Football fights: 6 times Lionel Messi has got into a fight on a football pitch

Fight with Bolivia’s Ronald Raldes (2011)

The spat in the 2016 Copa America was not the first time Lionel Messi had squared up to a player from Bolivia. That distinction goes to Ronald Raldes. The Bolivian defender became a cult hero after going toe to toe with the Argentinean ace.

Argentina and Bolivia played out a 1-1 draw. A frustrated Messi, looking for a win, got into an argument with Raldes after being blocked away from the ball. He then proceeded to go head-to-head against the centre-back, while saying a few words with his hand over his mouth, before his teammates intervened.

Bolivian fans flocked to social media sites to praise Raldes and his set-to with Messi. The Chilean media also got in on the act with La Cuarta daily suggesting that “Bolivian defender Ronald Raldesis more popular than (President) Evo Morales,” who attended the game as a big football fan.

Post Edited By: Archie Blade

Lionel Messi

About the author

Archie Blade

Archie is a WWE and UFC Editor/Author at the SportsRush. Like most combat sports enthusiasts, his passion for watching people fight began with WWE when he witnessed a young Brock Lesnar massacre Hulk Hogan back in 2002. This very passion soon branched out to boxing and mixed martial arts. Over the years he fell in love with the theatrics that preceded the bell and the poetic carnage that followed after. Each bruise a story to tell, each wound a song of struggle, his greatest desire is to be there to witness it all. His favorite wrestler is Shawn Michaels and he believes that GSP is the greatest to ever step foot inside the octagon. Apart from wrestling, he is also fond of poetry and music.

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