Forward and national team captain Argentina Lionel Messi explained why he led the team off the field ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifier against Brazil.
The sixth round meeting took place on Tuesday at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro and ended with a victory for the guests with a score of 1:0. The match started 30 minutes late due to riots in the stands that broke out during the national anthem. Police used batons and several supporters were hospitalized. The players of the Argentine national team first addressed the fans, and then, by Messi’s decision, went to the locker room.
“This team continues to achieve historic results. The victory in Brazil is very nice because they are very strong at home. We needed to win after losing to Uruguay.
What happened in the stands was terrible. We saw them (the police) hitting people with batons, like they did in the Copa Libertadores final. A catastrophe could have occurred. The players’ families were in the stands. You think about your family, you don’t know what’s going on and that worries you more than the game. Right now everything else is secondary,” TyC Sports quotes Messi.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner explained that the decision to take the team to the locker room could help calm the situation in the stands.
“We decided to leave the field because it was impossible to play in such conditions. “We also thought that returning to the locker room would help calm the situation,” added the 36-year-old Argentinian.
The Argentine national team leads the standings with 15 points, the Brazilians (7) are sixth.
Source : MatchTV
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