World Cup final descends into violence at full-time whistle as Spain and Argentina players clash in ugly scenes
Ugly scenes took place in the World Cup final due to a fight between the players of the two teams.
As Spain’s substitutes and coaching staff rushed onto the pitch to celebrate their 1-0 win against the South Americans, some of the Argentinian players lost their heads.
Ferran Torres scored the winning goal in the 106th minute after Enzo Fernandez was sent off in the 93rd minute for an extremely weak Argentina team.
After the whistle, Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes was sent off for punching Eric Garcia and pushing Gavi to the ground.
Argentinian Nahuel Molina also punched Rodri in the body while passing by, while Thiago Almada was also involved in the incident.
Micah Richards said of his behavior on the BBC: ‘This is disgraceful. They were on top every time.
‘It’s not good to see these things after the match has been played, it’s a shame to be honest. Paredes is better than this. ‘We all know what it’s like to lose a game but that’s not good enough.’
Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes was sent off after being whistled for punching Eric Garcia and pushing Gavi to the ground.
Many stars clashed after Spain beat Argentina 1-0, but the South Americans started it
Joe Hart added: ‘Disgusting behaviour. ‘There was a classy man on that pitch and that was Lionel Messi.’
Wayne Rooney said: ‘It doesn’t surprise me. We’ve seen this before in Argentina. It’s just sad, there are so many poor of them.
‘If you lose a football match, be graceful. This is a reaction to their dominance. ‘Enzo Fernandez got what he deserved.’
Argentina were rogues in the World Cup final, as they were against England in the semi-finals.
Fernandez complained about being sent off for a second yellow card, but his final foul on Pau Cubarsi, which sent the defender flying, was awful.
Paredes was also lucky not to be sent off in normal time for a foul on the edge of the penalty area that led to Lamine Yamal’s last-gasp free kick before extra time.
Argentina had only two shots throughout the game, the first coming in the 117th minute.
By contrast, they were trigger-happy on 24 fouls; Although Spain’s hands were not clean, as they committed 21 fouls.
Paredes criticized for turning to violence at the right time and trying to ruin Spain’s celebrations
Alan Shearer said: ‘There’s a way to lose. We have seen this reaction from them many times. They were trying to win free kicks and their reaction at the end was terrible. The best team won. ‘This is a result in terms of football because of the way Spain played.’
Even Lionel Messi couldn’t rise above the dark arts. The legendary striker was criticized by Wayne Rooney for trying to have Marc Cucurella sent off late in the game.
The game turned into complete chaos when Fernandez received his second yellow card.
This led to a melee between the two groups of players and Cucurella was seen saying something to Messi.
The left-back then put a few fingers over his mouth and continued talking; The Argentinian player immediately reacted to this move and waved to the referee.
According to FIFA’s rules for this tournament, if a player covers his mouth with his hand in a conflict situation, he will be sent off.
This was seen with Miguel Almiron for Paraguay in the group stage and Piero Hincapie in the knockout stages for Ecuador.
However, Cucurella did not appear to speak in a confrontational manner and neither the referee nor VAR decided to intervene.
Spain won the World Cup yesterday after Ferran Torres scored an injury-time winner against Argentina.
Torres shot at the goal with his left foot after Williams sent the ball towards the goal.
There was great joy for the Spanish players who celebrated wildly in the corner of the stadium
But it was devastating for Argentina’s upset stars, who were fighting for their lives.
There was no fairy-tale World Cup ending for Lionel Messi as he struggled to assert his authority.
BBC experts immediately reacted to Messi’s behavior as his team went into extra time with a one-man defeat.
Hart said: ‘Wow! Wow! Yes, I never liked Lionel Messi.
‘If even Lionel Messi returns to this, you will understand how top Spain is.’
Richards added: ‘We don’t want to see people getting sent off in the World Cup final for this.’
Rooney was equally angry at Messi’s behavior and said: ‘This is desperation.
‘This is how Argentina plays, we know they do it too.
‘But all you want is good sportsmanship and it was sad to see Lionel Messi do that.’
