Olympic Soccer Referee Injured in Collision During Morocco-Spain Match

On Monday, with the score tied after 15 minutes at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, the match between Morocco and Spain took a turn for the worse. A duel between Moroccan striker Abdessamas Ezzalzouli and Spaniard Marc Pubill caused Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev to fall. The match was interrupted for the referee to receive treatment on the field. Tantashev eventually left the field injured and was replaced by Swedish fourth official Glenn Nyberg. He left the field limping.

Thanks to a penalty obtained by Amir Richardson at the end of a clumsy tackle by Spanish defender Pablo Barrios and converted by Soufiane Rahimi (1-0, 36’), the Atlas Cubs dominated in the first half. But the Spaniards took the lead over the Moroccans in the second half. Firmin Lopez, the FC Barcelona player, perfectly took advantage of El Ouahdi’s poor clearance to equalize (1-1, 68’). The Spaniards maintained the pressure in the second half. Juanlu Sanchez scores with a toe-poke at the far post in the 85th minute and gives the victory to Spain.

La Roja will face France on Friday in the final of the 2024 Olympic football tournament. The match will take place at the Parc des Princes in Paris.