Bolivia vs Argentina: Physio Navas received death threats after Lionel Messi bust up

Lucas Nava, the physio of the Bolivian national football team, said he was subject to insults all the way from Spain and even received death threats after his verbal altercation with Lionel Messi in the aftermath of Argentina's 2-1 win over Bolivia earlier this week. Nava, who himself is an Argentinian, said despite the heated exchange with the superstar, he continues to be a big fan of Messi's.

Bolivia vs Argentina

On Tuesday, Argentina scored their first away win against Bolivia since 2005. Lautaro Martinez and Joaquin Correia scored for La Albiceleste, helping them maintain their unbeaten start to the 2022 World Cup qualification campaign. The post-match fracas, however, made the headlines as Lionel Messi was spotted hurling expletives at Lucas Nava and Bolivia captain Marcelo Martins Moreno.

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Messi was said to furious with Nava as the duo had several close calls during the match, with some reports claiming Nava screamed at Messi several times during the course of the match. The video of the altercation that went viral on social media shows multiple players from both the teams engaging in a tussle.

On Thursday, during an interview with ESPN, Nava explained that the post-match heated exchange was a result of a misunderstanding that probably occurred during the game. While Nava maintains there was no bad intention from either side, as a part of the Bolivia team, he had to defend his players. "There was probably a misunderstanding," the physio said. "The truth is that nothing happened, it's more what was created around us. There are normal insults that any Argentinian uses, there was no bad intention."

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Further explaining his reason to step on the pitch to confront Lionel Messi, Nava said he sensed the animosity between the two sets of players and stepped in to separate the players. Nava said he did so to prevent his players from being sent off.

While both teams headed their separate ways after the heated confrontation, Nava was surprised to see the insults coming his way from everywhere. "It hurt me that my son had to listen on TV that this and that about the bald (man). I have had calls from everywhere, even from Spain. I've received insults and threats," he added.

Playing their first international fixture in 11 months, Lionel Scaloni's Argentina registered back-to-back wins over Ecuador and Bolivia, respectively. With two wins in two, Argentina are tied at the top of the table with Brazil, with the latter currently ahead on goal difference. As for Bolivia, they currently occupy the last place in the qualifiers after losing their opening fixtures during the international break. 

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(Image Credits: Argentina Football Twitter)