The World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina highlighted the intense rivalry between the two nations, marked by tense clashes. Unfortunately, it also exposed the dark side of the football community as racial abuse was directed at players as was the case of Rodrygo.
It is indeed true that racists are always at work, as Rodrygo put it. The moment any player of colour acts against their wish, they pounce on them with racist slurs, and this practice has been declared unacceptable multiple times. Rodrygo is the recent Brazilian to be at the receiving end of a racist abuse after his teammate Vinicius Jr suffered the same fate.
Rodrygo receives nasty racist abuse after Brazil-Argentina match
Rodrygo revealed that he faced racist insults on social media following Brazil’s 1-0 loss to Argentina in the World Cup qualifying match in Rio de Janeiro. The game was delayed by nearly 30 minutes due to clashes between Brazilian police and Argentine fans at the Maracana stadium.
This very competitive contest would have ended a stalemate if Nicolas Otamendi had not guided a towering header into the back of the net in the 63rd minute. Hence, the defeat to Argentina marked Brazil’s first-ever home loss in World Cup qualifying, leaving them in sixth place in the CONMEBOL standings with only seven points from six games.
The game was delayed and the players ushered back into the tunnel as a result of the clash between both countries’ supporters. During the delay, and before they made their way to the tiunnel, Rodrygo was seen having what seemed like a heated conversation with Lionel Messi and Angenita midfielder, Rodrigo de Paul.
In a post on Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) on Thursday, Rodrygo revealed that he had been subjected to racist insults on social media following the match.
“Racists are always on duty,” he said. “My social networks were invaded with insults and all kinds of nonsense. It’s there for everyone to see!”
“If we don’t do what they want, if we don’t behave as they think we should, if we wear something that bothers them, if we don’t lower our heads when we are attacked, if we occupy spaces that they think are theirs alone, racists take action with his criminal behaviour. Their bad luck. We will not stop!”
Brazil and Real Madrid teammate, Vinicius Jr, who has also been a target of racist abuse in recent times, offered some support to Rodrygo, tweeting, “We won’t stop!”
What happened between Lionel Messi and Rodrygo?
There was a tense clash between Argentina and Brazil supporters before kick-off. The Brazilian Police intervened to calm the chaos but turned out that they were quite lopsided in their approach as they were seen using batons on Argentina supporters.
As the two teams waited on the pitch for the match to begin, TV cameras captured Brazil forward Rodrygo engaged in a heated discussion with Argentina captain Lionel Messi and midfielder Rodrigo de Paul.
Lionel Messi was also seen interacting with Brazil captain Marquinhos during the delay and it was later revealed what words were exchanged between the Lionel Messi and Rodrygo.
According to TyC Sports, Rodrygo accused Messi, De Paul, and Argentina of being “cowards” after the Albiceleste captain threatened a walk-off due to continued brutality from Brazilian police.
In response, Messi reportedly retorted, “We are the world champions, why are we cowards? Watch your mouth.”
Clearly the Argentine captain was not happy with the youngster’s rash comments and replied in kind.
What are your thoughts on the heated exchange between the two? Share with us below.
