Argentina team turns backs on Spain during trophy ceremony, refuses to watch

That the Argentinians completely deserved to lose the World Cup final was something all neutral observers agreed on. The South Americans showed no effort to score a goal in their 0-1 extra-time loss against Spain in New York, and did not manage a single shot on target in the first 90 minutes. "Football won," judged 2014 world champion Toni Kroos. And Lothar Matthäus said of the South Americans: "For me, that has nothing to do with football."

A judgment that also applies to the behavior of the South Americans after the final whistle. They continued their destructiveness cheerfully. Nicolás Otamendi insulted the Spaniards as whining crybabies who would cozy up to the referee. Leandro Paredes even got physical with his opponents at the moment of their greatest triumph and lashed out. Because of these attacks, the world governing body FIFA soon launched an investigation.

Now there are images showing another lack of decency from the bad losers — a few minutes after the final whistle, at a time when emotions should have already returned to a somewhat normal level.

Demonstratively Turning Their Backs on the Spaniards

The team around captain Lionel Messi had first entered the podium set up in the middle of the field during the award ceremony and collected their medals for second place. That this happened rather listlessly is completely normal. After all, no one had contested this final to end up with silver. But it is, of course, good manners to show respect to the winner during their ceremony.

That is precisely what the Argentinians (almost) unanimously failed to do. Instead of attending the trophy presentation, they moved off to their own fan section and demonstratively turned their backs on the Spaniards. When their captain Rodri raised the gold trophy, the opponents refused to acknowledge it.

Only One Player Behaved Differently

Only one player behaved differently from his teammates. José Manuel López did not turn his back on the Spaniards during the trophy presentation. In photos and video recordings, the striker from Brazilian club Palmeiras can be seen looking towards the center circle and watching the ceremony.

José Manuel López (25) did not play in the final against Spain. Photo: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters

Sportingly, López only played a minor role in this tournament. National coach Lionel Scaloni used the attacker only sporadically. However, in the quarterfinal against Switzerland, after being substituted on, he set up the important go-ahead goal in extra time. That was his second very good moment at the World Cup. He had saved the other one for the award ceremony.