'Whenever you want': Messi’s response revealed after Cavani 'calls him out for fight' in fiery Argentina-Uruguay clash in Israel

Lionel Messi and Edinson Cavani nearly came to blows during Argentina's 2-2 draw with Uruguay in Tel Aviv on Monday evening after the Paris Saint German striker offered to fight the 32-year-old, according to reports.

Barcelona star Messi was willing to take up the offer, according to Ole, which reports that the Argentine captain replied “whenever you want."

In a clip being shared on social media, Messi can be seen cupping his hand over his mouth while speaking to Cavani, who offers nothing but a smile to the Argentine skipper.

Their heated chat came after Cavani opened the scoring in the first half, putting Uruguay 1-0 up at the break, before Messi assisted Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero for the equalizer at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv.

Cavani's strike partner Luis Suarez put Uruguay 2-1 up again but it was his Barcelona team-mate Messi who stepped up for his country to bury a stoppage time penalty and salvage a draw.

Uruguay defender Diego Godin appeared to try and calm Messi down during his remonstrations with Cavani, while their feud reportedly continued down the tunnel at half-time.

Suarez attempts to calm Barcelona teammate Messi. © AFP

Tensions boiled over after Messi was heavily fouled by one of Cavani's team-mates in the first half.

"It was a classic, a match with lots of friction and strong tackles, as we have in South American football," Cavani said after the game.

"Both sides have done good things, we leave with a positive feeling and we try to play football. then it was already a classic, we live it like this."

It was the second time in a matter of days in which Messi appeared to act aggressively, as in Argentina's 1-0 win over Brazil at the weekend he is thought to have told opposing manager Tite to “shut his mouth.”

Messi scored the deciding goal during the Superclasico after 14 minutes and appeared to gesture to Tite to keep quiet, sparking complaints to the referee from the 58-year-old coach.

Tite said after the match that he told Messi to “shut up” as well, but also noted that the referee should have shown him a yellow card for an earlier incident.

"I don't want to answer anymore on it. You need a strong referee because he'll swallow you... It should have been a card, I was right to complain. And that was it," the Brazil boss said.