RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Peru defender Carlos Zambrano has labeled Argentina stars Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain "little girls" following the teams' 1-1 draw in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier in Lima.

In an interview published on Peruvian sports website Depor.pe on Thursday, Zambrano also accused Messi of being "scared" by the occasion.

"He didn't do much. Maybe he was scared, I don't know," Zambrano said. "We deserved to win. We were the better team and I'm angry that we only managed to get one point from the match."

"They complained about everything. They are little girls. Higuain tried to provoke me the entire match but I didn't get sucked in."

Zambrano gave Peru the lead with an early strike before Real Madrid forward Higuain equalized at the Estadio Nacional.

Peru had the best of the second half chances while Argentina struggled to maintain possession in the opposition half.

"They were impotent and frustrated. They didn't know how to stop us and couldn't win possession of the ball," Zambrano added.

"They tried to unsettle me with insults but when they were tackled they complained and went to ground. They think they are untouchable but football is a game for men."

Despite the result, Argentina remains on top of South America's Conmebol standings with 14 points from seven matches. Peru is seventh with seven points from as many games.