Fresh footage of the fight that marred the end of the World Cup final has emerged, with a punch thrown by Argentina's Nahuel Molina seemingly the root cause of the bust-up. Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in New Jersey to claim the Jules Rimet trophy and add to their 2010 triumph, breaking South American hearts in the process. But they did not take defeat well, with a melee kicking off at the full-time whistle at the MetLife Stadium.
Ugly Scenes at MetLife Stadium
Ugly scenes ensued as Spain began their on-field celebrations, with Leandro Paredes sent off for lashing out at Eric Garcia and Gavi, who was left on the floor. It would appear the aggro was started by Atletico Madrid's Molina, who appears to have thrown a punch at Manchester City's Rodri as he entered the field to celebrate with his team-mates. He connected with the City man's stomach, who understandably remonstrated with Molina, who was then backed up by team-mates Nicolas Otamendi and Yeremy Pino.
That's when Paredes lost his cool, throwing "haymakers", according to Alan Shearer on BBC commentary, with Garcia and Gavi his targets.
BBC Pundits Condemn Argentina's Reaction
"Paredes threw two or three haymakers into someone's face," Shearer said. "He went for them. There is no place or space for that. We know how much it means to them and we know how much it hurts to lose, but there is a way to lose. Too many times we have seen that from Argentina. The reaction after the final whistle is terrible."
In the chaos, Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni could be seen running on the pitch, trying to defuse the situation and pulling his players away from altercations. He would later claim his side acted graciously in defeat following the match. Back in the BBC studio, Wayne Rooney said the reaction from the Argentine players was poor.
"Does it surprise you?" he said. "It doesn't surprise me. We've seen this with Argentina before. It's just not the reaction you want. We've seen some of the reaction after knocking England out in the last round. That's just sad. If you lose a game of football, be graceful and get out of there. It's really poor from them."
He added: "That's a reaction to them being outplayed, out-fought, out-thought on the football pitch, and then they resort to that at the end. It's poor from those two players."
Argentina Branded 'Classless' After Trophy Snub
Argentina were also branded "classless" after their players appeared to turn their backs on the Spain team during the trophy lift. Speaking on talkSPORT, former England defender Stuart Pearce said: "When Spain were about to lift their trophy, the Argentinians, to a man, all stood with their back to the trophy lift. That probably tells you a great deal, doesn't it?"
Presenter Adrian Durham went even further, saying: "Yeah, no class, whatsoever. They've been absolutely shocking. They've been a total disgrace here today. The fans, we think have been brilliant. But even during the trophy lift, also when Rodri went up to get the best player in the tournament trophy, the fans were singing Messi's name and they were singing Argentina as well. They simply cannot accept that Argentina were beaten in the World Cup final."
