Everything went south for Argentina today. La Albiceleste U23s endured a shocking loss in their Paris Olympics 2024 opening group stage fixture against Morocco due to several eyebrow-raising moments. While fans and players are understandably upset with the defeat, Nicolas Otamendi has slammed the organizers over the controversial incidents, calling it something that hasn’t “ever happened before.”

The center-back, who had been part of the game for the whole game, couldn’t hold his discontent on how things transpired during the clash. Speaking in the post-match interview and as compiled by @AlbicelesteTalk, Otamendi said, “It’s a historic disgrace. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Morocco didn’t want to play, and neither did we. We waited for an hour and forty minutes, but no one told us anything. It’s frustrating because these are the Olympic Games.”

Clearly, the center back is displeased with the Olympic committee for conducting such a prestigious competition. Notably, during the match, Argentina was down by two goals until substitute Giuliano Simeone managed to score and reduce the deficit at the 60-minute mark. As they pushed for another goal, the referee added 15 minutes of stoppage time.

Although Cristian Medina scored what seemed to be an equalizer, the moment was disrupted by Moroccan fans invading the pitch and throwing firecrackers at the players. The game was surprisingly halted for over an hour until the security had cooled off the situation. However, as the two sides returned to continue, the match was played for just 3 minutes and even Medina saw his late goal being disallowed for offside.

This has left not just the Argentina U23 stars in anger but even the senior-level players, who expressed their discontent on the internet. For now, let’s hear what the manager has to say!

Javier Mascherano joins Nicolas Otamendi for slamming Olympics over hosting dramatic Argentina vs Morocco

During the post-match press conference, Javier Mascherano was also left flabbergasted by the incident. He questioned the reason for resuming the match almost an hour and a half. “At no point were we informed about what could happen. As a player, I’ve never experienced security failing seven times in a match at this level. It was a disgrace,” he said.

Mascherano highlighted how Moroccan fans invaded the pitch not one but seven times and even tried to attack the Argentinian players by throwing fireworks. The 40-year-old further asserted that it was decided that the match finished on a 2-2 score, yet they were asked to finish the game, something which neither Argentina nor Morocco wanted to do.