Lionel Messi issued brutal response after Paraguay player 'spat' at Argentina star

A player appeared to spit at Lionel Messi during Argentina’s World Cup qualifier against Paraguay.

The reigning World Cup champions beat Paraguay 1-0 on Thursday in Buenos Aires to maintain a perfect record in qualifying for the 2026 tournament.

Messi, who had been out of action with club side Inter Miami in recent weeks due to injury, came off the bench in the second half with Argentina already ahead courtesy of a third-minute Nicolas Otamaendi goal.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner took the captain’s armband and found himself at the centre of proceedings, hitting the post on two occasions as Lionel Scaloni eased to a crucial victory.

The victory means Argentina have lost just once in their last 50 games, against Saudi Arabia in last year’s World Cup.

Meanwhile, since losing to Brazil in the 2019 Copa America semifinals they have outscored opponents 108 to 25.

But during his half-hour cameo, Messi was seemingly the victim of an unsavoury incident, after Paraguay's Antonio Sanabria appeared to spit in the direction of the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star.

As per Give Me Sport, Messi issued a pointed response at Sanabria when asked about the incident after the game.

He said: “They told me that someone spat at me in the locker room, I didn't see it.

“The truth is that I don't even know who this boy is. I don't want to give him any importance either because he'll talk about it and become known.”

While Messi seemingly does not know who Sanabria is, the player actually spent four years of his youth career at Barcelona from 2009 to 2013. In 2012 he even trained with the first team under Tito Vilanova, likely alongside Messi.

Sanabria has since gone on to play for Sassuolo, Roma and Genoa in Italy as well as Sporting Gijon and Real Betis in Spain. He's now at Torino where he netted 12 goals in Serie A last term.

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Topics: Football, Argentina, Lionel Messi, Paraguay, Inter Miami

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.