The Argentine captain gave his opinion on what happened in the preview between the Brazilian police officers and the Argentine fans.
Argentina won a historic match against Brazil in the Maracana. With a purpose Nicolas Otamendi defeated him 1-0 for the sixth day of the South American Qualifiers and broke a lifelong streak.
The summary of Brazil 0-1 Argentina in the 2026 South American Qualifiers: videos, formations, goals and controversies
In the run-up there was a very harsh Brazilian police repression against the Argentinian fans. Between the blows and the cries of mercy, The albiceleste footballers decided to defend theirs and then go to the locker room until conditions are right.
After the match, Lionel Messi decided to talk about the topic: “We saw them hitting people, like what happened in the Libertadores final. Once again oppressing people with sticks. There were players who had family there. Obviously you think about everyone, you’re more focused on that than on playing a game that was secondary at the time.”
He also explained why they left the grass: “We went to the changing room because that was the way to calm everything down a bit. Downstairs we couldn’t do much and we saw them hitting people. An accident could have happened. When everything calmed down a bit, we went inside to sort everything out and then left.”
“This group continues to accomplish historic things. It’s really nice to be able to win here in Brazil after how strong they have been as locals throughout history. And we also needed that after the defeat against Uruguay,” he concluded the 10th.
Source: Goal