Argentina‘s physical play was a theme of Sunday’s World Cup final and for much of its run throughout the tournament.
Ultimately, it cost Argentina as it played a man down in extra time of Spain’s 1-0 victory to to secure the country’s second World Cup title.
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Enzo Fernández‘s second yellow of the day resulted in a red card and his ejection late in regulation before the game went to extra time in a scoreless tie. The ejection left Argentina without one of its top players and a man down for the entirety of extra time.
The incident that sent Fernández off took place in the 93rd minute. An Argentina header off Emiliano Martínez‘s ninth save of the game sent the ball toward the Spanish goal near midfield.
Spain’s Pau Cubarsí kicked the ball back toward the Argentina goal. But as he kicked it, a charging Fernández collided with him, sending Cubarsí flipping in the air.
Referee Slavko Vinčić immediately showed Fernández a yellow card and subsequent red card to send him out of the game. Fernández previously picked up his first yellow card in 82nd minute for protesting the lack of a foul call on a challenge by Spain’s Rodri that looked very much like contact Argentina had engaged in throughout the game.
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Here’s another look at the contact that sent Fernández off. He ran through an off-balance Cubarsí as he was in the air. It was a clear foul, and Fernández’s day was done.
Minutes later, the whistle blew on regulation, and the game went to extra time locked in a scoreless tie. Spain went on to take a 1-0 lead in the second period of extra time with a Ferran Torres goal that stood as the winner.
Yellow cards pile up for Argentina
Tensions had already boiled over ahead of the late red card as shoving after halftime resulted in a yellow card for Argentina’s Leandro Paredes.
As Spain controlled the ball at midfield, Paredes shoved an unsuspecting Rodri in the back, sending the Spanish midfielder flailing to the turf away from the ball. The whistle blew, and players from both teams converged around Rodri and Vinčić at midfield.
A handful of Argentine players attempted to stand over Rodri as he remained on the turf and Spanish players blocked their path. Paredes ran in to join the scrum and delivered more shoves to multiple Spanish players.
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His second shove of Dani Olmo sent Olmo to the turf, and referee Vinčić finally determined that Paredes had crossed the line. Vinčić showed Paredes a yellow card.
The yellow card was the second of the day for Argentina after Lisandro Martínez drew one in the first half for tripping Mikel Oyarzabal on a challenge.
Fernández’s yellow cards added up to the third and fourth for Argentina against zero for Spain. Coach Lionel Scaloni picked up Argentina’s fifth for arguing with game officials in extra time.
Argentina entered Sunday with a reputation of physical play bordering on dirty. Its play with the World Cup trophy at stake did nothing to dispel that notion and ultimately proved costly.
