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Published
Lionel Messi's heated conversation with a health official has been revealed following the controversial abandonment of Brazil vs. Argentina.
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The World Cup qualifier was abandoned just FIVE minutes after kick-off on Sunday.
Brazilian health officials entered the field of the play and objected to the participation of three Argentina players they believe broke Covid-19 protocols.
It came after Brazil's authorities had said four Premier League-based players had to quarantine after travelling from England.
The game did not resume following the dramatic intervention, with Messi taking his anger out on the health official.
According to RMC Sport via Mirror, he said: "We've been here for three days, we were waiting to play the match, why didn't you come earlier?
"This is a mess, we're off!"
Lionel Messi returns to the pitch to talk with Neymar and the coaches as the chaos continues to unfold :eyes: pic.twitter.com/NNiMBWYV3X
- Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) September 5, 2021
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said the situation made him 'very sad' and slammed the Brazil health officials for interrupting the fixture.
"It makes me very sad," he said. "I am not looking for any culprit. If something happened or did not happen, it was not the time to make that intervention.
"It should have been a party for everyone, to enjoy the best players in the world. I would like the people of Argentina to understand that as a coach I have to defend my players.
"At no time were we notified that they couldn't play the match. We wanted to play the match, the Brazilian footballers too."
No new date for the rearranged meeting has been set, with Brazil and Argentina returning to action on Friday.
Topics: Football, Lionel Messi, Argentina, Brazil