The final match of Lionel Messi’s World Cup was a let-down, and he and his team deserved to lose. It was a game of control vs chaos; Argentina tried all the dark arts to stifle Spain, but fortunately it did not work. If Argentina expected Messi to conjure up some magic, they were wrong. It seemed Argentina came into the match not wanting to lose rather than wanting to win.
The Winner Was Football
It has to be said that with Spain winning the trophy, football won. If Argentina had somehow managed to grab a late goal or win on penalties, which may have been their gameplan, football would have lost. The Argentinian players were diving, fighting, cheating, doing anything and everything to pull Spain out of their gameplan. But Spain stuck to their football philosophy and dominated the play.
Lionel Messi was completely ineffective against Spain; his final match in a World Cup will be remembered as him having his worst game of the tournament. His teammates let him down with their behaviour, Enzo Fernandez getting sent off in the last minutes of the 90 for a second yellow card.
Leandro Paredes also received a red card after the match for throwing a punch at Eric Garcia. This type of behavior from Argentina is the reason why so many football fans were rooting for Spain to win.
