Jump directly to the content

The Argentina players celebrated wildly with fans after beating Brazil 1-0 in a night marred by violence.

Lionel Messi and co inflicted a first ever home World Cup qualifying defeat for Brazil on Tuesday night.

Martinez and Messi celebrated wildly after their win over Brazil
3
Martinez and Messi celebrated wildly after their win over BrazilCredit: Getty
Argentina inflicted a first ever home defeat for Brazil in World Cup qualifying
3
Argentina inflicted a first ever home defeat for Brazil in World Cup qualifyingCredit: Getty

A goal from Nicolas Otamendi saw the Brazilians lose for the third straight time, while Newcastle's Joelinton was sent off in the match.

Messi, Emi Martinez and all the Argentina players were spotted celebrating wildly with supporters after the final whistle in a highly-charged evening.

Trouble started just before kick-off when police clashed with Argentina fans inside the stadium.

Fans spilled out onto the pitch to escape the violence, while some were left bleeding by the clashes.

More on Argentina vs Brazil

Players headed over to the incident to try and calm things, while Martinez was spotted trying to protect supporters from the police.

They left the field and came back to start the match 30 minutes later.

"It was bad because we saw how they were beating people," said Messi.

"The police, as happened in the Libertadores final, were once again repressing the people with night sticks.

Players could only watch on helplessly as they tried to calm the situation
3
Players could only watch on helplessly as they tried to calm the situationCredit: Getty

"We went to the locker room because it was the best way to calm everything down, it could have ended in tragedy.

"You think about the families, the people who are there, who don't know what's going on and we were more concerned about that than playing a match that, at that point, was of secondary importance."

Emiliano Martinez defends fans from police as violent clashes mar Brazil vs Argentina leading to Lionel Messi action

Brazil captain Marquinhos said: "We were worried about the families, women and children, that we were seeing in panic up there in the stands.

"Down on the pitch it was hard for us to understand what was going on, it was a very scary situation."

Topics