Why Did Brazilian Police Attacked Argentina Fans Before Match? (image-instagram/fabrizioromano)
The historical Maracana stadium witnessed ferocious violence on Tuesday night as a massive fight broke out between Brazil and Argentina fans just before the FIFA qualifier match between Argentina and Brazil. The clash resulted in the delay of the beginning of the match by 30 minutes.
A video of the match has gone viral in which the Brazilian police are seen hitting the fans with batons. One of the fan in the video was seen brutally injured and was taken out of the field on a stretcher. The air was heavy with the anticipation as Argentina and Brazil were set to face off for the first time since 2021. Last time the arch-rivals met in the Copa America 2021 finals.
The clash started between the fans when the national anthem was being played which prompted the police to intervene with batons. The fans after seeing the policeman panicked and threw seats on the police while few opted to ran towards the pitch.
Lionel Messi was forced to pull his teammates off the pitch after seeing the violence. He signaled his teammates that they will not play in such drastic situation but returned back after few minutes. Argentinian players were also seen reaching out to the stadium in an attempt to stop the violence. Argentinian goal keeper Emi Martinez even attempted to confront a Brazilian policeman for beating up the fans. He even tried to grab a baton from the police, who was reportedly hitting the Argentinian fan.
Argentina vs Brazil has always been an exciting fixture but not once did I expect to see this 😭pic.twitter.com/Apg3dChthY
— Reasons (@LFCReasons) November 22, 2023
Meanwhile, the Brazilian team remained on the pitch. Despite the drama, the world champions managed a 1-0 win against the host. With Messi off the match, Nicolas Otamendi scored in the second half for Argentina. The win left Argentina on top of the South American qualifying standing with 15 points from six games.
Football transfer analyst, Fabrizio Romano expressed his disappointment on X and said, “Messi: “Tonight we made history but it’s important to say that it’ll be marked by the repression of Brazilians against Argentinians once again”. “It can’t be accepted. It’s madness. It had to stop immediately”.
🚨 Messi: “Tonight we made history but it’s important to say that it’ll be marked by the repression of Brazilians against Argentinians once again”.
“It can’t be accepted. It’s madness. It had to stop immediately”. pic.twitter.com/PYBCXNnsIY
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 22, 2023
