“I am obviously always going to defend my team” - Uruguay star opens up on brawl with Lionel Messi and Argentina stars during World Cup qualifier

Uruguay defender Mathias Olivera has opened up on the brawl between his teammates and Argentina players, including Lionel Messi, during the two sides' recent CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup qualifier match. The visitors emerged victorious from the match at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires with a 2-0 scoreline.

Oliviera was involved in a heated exchange with Messi, which also got physical after the former got into a scuffle between Manuel Ugarte and Rodrigo De Paul. The Inter Miami attacker grabbed the Uruguayan by the neck.

The Napoli left-back was also tasked with marking Messi during the game, and he was largely successful. He expanded on his face-off with the Barcelona legend, telling El Pais (via Essentially Sports):

“I tried to control him as best as possible, and depending on where Messi fell, you had to follow him and we made the tilt and the marks well so as not to let him play so much.”

The Uruguay defender also talked about the scuffle, explaining:

“The play occurs due to an argument in which they push Manu (Manuel Ugarte), and I am obviously always going to defend my team, and I got in the middle.”

Goals from Ronald Araujo and Darwin Nunez were enough to see Uruguay through in the game.

"Young people have to learn to respect from their elders" - Lionel Messi after Uruguay game

Soon after the Argentina v Uruguay game on November 17, Lionel Messi presented his side of the argument. He also called for the young Uruguayan players to learn respect from their seniors.

He told the reports after the game (via GOAL):

“It's normal. These kinds of games, qualifiers, against Uruguay, it's always like that. I prefer not to say what I think. Young people have to learn to respect from their elders. This classic was always intense, hard, but always with a lot of respect. They have to learn a little.”

After the 2-0 defeat to Uruguay, Argentina got the better of Brazil in their next World Cup qualification game. They are currently top of the CONMEBOL table with 15 points from six matches.