Emiliano Martinez tries to grab police baton during fan trouble at Brazil vs Argentina
Emiliano Martinez, the Argentina goalkeeper, attempted to grab hold of a baton during violent clashes between police and fans at a match between Brazil and Argentina on Tuesday night.
Locals and Argentinian fans started fighting behind one of the goals at the Maracana during the playing of the national anthems, prompting the Brazilian police to charge at the travelling contingent with night sticks drawn.
Argentina’s players broke away from the national anthems to approach the end of the ground where fighting had broken out. In footage filmed from in front of the stands, Martinez can be seen jumping up towards the front row in an attempt to grab the baton being used by a one of the security personnel.
Some Argentina fans responded to the police activity by ripping up and throwing seats at the officers as nearby fans panicked and came onto the pitch to escape the fighting. One Argentina fan lay prone on the pitch with a bloodied face before being taken from the stadium on a stretcher.
Other members of the Argentina team, led by captain Lionel Messi, attempted to calm the situation before leaving the pitch and returning to the dressing room.
“We saw how they were hitting the people, again repressing the people,” Messi said in a pitchside television interview.
“It already happened in the Libertadores final. We went to the locker room because it was the best way to calm everything down, it could have ended in tragedy.”
There were also violent clashes between fans of Argentina’s Boca Juniors and Brazil’s Fluminense in Rio de Janeiro ahead of the Copa Libertadores final between the clubs earlier this month.
The Argentina players eventually returned once the police had corralled the visiting fans in a pen and the match started after a lengthy delay.
Argentina won 1-0 with a 63rd-minute headed winner from defender Nicolas Otamendi and celebrated the victory over their fiercest rivals in front of their fans at the same end of the ground where the trouble had occurred.
Messi added: “The truth is that this group continues to achieve historic things, once again. Obviously, at the beginning it was bad because we saw how they were beating people.
“You think about the family, the people who are there, who don’t know what’s going on and we are more concerned about that than playing a match. At that point the match was secondary.
“After that, winning this game like this I think is one of the most important wins that this group has achieved.
“It is something very nice to be able to win here in Brazil, after how strong they have been at home throughout their history.”
