Lionel Scaloni, the Argentina coach, tried to separate the players by dragging Spain defender García away from the fracas.
Speaking on BBC, Alan Shearer, the former England captain, described the incident as “terrible”, saying: “Paredes threw two or three haymakers into someone’s face. He went for them. There is no place or space for that.
“We know how much it means to them and we know how much it hurts to lose, but there is a way to lose. Too many times we have seen that from Argentina. The reaction after the final whistle is terrible.”
Argentina had taken an aggressive approach throughout the match, as they had against England in their bad-tempered semi-final midweek.
Scaloni’s players lunged into challenges throughout the first half, with Alexis Mac Allister and Nicolás Tagliafico both fortunate to have avoided yellow cards for lunging tackles in those early exchanges.
Five Argentina players were booked over the course of the final, which went into extra time after an ultra-defensive showing from Scaloni’s side.
Argentina had just 35% of possession across the 120 minutes and finished the match with two shots, to Spain’s 20. Neither of Argentina’s efforts was on target.
– Daily Telegraph UK