Argentina‘s 1-2 defeat to Paraguay in the FIFA World Cup qualifier on Friday was marred by an incident, where the World Cup-winning captain Lionel Messi faced the ire of Paraguay fans, as a water bottle was thrown at him from the stands while he was taking a corner.
The match got heated at half-time when Messi confronted the referee over a decision related to a tackle by Paraguay defender Omar Alderete.
Five minutes after getting a yellow card in the first half, Alderete brought Messi down to foil an attack; but the referee didn’t pull up Alderete for a second yellow, much to the annoyance of Argentine players.
The Paraguay fans, perhaps, reacted to Messi confronting the referee.
However, Alderete apologized for the action of the fans and apologised to the legend in an Instagram post.
“Dear Leo Messi, I want to apologize on behalf of my country for the unfortunate incident in which someone threw a bottle at you. You are an idol for millions here and around the world”, he wrote.
“This deeply disrespectful act does not represent the affection and admiration we feel for you.”
Talking about the game, Argentina took the lead early with a Lautaro Martinez strike in the 11th minute. However, the home team rallied in style as Antonio Sanabria’s majestic bicycle kick made it 1-1. The deadlock stayed at half-time.
Alderete’s header in just the second minute after the break gave Paraguay a 2-1 lead, and it proved to be the winning goal of the match.
