No shortage of eyebrows were raised by comments made by Barcelona and Brazil star Raphinha before the Selecao took on Argentina on Tuesday night in Buenos Aires. His assertions that Brazil would give the Albiceleste a beating backfired in spectacular fashion.
“We’re going to play against Argentina. Now, thank God, without Messi,” Raphinha noted in a podcast with Romario, who asked ‘Are we going to give them a beating?’
Raphinha endured a nightmare at the Monumental as Brazil suffered their worst-ever World Cup qualifier defeat, losing 4-1 to Argentina. @joaquimpiera
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 26, 2025
“A beating, without a doubt, on and off the pitch if necessary,” Raphinha responded, one of several Brazil players to express confidence in a big result.
Things could barely have gone worse for Brazil. Behind after four minutes through a Julian Alvarez goal, Argentina dominated from start to finish, with Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister and Giuliano Simeone all got on the scoresheet. Matheus Cunha’s strike in the first half made it 2-1, but that was the only real resistance from Brazil. It could even see manager Dorival Junior lose his job.
“It was historic because of the context and everything that was said, because we played a great game at home in front of our fans, and because we qualified for the World Cup,” Julian Alvarez explained, as quoted by MD. He noted that Raphinha’s words were no match for their hard work.
🇦🇷🔴⚪️ Lionel Scaloni: “Giuliano [Simeone] has undergone a huge transformation since he has been with us, thanks to him, his club, and his father, who is his coach, passing on everything he was as a player.”@marqoss pic.twitter.com/njO1327rlO
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) March 26, 2025
How much did Raphinha’s pre-match seasoning influence us? “Obviously, that way of speaking adds spice to a match like this, but with humility and our hard work, we had them on strings.”
Meanwhile during the game, Raphinha had a scuffle with Argentina’s Nicolas Tagliafico, with Nicolas Otamendi seen shouting ‘Speak less, speak less’.
“Hablá menos”💥 Se picó el clásico y Otamendi le dejó un mensaje a Raphinha 😲
Mirá #ArgentinaXTelefe con los comentarios de @JPVarsky y relatos de @giraltpablo por https://t.co/2ECurz6Kmn 🎙 pic.twitter.com/SQoRuaw9x0
— telefe (@telefe) March 26, 2025
Atletico Madrid had a starring role in Argentina’s victory, and Rodrigo de Paul also noted that it was time that the Albiceleste were paid some respect.
“It’s fine. It stays there, on the pitch. We never disrespect anyone. And yet, over the years, we’ve been disrespected quite a bit. We’ve been the best team of all time for five or six years. Let them respect us,” he told the same outlet.
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni passed on the opportunity to rub salt into Raphinha’s wounds.
“I forgive Raphinha because I know he didn’t do it on purpose. He’s defending his national team, nothing more. Whether he made a statement or not, we were going to play our game, and so was Brazil. I’m absolutely certain he didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
Raphinha was the object of offensive chanting at the Monumental, with the home fans singing ‘Put Raphinha on, put Raphinha on, the whore who gave birth to you.’ Although far less offensive, Real Madrid star Rodrygo Goes also received some back from Leandro Paredes during the game. After the match, he also had words for Raphinha, as recounted by Relevo.
“You shouldn’t talk beforehand, you shouldn’t say these kinds of things when you can’t prove it on the pitch. They sent it to the WhatsApp group and we discussed it. Whenever this kind of thing happens, we stand up for ourselves, and we did it again.”
