Matt Maher: Graceless Argentina still well down the list of World Cup villains
Express & Star chief sports writer Matt Maher has the final word on the World Cup.
This is the second time in four years Argentina’s conduct in a World Cup final has prompted a Fifa investigation.
Four years ago they were under scrutiny for potentially “offensive behaviour” following their penalty shoot-out win over France.
Having been such graceless winners, it really should be no surprise they turned out to be such bad losers after Sunday’s defeat to Spain.
The list of eventual charges deserves to be long but aside from the post-match punches, it was the sight of them turning their backs on the victors during the trophy lift which felt particularly classless.
Yet Argentina’s lack of sportsmanship still came well down the list of problems at a World Cup where the quality of the sport on offer couldn’t hide the stench from off-field controversies.
We all knew it was going to be bigger and sure, there were some entertaining matches along the way. Good stories were always guaranteed. The likes of Cape Verde, to give just one example, provided plenty of joy with their performances.
But the knockout stages, at least from the end of the last-16 onward, suffered from a lack of standout games. England can lay a decent claim to having been the most entertaining team, though not always for the right reasons. A final between the methodical, precision unit of Spain and the always likely to be ultra defensive Argentina lived down to expectations in terms of a spectacle.
More than anything, this World Cup will be remembered for hydration breaks, strange scheduling, nations being blocked from staying in the host country and Fifa seemingly opening the door for governments to meddle in disciplinary matters.
This was a tournament which lacked credibility, where the rules often felt made up on the hoof. Last weekend’s half-time show, which saw Fifa break its own regulations, was another prime example.
The whole thing really should spell the end for Gianni Infantino. As things stand, his re-election as Fifa president next year appears a virtual shoo-in, yet never before have the dissenting voices been so loud.
La Liga president Javier Tebas this week joined those calling for Infantino to resign, describing Fifa as “an institution that does and decides what it wants, when it wants, following only its own interests without considering the rest of football”.
“In many cases, it acts to the detriment of football,” he added.
After the last month-and-a-half, that’s a hard caae to argue against.
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