PARIS: The sporting action at the Paris Olympics kicked off with two football matches on Wednesday, two days before thousands of athletes and artists are set to take part in an ambitious opening ceremony at the heart of the French capital.

After years of preparation, and as more than 10,000 athletes are getting ready for their shot at one of the 329 gold medals that will be up for grabs in 19 days of competition, the first two events of the Paris Games kicked off at 3:00pm local time.

But chaos and confusion reigned as Morocco won against Argentina, with the South American side eventually beaten 2-1 following a VAR review after play was suspended with the score tied at 2-2 and the final minutes were played out in an empty stadium following crowd trouble in St Etienne.

Argentina’s Cristian Medina scored deep in injury time to salvage what looked like a draw, but the decision ruling out the goal was delivered about two hours after play was suspended when the teams re-emerged on to the pitch to finish the Group ‘B’ opener in an empty stadium.

The teams played for three minutes and 15 seconds after VAR completed its review and disallowed the goal.

After order was restored in Saint-Etienne and the teams had left the field following the fan invasion, they discovered that the match had not been completed but suspended by officials.

The teams re-emerged just before 7:00pm local time and warmed up a second time so the final minutes could be played.

The gold medal winners in 2004 and 2008 were not at their best despite lining up with recent Copa America winners Julian Alvarez, Nicolas Otamendi and Geronimo Rulli.

Soufiane Rahimi put Morocco ahead after Achraf Hakimi set him up from the right following a superb passing move in the final seconds of the first half.

Rahimi doubled the advantage and netted his second from the penalty spot in the 49th minute before Giuliano Simeone pulled one back for Javier Mascherano’s side in the 68th.

Medina then found the net 16 minutes into stoppage time before fans stormed the pitch and objects were thrown at players as chaos erupted in the eastern French city.

Silver medallists in Tokyo three years ago, Spain opened their bid for gold with a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan in Group ‘C’ at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

The Spain team featured two members of their Euro 2024-winning squad in Alex Baena and Fermin Lopez, but it was Marc Pubill who gave them the lead just before the half-hour mark.

Uzbekistan had chances and drew level from the penalty spot in first-half added time following a foul by Pau Cubarsi, with Roma forward Eldor Shomurodov converting the kick.

Cubarsi, the 17-year-old Barcelona prodigy, had been booked early on and did not reappear for the second half.

Sergio Gomez then had a penalty saved early in the second half, but the former Manchester City player netted Spain’s winner just after the hour mark as he fired in from Juan Miranda’s cutback.

Group rivals Egypt and the Dominican Republic drew 0-0.

New Zealand defeated Guinea 2-1 in the same section with Plymouth Argyle’s Ben Waine getting the winner in Group ‘A’.

France held

Rugby Sevens was also on the menu on Wednesday, with French global star Antoine Dupont elevating the host country’s hopes of a gold medal after their heartbreaking failure at the XVs World Cup last year.

But France struggled to live up to pre-tournament billing as favourites for gold, held to a 12-12 draw by the United States in the Pool ‘C’ opener to the disappointment of a packed Stade de France.

The hosts featuring Dupont, arguably the world’s greatest 15-a-side player, were left to rue several errors in possession that opened the door for their lesser-ranked opponents.

Fiji are seeking a hat-trick of golds to underline their dominance in their national sport and they later went top of Pool ‘C’ with a thumping 40-12 victory over Uruguay, who were no match for the speed and power of the Pacific islanders.

Earlier, Australia squeezed past a determined Samoa side 21-14, courtesy of a Henry Hutchison double to get their Pool ‘B’ campaign off to a winning start.

The other Pool ‘B’ match saw Argentina roundly booed by the home faithful before running out comfortable 31-12 winners against Kenya.

Ireland later edged South Africa 10-5 in a blockbuster clash, while New Zealand, silver medallists in Tokyo three years ago, thrashed Japan 40-12 in the other Pool ‘A’ clash.

Handball and archery will make their own debut at the Paris Games on Thursday, and shooting on Friday, before floating parades of athletes and artists on the river Seine take part in the Games’ first-ever opening ceremony outside a stadium.

Organisers said Friday’s opening ceremony, which will officially mark the start of the Olympics, would be a daring, joyful show — protected by 45,000 police and thousands more military.

Dozens of boats will carry athletes and performers on a 6km route along the Seine.

Details including some of the artists taking part, who will last carry the torch and light the Olympic cauldron to mark the start of the Games, have been kept secret.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2024