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Mexico captain Andres Guardado has defended Lionel Messi after Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez accused the Argentine of disrespecting his nation in the aftermath of the clash between the two nations at the FIFA World Cup on Saturday (26 November).
Shortly after Argentina secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Mexico in their second group-stage game at the weekend, a controversial video started making the rounds. In the footage, Lionel Messi appeared to step on a Mexican jersey, albeit unwillingly as La Albiceleste celebrated their victory in the dressing room.
Hours later, Mexican professional boxer Canelo Alvarez reacted to the incident, accusing the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner of disrespecting his nation and even issued a threat as a follow-up. The boxer tweeted (via CNN):
“Did you see Messi cleaning the floor with our shirt and flag???"
Canelo wrote in another tweet:
"He better pray to God that I don’t find him!! Just like I respect Argentina, he has to respect Mexico! I’m not talking about the country as a whole, just about the bulls**t that Messi pulled.”
Mexico captain Andres Guardado attempted to calm the situation by explaining how things work in the dressing room to Canelo. The midfielder jumped to Messi's defense, explaining that he exchanged the jersey in question with the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) superstar after the game.
Guardado said:
"I know the person Messi is. It's a deal with the staff that when it's all sweaty, it gets left on the floor. Be it your jersey or rival. Canelo doesn't know what a dressing room is. It seems silly to me. That shirt was mine, I exchanged it with Leo."
Messi was highly influential for Argentina during the clash with Mexico. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner opened the scoring with a wonderful long-range strike before setting up Enzo Fernandez for the second goal.
Former Argentina star Sergio Aguero defends Lionel Messi amid Canelo Alvarez row
Former Argentina and Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero has also defended Messi following Canelo's accusations. Reacting to the incident, the former striker said:
"Mr. Canelo, don't look for excuses or problems, surely you don't know about soccer and what happens in a locker room. The shirts are always on the floor after the games are over due to sweat and then if you see well, he makes the movement to remove the boot and accidentally hits it."
