All hell broke loose during the highly-anticipated World Cup qualifying encounter between Brazil and Argentina in Sao Paulo on Sunday, when the Brazilian Health Authorities stormed onto the pitch to deport four Argentine players, who allegedly broke COVID-19 protocols upon entering the country. The match was soon suspended after just around six minutes of play.

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The four players — Emiliano Martinez, Giovani Lo Celso, Cristian Romero and Emiliano Buendia — had allegedly lied to immigration officers that they had not recently been to the United Kingdom or anywhere else that Brazil puts on its own red list for COVID-19 risks.  

Social media was sent buzzing as people dumped their opinions around the unusual run of events on Twitter. Meanwhile, some trolls and memers just enjoyed seeing the world burn.

A user on the micro-blogging platform opined, “Argentina have been in Brazil for 3 days and the Brazilian health agency decide to storm the pitch and stop the match.”

However, another user had substantial questions about how the entire situation was handled by the Brazilian authorities. Given that the Argentine players were in the country three days back, the matter could’ve been dealt with in a better manner.

“Brazil authorities were well aware that these 4 players were not allowed to play before the match, they just wanted to make this public and waited until the match started, it’s absurd,” the user wrote.

“Things could have been avoided privately or by the authorities to be more clear from the start, absurd and embarrassing.”

Meanwhile, other users were busy churning out hilarious content out of the intense situation. Using a now-viral image of Neymar Jr. and Lionel Messi, a user made a meme on how people are reacting after knowing the said Argentine players were allowed to enter the country even though they can be seen playing in the Premier League week in, week out live on television.

While another user dug out a funny old meme template from the film “Superbad,” humorously portraying how the Argentine players might have gotten into the country.

Barcelona forward Sergio Aguero, who hasn’t travelled with the Argentine team owing to injuries, posted a cryptic message on Twitter. 

“A comment on this? Mine is: Niaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa,” he wrote, along with two emojis showing his disappointment.