Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez LAUNCHES himself at a policeman and manhandles him to slap his baton away after Brazilian police charged at Argentina fans ahead of a violent World Cup qualifier
- 5 months ago
Emiliano Martinez manhandled a police officer wielding a baton towards Argentina fans as the Albiceleste's World Cup qualifier against Brazil was marred by crowd trouble.
A mass brawl broke out in the stands at the Maracana on Tuesday night ahead of Argentina's 1-0 win over Brazil as fans and police clashed, forcing the kick-off to be postponed by almost 30 minutes.
After Argentina and Brazil fans started fighting during the national anthems, police officers intervened and charged the visiting supporters in a bid to restore order, leaving some bloodied as a result.
Amid the shocking scenes, Martinez appeared to leap up towards the stands to slap a baton out of an officer's hands before being restrained by his teammates.
A video posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, shows the Aston Villa goalkeeper trying to grab the arm of an officer who is wielding his baton over his head.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper is pushed back by another police officer, who appears to plead for calm with the Argentina players as they intervene to stop Martinez.
The World Cup winner is a notoriously colorful character and stole the limelight after Argentina beat France in the World Cup final last year with a controversial celebration that landed him in hot water.
Martinez, who saved a penalty in the shootout, won the Golden Glove award as the tournament's best goalkeeper but he was presented with his trophy and made a lewd gesture with the award.
FIFA subsequently opened an investigation against the Argentine's actions for a violation of their rules on offensive behavior and fair play under Article 11 of their Disciplinary Code.
Following the game on Tuesday, meanwhile, Lionel Messi launched a scathing attack on the Brazilian police, saying:
'We saw how [police] were hitting the people, it already happened in the Libertadores final.
'They were more focused on that than on the game.'
The Ballon d'Or winner was referring to the scenes at the Maracana before Fluminense's win over Boca Juniors earlier this month.
Argentina initially appeared to be refusing to return to the field for kickoff before CONMEBOL gave them 15 minutes to take the field.
The reigning world champions insisted they would only return to the pitch once order had been restored and did so after spending over 20 minutes in the dressing room.
'We went to the locker room because it was the best way to calm everything down, a tragedy could have happened,' Messi explained.
'We are a family. We decided to play to make the situation more calm.'
A mass brawl broke out in the stands at the Maracana on Tuesday night ahead of Argentina's 1-0 win over Brazil as fans and police clashed, forcing the kick-off to be postponed by almost 30 minutes.
After Argentina and Brazil fans started fighting during the national anthems, police officers intervened and charged the visiting supporters in a bid to restore order, leaving some bloodied as a result.
Amid the shocking scenes, Martinez appeared to leap up towards the stands to slap a baton out of an officer's hands before being restrained by his teammates.
A video posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, shows the Aston Villa goalkeeper trying to grab the arm of an officer who is wielding his baton over his head.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper is pushed back by another police officer, who appears to plead for calm with the Argentina players as they intervene to stop Martinez.
The World Cup winner is a notoriously colorful character and stole the limelight after Argentina beat France in the World Cup final last year with a controversial celebration that landed him in hot water.
Martinez, who saved a penalty in the shootout, won the Golden Glove award as the tournament's best goalkeeper but he was presented with his trophy and made a lewd gesture with the award.
FIFA subsequently opened an investigation against the Argentine's actions for a violation of their rules on offensive behavior and fair play under Article 11 of their Disciplinary Code.
Following the game on Tuesday, meanwhile, Lionel Messi launched a scathing attack on the Brazilian police, saying:
'We saw how [police] were hitting the people, it already happened in the Libertadores final.
'They were more focused on that than on the game.'
The Ballon d'Or winner was referring to the scenes at the Maracana before Fluminense's win over Boca Juniors earlier this month.
Argentina initially appeared to be refusing to return to the field for kickoff before CONMEBOL gave them 15 minutes to take the field.
The reigning world champions insisted they would only return to the pitch once order had been restored and did so after spending over 20 minutes in the dressing room.
'We went to the locker room because it was the best way to calm everything down, a tragedy could have happened,' Messi explained.
'We are a family. We decided to play to make the situation more calm.'