Tite Lifts Lid On Angry Messi Confrontation
Brazil manager Tite has revealed Lionel Messi told him to ‘shut up’ during Seleçao's 1-0 defeat to their bitter rivals Argentina in a friendly match on Friday.
Messi returned to the international fold for the first time since the Copa America in July following a three-month ban for accusing the South American Football Confederation of rigging the 2019 tournament in favour of hosts Brazil.
The Barcelona forward scored the only goal of the game from the rebound after his 13th minute penalty was saved by Alisson Becker but was involved in an angry confrontation with Brazil manager Tite, who felt Messi should have been cautioned for a challenge.
Messi was seen gesticulating towards Tite to calm down in the heat of the moment and the Brazil manager revealed what transpired between the pair.
"I complained because he [Messi] should have been shown a yellow card and he told me to shut my mouth and I told him to shut his mouth, and that was it,” Tite told reporters after the game.
He added: "I don't want to answer any more on it. You need a strong referee because he'll swallow you… It should have been a card, I was right to complain."
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was elated with his team’s performance after their 1-0 win in Riyadh.
He said: “From the very start we tried to play. We had a couple of misses and they had their chances. But in the second half, we were much better.”
"When you win, it puts you more at ease and that is very positive for what lies ahead. I ended the match well, we all ran quite a bit. And that is what we were there to do.”
Brazil play South Korea in a friendly next week while Argentina face Uruguay.
