A major disappointment has rocked the Paris Olympics after organizers played the wrong way before South Sudan's men's basketball game.
But the African team – playing its first football game – rallied in the second half to pull off a stunning upset as it beat Puerto Rico 90-79.
But before the start of Sunday's game against the Caribbean island, the national anthem was suddenly cut off at 20 seconds.
Various online articles claimed that the national anthem of Sudan – not South Sudan – was played over the loudspeakers at the Lille stadium.
The South Sudanese stars were nervous early on, prompting laughter from fans of both teams at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium.
The audience then started clapping as the two actors joined in and held their hearts together waiting for the issue to be resolved.
The concert was restarted about three minutes later to the cheers of the fans.
When it was over, South Sudan's players agreed and quickly pulled off their first major upset, marking only the second time an African team had won the Olympics in men's basketball since 1996.
Puerto Rico has competed in 10 Olympic Games and has NBA star Jose Alvarado – who missed 19 points on Sunday – in his team.
Last year, South Sudan qualified for men's basketball for the first time, after ending civil war with Sudan and becoming an independent country in 2011.
South Sudan has 14 athletes representing them at Paris 2024, 12 of them in men's basketball and two in athletics.
Abraham Guem will compete in the men's 800m, while Lucia Morris will compete in the women's 100m in the final week of the Games.
South Sudan hosted its first Olympic Games at Rio 2016, where it was awarded three places for everyone to compete in track and field.
The common areas are designed to maximize diversity, and are available for National Olympic Committees with the usual small delegations.
To qualify for Universality, athletes must participate in the Olympic Qualifier Series and finish in the top 24 in the final standings.
At the same time, South Sudan will have to run against the team of LeBron James, the United States, and the Serbian of Nikola Jokic.
But their win gives them a chance to pull off another upset and sneak into the knockout stages.
They will face Team USA on Wednesday, July 31 in a rematch of last week's close and entertaining exhibition in London.
This article first appeared in The Sun and is reprinted with permission
