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WATCH: Emiliano Martinez charges at police officer & attempts to take his baton as Argentina vs Brazil erupts into chaos due to fan violence

As reported by the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12778489/Emiliano-Martinez-police-officer-violence-Argentina-Brazil.html" target="_blank">Daily Mail</a>, the Aston Villa goalkeeper leaped up and tried to take away the baton from a Brazilian police officer's hand amid crowd violence at the Maracana stadium right before Brazil and Argentina's 2026 World Cup qualifying game.<a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/argentina-player-ratings-brazil-nicolas-otamendi-lionel-messi/blt9834fc98f4b40d0a" target="_blank">Violence broke out between the fans just before kick-off</a>, leading to the reigning World Cup champions walking off the field. The two sides eventually returned to get the game underway 30 minutes later.

WHAT HAPPENED?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">🚨 Emiliano Martinez going against a Brazilian policeman just minutes before… <a href="https://t.co/Lj0XdWpzzd">pic.twitter.com/Lj0XdWpzzd</a>— Eduardo Hagn (@EduardoHagn) <a href="https://twitter.com/EduardoHagn/status/1727126989281309089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

WATCH THE CLIP

Apparently, <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/lionel-messi-calls-end-crazy-repression-argentina-fans-brazil-crowd-violence-albiceleste-victory-maracana/blt01adf7b6e85e9638" target="_blank">the violence started when the home crowd started booing the visiting team's national anthem</a>. The local police intervened, but the violence only increased. Martinez took it upon himself to try and stop the chaos in the stands, with several of his Argentina team-mates attempting to haul him back, and the squad eventually made their way down the tunnel.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

The match eventually went in the visitors' favour as Nicolas Otamendi's strike helped the world champions edge out their rivals. <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/brazil-player-ratings-vs-argentina-raphinha/blt2f0ab1ff4258d375" target="_blank">This was Selecao's third defeat in six games</a> and it left them languishing down in sixth in the CONMEBOL qualifying table with just seven points. From the same number of games, La Albiceleste have 15 points and sit at the summit. <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-au/conmebol-world-cup-qualifiers/fixtures-results/2db0aw1duj2my9l5iey5gm6nq" target="_blank">The next set of qualifying games</a> will not take place until September next year, after the Copa America.

WHAT NEXT?

WATCH: Emiliano Martinez charges at police officer & attempts to take his baton as Argentina vs Brazil erupts into chaos due to fan violence | Goal.com English Kuwait

Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez appeared to charge at a Brazilian police officer and try to take away his baton during ugly scenes at the Maracana.

WATCH: Emiliano Martinez charges at police officer &amp; attempts to take his baton as Argentina vs Brazil erupts into chaos due to fan violence

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