Lionel Messi has reacted to being spat at by an opponent in Argentina's 1-0 win over Paraguay in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying in the early hours of Friday morning.
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Having only just returned from injury, the 36-year-old was introduced from the bench in the second half as the Albiceleste maintained their perfect start to qualifying for the next World Cup courtesy of a first-half goal from Nicolas Otamendi.
Messi struck the post twice after coming on to replace Manchester City's Julian Alvarez, but tensions rose five minutes before the full-time whistle when an opponent appeared to spit at him following a discussion.
Paraguay forward Antonio Sanabria's actions, though, went unnoticed by Argentina's captain until his teammates told him what had happened after the encounter in Buenos Aires.
"Truthfully, I didn't see it. My teammates told me in the locker room that he spat at me," he said, according to ESPN.
"I don't know who this boy is and I don't want to make a big thing out of it."
Messi also said he is delighted to be back on the field after his recent fitness issues.
"I'm happy to be playing again... It is always difficult to enter from the bench and even more so in such a tight game. The important thing is that we won, and we played well, especially in the first half," he added.
"I come here after playing only a few minutes for my club (Inter Miami). We talked and planned to see how I feel during the week. The idea is to add more training sessions in the following days ahead of our next game."
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Sanabria has spent all of his senior career playing in Italy and Spain, for clubs such as Roma and Real Betis, after coming through Barcelona's esteemed La Masia academy while Messi was starring for the first team.
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