Mascherano's odd request for sent off U20 player that proves ex-Red is all class

But Javier Mascherano, who manages Argentina's Under-20s, boldly requested for a rival player who was sent off to be substituted rather than have the opposition go down to ten men.

The incident occurred early in the first half of a friendly between Argentina and Bolivia's U20 teams.

Mascherano's side had taken an early lead thanks to Agustin Ladstatter, a product of Argentina outfit San Lorenzo.

But the contest soon exploded in the 13th minute when Bolivia's Nathan Tito produced a lunging tackle from behind on Lautaro Millan.

The referee immediately brandished a red card as Argentina's medical staff raced on the field to assess Millan's injury.

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But the cameras soon panned over to Mascherano, who was seen having an animated discussion with the referee and the fourth official.

It soon emerged Mascherano had requested for Tito to simply be substituted rather than sent off to ensure a fair contest rather than take the numerical advantage.

An explanation was soon shared on the official broadcast: "It has just been agreed between both delegations, at the request of coach Mascherano, that Bolivia introduces another player to ensure the match stays balanced at 11-a-side."

It was a tremendously classy move from the former Liverpool and Barcelona midfielder, although his side ultimately ran out 4-0 winners.

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The match offered vital preparation ahead of the 2025 South American U20 Championship, which begins on January 23 and takes place in Venezuela.

Mascherano, who became Argentina's U20 coach in December 2021, will desperately want to improve on the nation's disappointing finish at the 2023 edition of the tournament when they failed to make it out of their group having lost three of their four games.

The five-time LaLiga winner was also in charge for Argentina's Olympics team in Paris where they lost 2-1 in their opening match to Morocco in highly controversial circumstances.

Argentina thought they'd secured a point from 2-0 down thanks to Cristian Medina's dramatic equaliser in the 16th minute of stoppage time.

Medina's goal sparked fury from Moroccan fans who stormed the field at St Etienne's Stade Geoffroy-Guichard as armed police were required to calm the situation.

Both teams were taken off the field as the match was suspended, but Medina's goal was later disallowed by VAR a staggering 92 minutes after it was initially scored.

It meant the final three minutes of the match had to be played in an empty stadium and Argentina were ultimately unable to find the equaliser.

The farcical scenes sparked a furious post-match reaction from Mascherano, who branded the incident as 'the biggest circus I've ever seen in my life'.

"I don't have an explanation for the players," Mascherano said.

"They were reviewing a play for an hour and twenty minutes. Let me continue the game, don't stop me to continue three minutes after an hour and a half.

"The game was suspended for security reasons. When we had no news, we started to notice things. We don't like this kind of thing to happen either.

"We don't want to be favoured or made fun of. Now we have to turn the page and look for the two victories that we will need to qualify.

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"What happened on the field was a scandal. We have to focus on our own. Obviously it is confusing but now we have to look forward, this is over, it is over. We have to focus on the two games. Keep the anger and use it in the next games."

Mascherano would lead his Argentina side to the two wins required to get out of their group but were dumped out in the quarter-finals after a 1-0 loss to host nation France, who were managed by Thierry Henry.