Angel Di Maria appeared to spit at Brazil fans as he headed down the tunnel in new footage that has gone viral on social media.
Di Maria and his Argentina teammates were on their way back to their changing room amid the 'bloody' chaotic crowd trouble ahead of the World Cup qualifier on Tuesday night.
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The kick-off was delayed by 30 minutes as both sets of fans fought in the stands, with police then intervening with batons.
It led to Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to try and defend the Argentina fans as he attempted to jump into the visiting section.
World Cup-winning captain Lionel Messi tried to calm down the situation, before he led his teammates down the tunnel as tempers continued to flare.
And in a video that has been circulating online, Benfica winger Di Maria could be seen in a verbal altercation with a fan.
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As he then looked to head inside, he turned up to face the individual one last time, who responded by showering beer over him.
The ex-Manchester United forward's immediate reaction was to jump up before he seemingly spat at the individual, who wasn't in shot.
He then quickly left the scene as home fans at the Maracana whistled and waved goodbye to the Argentina squad.
But it was Argentina that would have the last laugh as they inflicted a first ever home World Cup qualifying defeat on the five-time champions.
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Nicolas Otamendi scored the only goal of the game to help Argentina remain top of the CONMEBOL qualifying table.
As for Brazil, they sit sixth out of ten nations having lost three out of their opening six matches.
Following the fiery fixture, Messi hit out at the Brazilian police, saying: "It was bad because we saw how they were beating people.
"The police, as happened in the [Copa] Libertadores final, were once again repressing the people with night sticks.
"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."