World Cup season makes football fans as emotionally charged as the players on the field. Those who get carried away by a loss or victory of their choice team may be forgiven, but there are those who react destructively.
Indian Deepak Elangode angered Indian fans of Portugal and Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo when he recently tore to pieces a flag that they put up in a neighborhood in Panoor town in India's southern Kerala state, Agence France-Presse reported.
Ronaldo's local fans confronted and rebuked Elangode for destroying the flag of Portugal and throwing the strips on the road. Fans reported him to the police and he was arrested on the charge of public nuisance.
Police later said that Elangode mistook the red-and-green flag for that of the Social Democratic Party of India's that he hated.
Mexican boxer Saul "Canelo" Álvarez got angry when he saw a viral video of Argentinian football star Leonel Messi taking off his shoes in the club's locker room after they defeated Mexico in a match.
Messi's shoe accidentally fell on a Mexican jersey on the floor and Alvarez felt the Argentinian striker used it to clean the floor.
The boxer warned the footballer in a tweet to pray that he doesn't find him, a veiled threat that Alvarez will beat Messi up should their paths cross.
Messi's former Argentina teammate Sergio Agüero defended the former and explained, "The shirts are always on the floor after games have finished due to sweat and then if you look properly, he makes the movement to remove his boot and accidentally hits it," according to CNN.
Alvarez later apologized on Twitter after realizing his mistake.
"These last few days I got carried away with the passion and the love I feel for my country and I made comments that were out of order so I want to apologize to Messi and the people of Argentina," CNN reported.
