Spain’s World Cup final win over Argentina was marred by violence after the final whistle
There were ugly scenes after the final whistle in the World Cup final, with Leandro Paredes shown a red card for throwing punches at Spanish stars Eric Garcia and Gavi. It was the second red card for Argentina as Spain ran out 1-0 winners in a one-sided affair, with Ferran Torres scoring the winner in the second half of extra time.
Argentina had to play the additional phase of the game with ten men after Enzo Fernandez was shown a red card for two yellow card offences just before the final whistle in normal time. The Chelsea midfielder had been booked for dissent, before a rash challenge on the halfway line on Pau Cubarsi, with referee Slavko Vincic giving the 25-year-old his marching orders.
Argentina tried to hang on to take the game to penalties, but Torres’ winner meant Spain would claim their second World Cup title, sparking wild scenes at full-time. Spanish players raced onto the pitch to celebrate when Argentinian defender Nahuel Molina appeared to punch Rodri in the stomach.
The Man City star reacted and turned to confront the Argentinian, while Spain defender Eric Garcia rushed to intervene and separate the two players. Argentinian midfielder joins in the fracas, kicking and grabbing Garcia by the throat as Lionel Scaloni tries to diffuse the melee.
Unused Spain substitute Gavi tries to intervene and push Paredes, with the 32-year-old retaliating, throwing punches and pushing the 21-year-old to the floor before players from both teams steam in to separate proceedings.
“Does is surprise you?” Rooney asked his BBC pundits at full-time. “It doesn’t surprise me, I think we’ve seen this with Argentina before and it’s just not the reaction you want.
“We’ve seen some of the reaction after knocking England out in the last round as well. I think Enzo Fernandez has got what he deserves as well, so it’s disappointing.
“But that’s just sad. If you lose a game of football, be graceful and get out of there. It’s very poor from them.”
Fellow pundit Joe Hart said: “Disgusting. There was one man on the pitch who did have class, and that was Lionel Mess – shook hands of every one of those Spanish players.
“The game’s done, they can have absolutely no complaints about what happened today. Disgusting behaviour.
“Rodri, I don’t think, needed to get in their faces, but when you’ve been wound up for 120 minutes, and you felt you’ve been wronged, and you’ve felt the referee’s on your back, and you’ve got that win, referee’s blown his whistle, leave it.
“And I think Argentina…are you surprised they’ve gone over the line again?”
“It’s quite embarrassing really, because for all I give Argentina that praise in terms of how they approach the game,” Michah Richards added. “Yes, they know Spain are a batter team on the ball, but what can they do to destruct them off the ball? And in the game, they were just on the cusp every single time.
“The first yellow card wasn’t until 40 odd minutes in the first-half, but seeing that sort of stuff after the game’s been played and someone’s just been crowned World Cup champions, it’s not good enough. It’s quite embarrassing to be honest.
“Paraedes there, he doesn’t need to do that, he’s better than that. And it doesn’t stop there, it keeps going, and going, and going.
“And we all know what it’s like to lose a game, we can be very frustrated, we understand that. But this is not good enough, it’s not a good look at all.”
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