Messi grabs a rival by the neck during a heated and tense Argentina-Uruguay match

The match between the Argentina and Uruguay teams this Thursday for the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup was full of tension, clashes, fouls and some fights between players.

In one of those fights, Lionel Messi was the protagonist, who intervened in the middle of a fight between his teammate Rodrigo de Paul and the Uruguayan Mathías Olivera. The ’10’ of the ‘albiceleste’, who does not usually participate in physical attacks, got carried away by the rage of the moment and grabbed the Uruguayan defender by the neck for a few seconds. His excessive action did not mean any type of warning at the referee level.

This incident was not the only striking one on the legendary Bombonera lawn in Buenos Aires. Later, after a foul against Messi on the edge of the area, a new brawl broke out. This time due to a complaint from De Paul to his rival Manuel Ugarte, who responded with a vulgar and offensive gesture. The obscenity was recorded by television cameras and also gave rise to talk on social networks.

After the match, which Uruguay won 0-2, Messi spoke to the media about the heated situation that took place on the field, pointing out that “it’s always like that against Uruguay.” However, the Argentine captain, who considers that this young team they faced is good, pointed out that those led by Marcelo Bielsa “have to learn to respect from the elders.”

Argentina lost the streak of 25 victories in South American qualifiers that it had maintained since 2017, and had not lost in an official match since November 2022, when it lost against Saudi Arabia in the World Cup in Qatar. However, the current world champions lead the standings, after the fifth round, with 12 points. Meanwhile, with this result, Uruguay is in second position with 10 units. With RT

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