Pachuca’s Gustavo Cabral has seemingly revealed what he actually said to Antonio Rudiger, following the Real Madrid star’s accusation of a ‘racist insult’ being used by the Argentinian defender.
The alleged incident occurred in stoppage time of Sunday’s Group H clash in Charlotte, where a visibly incensed Rudiger approached Brazilian referee Ramon Abatti Abel following a verbal exchange with Cabral.
Sources inside the stadium claim that Cabral is alleged to have called Rudiger a ‘negro de mierda’ — a Spanish insult that translates as ‘f***ing n*****’.
However, Cabral disputed this after the game by stating he had called Rudiger a ‘cagon de mierda’ — meaning ‘f***ing coward’.
‘There was nothing racist. I called him a f***ing coward, as we say in Argentina. That’s all,’ he claimed.
‘There was a struggle, I received a kick, he said I hit him with my hand, we argued. But nothing more.
‘The referee made the racist sign, but I kept repeating the same thing to him: “F***ing coward”.
‘There is no sanction for saying that, it’s a word, period. It has no other intention.
‘He was telling me “I’ll see you outside,” he was making signs for a fight. I was angry too; we were arguing in the tunnel, but it didn’t go any further.
‘My team-mates and theirs were right next to me. I just said the same thing over and over again.’
The incident on the field saw the referee make the designated ‘No Racism Gesture’ by crossing his arms, indicating that an investigation would be carried out.
Under FIFA’s updated anti-racism procedures introduced in 2024, the crossed-arms gesture is the first step in a possible three-stage response to discriminatory behaviour.
Step one alerts officials and competition authorities to the alleged incident and gives the referee the option to stop the match.
Steps two and three, which involve suspending or abandoning the match, are only triggered if the situation escalates or continues.
Speaking after the game, Madrid manager Xabi Alonso confirmed Rudiger had reported a racist insult and said the club fully supported the player.
‘He told us about it. We support Antonio because it’s unacceptable, we believe him,’ the former Spain international told reporters.
Real Madrid did however get their first win of the tournament on the board, with goals from Jude Bellingham, Arda Guler and Federico Valverde seeing them through 3-1, despite an early red card for Raul Asencio.
It was Alonso’s first win as Real boss following the entertaining 1-1 draw with Al-Hilal, and he will be hoping for a repeat against RB Salzburg in Los Blancos’ final game of the groups to finish top.
