The rivalry between Brazilians and Argentines took a completely different turn on Tuesday evening at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. A few minutes before the kick-off of the match between Brazil and Argentina, counting for the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, and which saw the Albiceleste win 1-0 against the Seleção, violent clashes took place in the stands between the supporters of the two teams during the anthems. Following this, the meeting was delayed by almost half an hour. To ease tensions, Marquinhos went to address the Auriverde fans in the stands. Emiliano Martinez, for his part, wanted to defend the Argentine supporters against the violent treatment of the Brazilian police present in the enclosure. Following the excesses, the world champions returned to the locker room.
At the end of the meeting, their captain Lionel Messi did not mince his words regarding these sad events. “We saw how they hit people, like what happened in the final of the Copa Libertadores match where they hit with sticks. There were players who had families in these stands. You think about your family, you don’t know what’s going on and you’re more focused on that than on the game,” the former PSG player told Argentine television, before adding: “I I decided we had to go back to the locker room because that was the way to calm everything down. Something bad could have happened. When everything calmed down, we decided to go in, ask how the family was doing, find out a little about everything. Then we went out to play.
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On the field, “La Pulga” did not deliver a great performance and was replaced in the 77th minute of play by its coach Lionel Scaloni. The Inter Miami striker wanted to reassure about his state of form. “I have time to recover and start the year well. I’m going to prepare myself to have a great year, with a good pre-season from scratch. I’ve had adductor discomfort for some time.”