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Former Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira has been involved in a public spat with former Liverpool striker, Luis Suarez.
The ex-Barcelona forward is still representing Uruguay and Pereira, now at Fulham, was part of Brazil’s Copa America squad.
The weekend saw Uruguay come out on top in a penalty shootout 4-2, after a 0-0 stalemate after extra time, in a blockbuster quarter final.
Suarez has much unpleasant history with United after the 2012 incident with Red Devils’ legend, Patrica Evra, where he was condemned of racially abusing the left back and was banned for eight games.
Speaking before the quarter final contest, the United academy graduate Pereira had some controversial words about the quality level between the two international sides.
Via The Metro, Pereira claimed pre-match that “the Uruguayan national team is very good, but if you take it name by name, we have a team that they dream of having.”
There is perhaps logic to the player’s argument as Brazil sit fourth in the FIFA world rankings and Uruguay are in 14th place.
Nonetheless, Suarez was not too impressed with Pereira’s judgements and spoke candidly after the match about the pre-match statements.
“We have the best midfielders in the world, top-level players. To talk about Uruguay, you have to have a little more respect, know the history of Uruguay.”
“Before I say which players want to be on the Brazilian national team, I have to say that the person who made that comment was [Giorgian] De Arrascaeta’s reserve [at Flamengo], who is the best player in Brazilian football. So imagine what it’s like for us to hear that.”
To his credit, Pereira did respond to his comments after his side’s loss, “I simply said that I preferred it and I think our players are better, so if they used that to their advantage, they can do whatever they want. But at no time did I show any disrespect towards Uruguay.”
Neither player were involved much in the actual game as the 28 year old former United man was subbed on after 81 minutes and Suarez did not leave the bench.
South American football is not only famous for its quality of players but also the tenacity in which the game is played and it probably should be no surprise that a war of words would be carried out before the game against two of the continent’s most successful teams.
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