Nicolas Otamendi scored with a towering header to give Argentina a 1-0 away win over Brazil in a bad-tempered World Cup qualifier delayed by half an hour on Tuesday after police clashed with fans at a sold-out Maracana Stadium. The longstanding sporting rivalry between two of the most successful teams in world soccer hit a fever pitch after the Brazilian police charged Argentinian fans in response to fighting in the stands during the national anthems.
Argentina players went over to the terraces to try to calm the situation before leaving the field and returning to their dressing room for over 10 minutes. It was the first time since 2009 that the five-time World Cup winners suffered back-to-back home defeats in World Cup qualifying, and they saw substitute midfielder Joelinton sent off 18 minutes from the end.
Police used batons to break up the crowd trouble, and parts of seating were thrown from both sides. A large number of fans fled the arena, and many others were injured, with one man taken to hospital on a stretcher with a head injury.
The game at the iconic Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro was played in front of a crowd of 69,000, with visiting supporters taking advantage of Brazil’s COVID-19 restrictions to travel to watch their team. The fans brought drums, horns, Messi and Diego Maradona flags and were loud throughout the match. Some were from the Rio favelas and said the ‘people of the streets’ wanted to see their team win.
Some Argentine fans who made it into the stadium were clad in their old-style jerseys that feature just two instead of three stars for the team’s World Cup titles over their crest, reflecting a change in FIFA rules from the 2014 tournament. 27-year-old Ariel Garcia, from the Rocinha neighborhood, said he had bought his ticket to the Brazil match months ago and was excited to be there. He was among those wearing the older style jerseys and sang out that ‘the people of the favelas are still crying’ after their loss to Germany in the Copa America final last month.
Brazil’s temporary head coach, Fernando Diniz, who oversees the Serie A club and recent Libertadores champion Fluminense, made seven changes from the side that lost to Mexico in their previous match. The new-look Brazilians struggled to find any fluency or rhythm, and their only real chance came through a Gabriel Martinelli strike that the keeper saved well. Argentina was already 1-0 ahead when Diniz brought Paulo Dybala forward, and the substitute soon found the net with a superb volley that went in off the crossbar from a tight angle. Dibala then set up Otamendi for the Argentine winner as the game finished with the home team suffering their third straight loss in World Cup qualifiers. The win moved Argentina to the top of the South American qualifying group with 15 points from six games, while Brazil slumped to sixth with just seven points from their first six matches.
