Pulls off a stranglehold

“Idiot!” Paredes Loses His Cool

Argentina’s Leandro Paredes caused some unsavory scenes after the final whistle.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/x.com Screenshots)

Leandro Paredes lost his cool after the final whistle! Following Argentina’s 0-1 loss to Spain in the World Cup final, the Argentine resorted to a chokehold and threw a Spanish player to the ground. “What an idiot,” commented ORF expert Andi Herzog on the heated scene.

Leandro Paredes’ frustration over losing the World Cup clearly runs deep. After Spain’s 1–0 victory in extra time over Argentina in the World Cup final, the midfielder caused an ugly scene with a violent outburst. Paredes first grabbed Spain’s Eric Garcia by the throat. When Gavi rushed to his teammate’s aid, the Argentine also lunged at the Barcelona star. Only several Argentine teammates were able to restrain the 32-year-old in time, thereby preventing a larger brawl from breaking out. Spain’s players also immediately rushed over to protect their teammates. Referees and coaches had to intervene before the situation slowly calmed down again.

Here’s the scene on video:

 was already on the verge of being sent off during the matchParedes had already been on the verge of a red card throughout the 120 minutes. He repeatedly drew attention for overly harsh fouls, received a yellow card just six minutes after coming on as a substitute at halftime, and engaged in several heated verbal exchanges with Spanish players. Paredes can count himself lucky that referee Slavko Vincic turned a blind eye to several of his infractions and didn’t send him off early.

(Bild: AP/Yuki Iwamura)

Herzog Speaks Out
ORF expert Andreas Herzog hadstrong wordsfor the outburst after the final whistle. As TV footage showed the scenes, the former ÖFB national team player simply said, “What an idiot!”