Luis de la Fuente Condemns Argentina Players' Behaviour After World Cup

Luis de la Fuente has condemned what he called the “intolerable, unacceptable” behaviour of several Argentina players in the chaotic moments that followed Spain’s World Cup triumph on Sunday.

The Spain head coach, still riding the emotional high of a second world title for his country, was left angered by clashes involving Nahuel Molina and Leandro Paredes at New York New Jersey Stadium as his players tried to celebrate on the pitch.

Molina confronted Rodri, while Paredes squared up to Eric García and also went after Gavi in a series of flashpoints that marred the immediate aftermath of the final whistle.

“At the time, I didn’t realise it. I was celebrating, hugging teammates,” De la Fuente told Spanish television. The joy of the moment had shielded him from the scuffles breaking out just a few metres away.

Once he saw the footage, his tone changed.

“In any case, it is intolerable, unacceptable, it cannot be allowed,” he said. He stressed that this was not a routine flare-up, not something to be brushed aside as part of the game. For De la Fuente, the line had been crossed.

What clearly stung him most was that the players involved were men he had spoken well of in the build-up.

“Players of that stature, whom I praised in the days leading up to the match and continue to praise, who are great players with a tremendous coach, surely they must have felt just as bad as we did seeing those reactions,” he added.

De la Fuente pointed to his own squad’s response as the standard he expects at this level. He hailed the “exemplary behaviour” of Spain’s players in the face of what he described as “acts of aggression” and “provocations” that, in his view, carried the risk of spiralling into something far more serious.

On a night that should have belonged entirely to Spain’s football, the coach made it clear he will remember not only the trophy lift, but the line his players refused to cross when tempers boiled around them.