable two-goal lead for the last few minutes of the game.
Argentina Looking Forward
Argentina were the gold medal favorites heading into the tournament, but now they might not make it out of Group B. They need their key players, like Fernandez, Garnacho, Martinez, Mac Allister, and Alvarez to all step up and play better next match if they hope to beat the other teams in their group. Argentina faces off against Iraq tomorrow to earn points in their group. If they tie, they’ll have a very hard time progressing. If they win, it will come down to Ukraine’s results in their matches.
Surprisingly, Iraq beat Ukraine in the opening match. As you can see, the Paris Olympics is already full of surprises. It is no wonder people tune in from all over the world to watch these exciting games. Let’s hope Alvarez can help his team and give them some more energy headed into the game tomorrow.
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