Argentina\u2019s captain Lionel Messi hit back at Uruguay\u2019s young players after the high-intense match between the two sides ended in a 2-0 defeat to the world champions at La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, on Friday (November 16).
\nDuring the ill-tempered and high-intensity game, Uruguay\u2019s midfielder Manuel Ugarte made an inappropriate and obscene gesture towards Argentina\u2019s Rodrigo De Paul which went viral all over social media in no time.
\nMessi didn\u2019t approve of such gestures and called out on Uruguay\u2019s young players and asked them to learn to respect their opponents a bit.
\n\u201cI prefer not to say what I think. Young people have to learn to respect their elders.
\nThese games are always intense but very respectful, so they have to learn a little,\u201d Messi told reporters after the game.
\nMessi then went on to praise Uruguay saying that they were following Marcelo Bielsa\u2019s playing style, which is very common among South American football nations.
\n\u201cYou can see Bielsa\u2019s hand on the way Uruguay is playing. In all the national teams or clubs, including Argentina, his style was very recognizable. And he has a good generation of players [in Uruguay].\u201d
\nThe eight-time Ballon d\u2019Or also praised his opponents and stated that they have physical and fast players who don\u2019t give much time to their opponents with the ball.
\n\u201cThey are an intense team and it was difficult for us to play our game,\u201d Messi said. \u201cThey have physical and fast players in the midfield. We never feel comfortable and we didn\u2019t find a way to posses the ball for a long period of time.
\n\u201cSo the game was played on a fast pace and we fall for that style, which isn\u2019t the best for us.\u201d
\n\u201cWe never felt comfortable in this match. Uruguay is a physical team, they have good teamwork. It is always like that against them,\u201d he added.
\nArgentina are now set to take on Brazil at the iconic Maracana in Rio de Janeiro on November 22.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Argentina\u2019s captain Lionel Messi hit back at Uruguay\u2019s young players after the high-intense match between the two sides ended in a 2-0 defeat to the world champions at La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, on Friday (November 16). During the ill-tempered and high-intensity game, Uruguay\u2019s midfielder Manuel Ugarte made an inappropriate and obscene gesture towards Argentina\u2019s Rodrigo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-368741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n