World Cup saved as Spain overcome anti-football Argentina

The World Cup was saved by Spain overcoming anti-football Argentina in one of the worst finals ever, and certainly the worst in living memory.

It was a shame for a tournament that saw such good football played to end like this.

Before last night, it was a great advertisement for the game but if any Americans only tuned in for the final, they will have been left scratching their heads over the appeal of 'soccer'.

From the first minute at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, it was clear only one team were there to play football. Minutes into the game, Lamine Yamal had a brilliant opportunity denied by Emiliano Martinez.

Luis de la Fuente's side played the ball around expertly, while Lionel Scaloni's side sought only to hurt and disrupt their technically superior opponents.

Statistics do not always tell the full story of a football match, the game is not played on a spread sheet.

However, in this case, they did.

Spain had 20 shots to Argentina's three (11 on target to 0), 68 per cent of the possession and 803 passes to Argentina's 445.

Alexis Mac Allister's ugly challenge on Dani Olmo early on set the tone for what was to come.

Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić was undoubtedly trying to take the significance of the occasion and the players' high emotions into account. However, his display did nothing to quell the fury over the favourable decisions Argentina have received throughout the tournament. 

It was a miracle that they finished the game with 10 men and not fewer, although Leandro was sent off for his post-match antics... more on that later.

Enzo Fernandez was first booked for dissent, and lucky it was not worse as he sarcastically applauded the referee. He had a rush of blood to the head and received his marching orders for a