Enzo Fernandez was sent off in the 93rd minute of Argentina’s 1-0 defeat by Spain in the World Cup final.
The Chelsea midfielder was given a second yellow card for a late challenge on Spain defender Pau Cubarsi by the halfway line and dismissed with minutes to go before extra-time.
He protested his innocence vehemently – as did his team-mates Lionel Messi and Facundo Medina – but it was hard to argue against the decision of referee Slavko Vincic. Cubarsi had gone flying through the air after the foul.
Wayne Rooney said on the BBC: ‘A silly tackle. He’s a little bit late to it. On a yellow card you can’t just dangle your leg out. It makes it a very different game now.’
Fernandez’s dismissal rounded off an abysmal 90 minutes for the 2022 champions, who had no shots compared to Spain’s 15.
His team-mate Leandro Paredes was perhaps lucky to avoid a second yellow moments after for a foul on the edge of the box as Argentina continued their vicious style of play.
Enzo Fernandez was sent off in the 93rd minute for a very late challenge on Pau Cubarsi
The midfielder had the brass neck to complain about being given a second yellow, but he didn’t have much of a leg to stand on
Lamine Yamal tested the goalkeeper Lisandro Martinez from that free-kick but La Albiceleste held on to force an additional 30 minutes at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Messi, who has eight goals at the World Cup, was largely anonymous throughout regular time.
Fernandez has proven a crucial player at the heart of midfield for Lionel Scalino throughout the campaign.
The 25-year-old ironically scored a 93rd-minute winner in the last 16 against Egypt and netted Argentina’s equaliser against England in the semi-finals.
Spain came flying out of the blocks in extra-time and substitute Nico Williams thought he had put Spain ahead after the restart, but the goal was ruled out for a foul, seemingly for a dubious one on Nicolas Otamendi.
Fans in the stadium began to chant ‘Infantino’ after that, feeling that the FIFA president has rigged the tournament in Argentina’s favour.
But Spain finally got their necks in front in the 106th minute when Ferran Torres ran onto Williams’ knockdown and smashed the ball into the roof of the net – and that proved to be the winner.
The last time Argentina had a man sent off in a World Cup final was in 1990, when they had two players given their marching orders.
Pedro Monzon and Gustavo Dezotti were sent off that day in a 1-0 defeat by West Germany.
