During Argentina’s match against Brazil, things became heated inside the Maracana Stadium and captain Lionel Messi had to lead his teammates back to the locker room.
The two sets of fans in the stand got into a fight, which resulted in the local police force stationed at the stadium using baton charges on the away fans.
Brazilian police giving a baton to a Brazilian fan so he could attack Argentinians.
This is crazy. Disgrace. pic.twitter.com/01ppZmVdqt
— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) November 22, 2023
“We saw how they were hitting the people, it already happened in the Libertadores final. They were more focused on that than on the game. We went to the locker room because it was the best way to calm everything down, a tragedy could have happened,” Messi said afterwards. “This group continues to achieve historic things.”
The heat was also evident on the field, with Messi involved in a verbal spat with Rodrygo during the 1-0 victory. According to TyC Sports, the Real Madrid and Brazilian winger called Messi and his teammates cowards, to which the Argentine captain responded, “We are the world champions, why are we cowards? Look at your mouth.”