Argentina legend Diego Maradona has dismissed Dani Alves' criticism of him, describing the Juventus and Brazil right-back as "an idiot" and criticising his passing ability.
Alves told Brazilian TV channel "Canais Esporte Interativo" there could be no comparison between Lionel Messi and Maradona because of the latter's infamous "Hand of God" goal in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal against England.
"You want to compare Messi to Maradona? You can't compare them," Alves said.
"I would not be proud to say that I won a World Cup with a 'Hand of God.' I wouldn't be able to tell my son that I won a World Cup like this with the whole world talking about it.
"The 'Hand of God' tricked us, you have to take this firm position. A sportsman like this can't be an example for youngsters."
Maradona, however, responded by telling TyC Sports: "Dani Alves is an idiot. He makes 28 passes and only gets four right. As a '4' [right-back], Cafu and Maicon were good. Dani Alves? Poor thing.
"He speaks because he plays in a position on the pitch where football is not played.
"They [right-backs] touch the ball three times and make eight fouls per game."
Maradona's daughter, Dalma, also weighed in with a lengthy post on Twitter.
Como lo critico mucho a mi papá , tmb lo defiendo y así será SIEMPRE! Ojalá @DaniAlvesD2 tenga un segundo para leerme! pic.twitter.com/wxkjhDP5OE
- Dalma Maradona (@dalmaradona) June 17, 2017
"Mr Dani Alves, I'm writing to you with the aim of explaining who my father is as I think I have that knowledge that you don't," she wrote.
"I saw an except in which you said that you cannot compare Messi with my father (I couldn't agree more and I always said that only ignorant people would make such a comparison) and, as an Argentinian, I love Messi and I always celebrate his successes.
"You say you wouldn't be proud of winning a World Cup with a handball goal, and I ask you -- did you have a chance to see the other goal my father scored in that same game?
"To top it all off you say that you wouldn't consider my father as a sporting example to youngsters and I think my father would agree with you on that because he never wanted to be an example of anything and did what he could."
Information from ESPN FC's Spain correspondent Adriana Garcia was used in this report.