“A misfortune could happen”, says Messi about confusion

After Argentina’s 1-0 victory over Brazil, Messi spoke to the press, commented on the widespread confusion in the stands before the game and explained why the Argentine players left the field.

The number 10 recalled the scenes of violence in the Libertadores final, between Fluminense and Boca Juniors, and stated that the situation in the 2026 World Cup qualifying duel “could turn into a disgrace”.

“Badly, they were repressing the fans and we saw what the police did in the Libertadores final. There were players who had families there. We think of all the fans there. The match at that moment was secondary”, declared the Argentina captain.

“It was a way to calm down a little. We couldn’t do much there. We saw how they were repressing people, how they were pushing them back and disaster could happen. Afterwards, we went inside (the locker room) to ask how the family members were,” he added.

Messi also commented on an injury he felt in the first half – he received a massage on the edge of the pitch in the medical department. The star was not a major protagonist in the match. The winning goal came from Otamendi’s header after a corner kick from Lo Celso.

“I felt the injury at the beginning of the match, I felt discomfort in my adductor. It didn’t help me to warm up and then come back,” he said.

Argentina’s number 10 also spoke about breaking a historical taboo in Brazil – the Canarian team had never lost at home in the history of the Qualifiers – and highlighted the achievements that the current world champion group has made.

“This group continues to achieve historic things. Winning here in Brazil, where they haven’t lost in history, they are very strong as hosts. We also needed it after the defeat to Uruguay”, concluded Messi.

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Messi says goodbye to the Maracanã without shine, but with victory and Argentine celebration

By Estadão Conteúdo

It is no exaggeration to say that among the 68,138 fans who were at Maracanã on Tuesday night, the majority went to see Brazil, a minority to see Argentina, and (almost) all of them to see Lionel Messi – but not necessarily to support by him. Before the game, the name of the greatest football player of this generation was pronounced by fans from Salvador, La Plata, Rio and Buenos Aires who arrived at Maracanã. “I came to this magnificent stadium to see Messi’s last game at Maracanã”, said a fan wearing an Independiente shirt.

At 36 years old, Messi was by far the main attraction of the classic against a Brazil missing its two best players, the injured Vinícius Jr. and Neymar. And of course the Argentine captain was booed by the large mass of Brazilian fans; The hoots started even before the game, during shots on goal during the players’ warm-up, and turned into unprintable insults when the Argentine team returned from the locker room after the fight in the stands that marred the classic.

To put it into context: when the fight in the stands behind one of the goals broke out, a flash of light where the Argentine fans were was formed after the arrival of military police (and their batons). The entire Argentine team, captained by Messi, went to the confrontation site to try to calm the situation. Without much success in this endeavor, the team returned to the locker room. Upon return, the Brazilian fans chose Messi as the culprit for the twenty minutes of stoppage.

When the ball rolled and the focus finally turned to football, the Argentine star barely appeared. Not that there was any lack of interest on his part – there never is -, but the Brazilian marking proved to be efficient. André was the closest, but he shared the role with Carlos Augusto, Gabriel Magalhães and any other player who might be around his area of ​​the field. The result was a first half in vain for the best in the world, and probably for those who went to Maracanã to see him.

Messi gained a little more freedom of movement in the second half. He advanced his positioning a little and even risked a shot on goal from the edge of the area, but the ball didn’t even reach the goal line, intercepted by the Brazilian marking.

Little by little, the captain of the Argentine national team began to give up. He started to appear isolated in the attacking field, especially after the Albiceleste team opened the scoring with Otamendi and started to worry only about managing the game. At 31, Di Maria took his place. It was 11:35 pm on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, when Lionel Messi left the Maracanã pitch for probably the last time as a player for the Argentine national team. It wasn’t brilliant, but it will forever be recorded that his last game at Maracanã was a victory.