The World Cup final was marred by ugly post-match scenes as Nahuel Molina and Leandro Paredes kicked off as Spain celebrated victory, resulting in the latter being sent off.
Nahuel Molina punches Spain midfielder Rodri as he runs off to celebrate World Cup victory
New footage has revealed that the angry brawl that followed the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina started with a brutal punch from Nahuel Molina.
The European team toasted its second title Sunday night in New Jersey, defeating the 2022 champions on an overtime goal from Ferran Torres.
However, the post-match celebrations were marred by some shocking scenes as several members of both teams clashed. Atlético Madrid defender Molina was also believed to be one of the main instigators, while Leandro Paredes was also sent off for violently assaulting Eric Garcia and Gabi, who was left sprawled on the floor.
And new footage from the post-match scene appears to show what caused the ugly collision. As Spain’s players ran onto the pitch to celebrate with their teammates, Rodri ran past Molina, who appeared to punch the midfielder in the stomach.
This infuriated the Manchester City man, who turned and confronted the Argentine defender. Many of their respective team-mates later joined together, including Nicolas Otamendi and Yeremy Pino.
Paredes then tried to kick Garcia and got caught, and Garcia also grabbed him by the throat. He then targeted Gabi with a flurry of ferocious punches before being sent off.
After the shocking scenes, BBC pundit Wayne Rooney said: “Are you surprised? I’m not. We’ve seen this before against Argentina.”
“That’s not the reaction you want. We saw some of the reaction after we eliminated England in the last round. It’s really sad. When you lose a football match, you walk away gracefully. I really feel sorry for their attitude.”
He added: “It’s a reaction to how they lose, fight and think out on the football pitch and in the end they fall back on it. The attitude of those two players is terrible.”
Alan Shearer said: “Paredes threw two or three haymakers in somebody’s face. He was aiming at them. There’s 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 are ways to lose. We’ve seen it many times from Argentina. The reaction after the final whistle was terrible.”
Gary Neville also chimed in. He said: “They’re very competitive and I love that element of them, but (Paredes) has just had a disgraceful performance the last few games. Why did the referees allow him to continue doing this…”
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