Nicolas Otamendi’s decisive 65th minute goal settled a highly fiesty 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiying game between Brazil and Argentina in the early hours of Wednesday morning which was delayed for 27 minutes after a brawl between opposing fans.
The game was scheduled to kick off at 1.30am Nigerian time but eventually started at 1.57am albeit with caution from both the players and match officials.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelPolicemen at the Maracana stadium used batons to break up the fights between supporters of both teams, with parts of seats flying around and hitting some of the spectators behind one of the goals.
Argentina players asked those in the stand for calm before heading to the dressing room.
Brazil were the first team to re-emerge on the field and started to warmup before the continental rivals joined.
As the match began, dozens of policemen surrounded Argentina fans as they cheered, and even more, security faced them on the pitch. Policemen gathered around the section that can hold about 3,000 fans.
Brazil, missing the duo of injured Neymar jnr and Vinicius Jnr were reduced to 10 men following the red card to Newcastle United midifelder Joelington for a foul on Rodrigo de Paul moments after he (Joelington) was brought on from the substitute bench.
The game was a tough one for both sides as tackles flew recklessly, cards dished out by the referee and Brazilians fans who had even bought the Messi jerseys suddenly jeering the Inter Miami superstar.
Argentina now leads the very difficult South American World Cup qualifying campaign with 12 points in five matches.
Brazil is in fifth position. Both teams lost their previous games in the round-robin competition of 10 teams.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
