A video of the incident circulating on social media appears to show Enzo Fernandez and Lisandro Martinez upset as they walk out of the dressing room. Martinez would go off just before half-time, seemingly with an injury, after being shown a yellow card, while Fernandez was sent off in the third minute of second-half added time.
Paredes, however, has not indulged the conspiracies. In quotes related by AS and translated into English from Spanish, he said after playing for Boca Juniors in the first leg of their Copa Sudamericana knockout round play-off tie with O’Higgins: “Spain was superior to us in the final, they are a fair winner of the World Cup.
“We don’t give a damn about these theories. If it’s what I hear, I have to go crazy. Everything that was said before, during and after the World Cup. We had a great tournament. We have to enjoy what we achieved in these eight years; it was a spectacular process. Surely we will fall when time passes because it is something incredible.”
He told ESPN: “For many, it will be a decision whether to continue or not. It was a spectacular process. It will be very difficult to maintain this level and keep the group functioning in this way. You have to think, take stock, and talk to the coach. Decisions must be made calmly. I don’t know if I’m going to go on”
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“I think it’s going to be a long process to overcome what we experienced. Although we achieved a lot, the pain of losing the final is going to hurt for a long time, because we were very close again. But we have to enjoy it because it’s not easy to maintain the level we had for so long to achieve what we did. Although we lost the final, I think we had a World Cup where the people saw themselves reflected, and for us that is very gratifying.”
Argentine Football Association president Claudio Tapia also disregarded talk of any conspiracy. He said in a lengthy statement shared on social media: “In sports, you also learn by accepting defeats with the same grace with which you celebrate victories.
He added: “We compete with grit, with passion, and with heart. We give everything in every training session and every match. We also represent all of the Americas with enormous pride. We defend our colours, our flag, and our country on every pitch in the world. That’s why you shouldn’t be swayed by lies or by schemes that only seek to destabilise—enough of trying to turn against those who have given so much to our football.