Dundee United World Cup star Aziz Behich admits the red mist came down during his bust-up with Argentina superstar Lionel Messi.
The pair squared off just moments before Messi opened the scoring against Australia in the last-16 tie.
Following their altercation, a fired-up Behich fouled Papu Gomez as the game sparked into life.
Argentina opened the scoring from the resulting free-kick when Messi drifted inside to steer the ball past Mat Ryan.
‘Heat of the moment’
The full-back, who joined United from Turkish Club Giresunspor in the summer, told Fox Sports: “He (Messi) pushed me once the ball was out and I’ve always been, throughout my career, that when I’m on that pitch I kind of see black.
“I don’t see an opponent or a name or anything like that. I’m out there to help my team win and I do whatever I can for that to happen.
“There’s obviously respect there for the opponent and that, but it’s just a heat of the moment thing.
“It ended up being face-to-face, no words were exchanged, nothing violent or anything like that but one of his teammates tried to tell me not to speak to him or something.
“But it was nothing to over-exaggerate. It was just a heat of the moment thing.”
Last-gasp challenge stops wondergoal
Having already made United history by becoming the first Tannadice player to feature in the knockout stages of the World Cup, Behich nearly scored a Messi-like goal of his own that would have cemented his place in Socceroos folklore.
Game winning block. @LisandrMartinez 🔴✅ pic.twitter.com/DNGAwwj0N6
— UtdPlug (@UtdPlug) December 3, 2022
With just ten minutes to go and Australia in search of an equalizer, he sliced through the Argentine defence from deep only to be denied by Lisandro Martinez’s last-ditch tackle.
He said: “I’ve got past the last guy. I actually opened my body and said: ‘As long as I hit the target here, it’s in,’ and looking back at the video the keeper’s actually gone the wrong way as I was taking the shot as well.
“It was a great tackle, pretty much like a Harry Souttar tackle, but this time it was on us. It would have been great – a special moment for our country and our team but it wasn’t to be.
“I’m proud of this group and what we achieved at this World Cup and this whole campaign really; this whole past four years. Hopefully this is a step forward for Australian football.”
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