OLYMPIC GAMES | SOCCER
What does Lionel Messi’s ‘insólito’ Instagram story mean?
The Argentina captain sent out a thinly-veiled social media post after an unbelievable turn of events in Paris.
Lionel Messi and his compatriots were left frustrated after a bizarre series of events denied Argentina a last-minute equaliser in their opening fixture at the Olympic Games.
In response to chaotic scenes in Argentina’s game against Morocco, Lionel Messi posted the word ‘Insólito’ on his Instagram story. That translates to ‘unbelievable’ in English.
The Argentina Under-23 team came into this summer’s soccer tournament as one of the favourites but they were beaten 2-1 by Morocco in their first match in France. Argentina thought they had levelled in the 16th minute of stoppage time, but Cristian Medina’s goal was subsequently disallowed after a VAR check and an astonishing 92-minute delay.
Messi is not part of the 18-man U-23 squad representing the world champions at the Games, although he would have been eligible to feature as one of the three overaged players. Having just completed a Copa América with the senior team - and having picked up an ankle injury in the final - Messi has remained in the United States to continue his recovery.
What happened in the Argentina - Morocco game?
Messi was stunned by the chaos in the Argentina game, and with good reason. After falling behind to two Moroccan goals a second half strike from Giuliano Simeone put Javier Mascherano’s side back in contention and they looked to have clinched a draw late on.
Match officials signalled that there would be 15 minutes of stoppage time at the end of the second half, a huge additional period that baffled those in attendance. Deep, deep into stoppage time Medina headed home to level for Argentina. A section of the considerable Moroccan contingent in Saint-Etienne stormed onto the field in protest, forcing both sets of players back to the locker rooms.
It was assumed that the final whistle had been blown amid the chaos, but the game was actually put on hold while the VAR decided whether to award Medina’s goal. After a lengthy check, Medina was adjudged to have been in an offside position and the goal was ruled out.
Incredibly, 92 minutes after the players retreated to their locker rooms, the game was restarted in front of empty stands. A further three minutes was played without major incident before the referee finally ended this marathon match, calling time on one of the most bizarre games in the history of Olympic soccer.