The Argentine Lionel Messi, the star of the American team Inter Miami, got into a verbal quarrel with the Orlando City player, during the match of the two teams in the American Football League.
The Spanish sports newspaper “Marca” reported that Felipe Martinez uttered unkind words towards Messi.
Video footage showed a physical collision between Messi and Orlando City defender, Uruguayan Cesar Araujo in the 83rd minute of the match.
Another sharp discussion between the legend Messi and the Orlando player, and then an intense verbal exchange broke out between Messi and another player in the team, the Brazilian Felipe Martinez, which made the latter the target of criticism, and then Martinez came out to defend himself. “This is a normal part of the game,” he said, adding that the words said in front of Messi ended on the pitch.
“All players should accept what is happening on the pitch and not wait for special treatment because of their name or status,”he added.
“People think I created the problems, but there are things that happen in games and they stay there.
“I respect all the players and it won’t be Messi or anyone else who changes the way I do things,”he said.
He added that what he did was “to protect a member of his team who did nothing”.
The match, which comes within the 16th stage of the domestic league, ended with Inter Miami defeating Orlando City 3-1.
Messi scored two of his team’s three goals.
