{"id":7033,"date":"2026-07-21T22:54:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T22:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=7033"},"modified":"2026-07-21T22:54:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T22:54:44","slug":"zlatan-critiques-spains-failure-to-defend-teammates-after-post-final-brawl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=7033","title":{"rendered":"Zlatan Critiques Spain&#039;s Failure To Defend Teammates After Post-Final Brawl"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            POPULAR SEARCHES\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            BROWSE BY\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"ital ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6\"><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"20px\" src=\"https:\/\/b.fssta.com\/uploads\/application\/external-logos\/goal-dot-com-logo_black.svg\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Former Sweden international Zlatan Ibrahimovi\u0107 took aim at Leandro Paredes and Spain&#8217;s players following the tempestuous end to the World Cup final in New Jersey. The 44-year-old pundit condemned the Argentina midfielder&#8217;s fiery antics during a post-match brawl while questioning Spain&#8217;s lack of response to the provocation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Spain secured the World Cup trophy via a 106th-minute extra-time goal from Ferran Torres, having dominated the match without allowing Argentina a single shot on target in normal time. The South Americans&#8217; frustration boiled over with a late red card for Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez before normal time expired, while Paredes escaped an expulsion despite a second-half booking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>A post-match melee erupted as Nahuel Molina struck Rodri, before Paredes kicked Eric Garcia and dragged Gavi to the ground, while coach Roberto Ayala appeared to punch Dani Olmo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Ibrahimovi\u0107 hit out at the post-match chaos during his punditry stint on Fox Sports. Slamming Paredes&#8217; conduct while questioning the perceived passive response of the Spanish players, the former AC Milan striker declared: &#8220;Paredes can be happy there was no player like me on the pitch. If I had been there, I would have headbutted him and been sent off. It is unprofessional behavior from him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>He added: &#8220;I don\u2019t know what the Spanish players are doing? They are just watching another player hit their teammate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>Beyond his frank analysis of the scuffle in New Jersey, Ibrahimovi\u0107 surprised viewers by announcing his retirement from punditry duties. Following his headline role in the Fox Sports studio throughout the tournament alongside fellow pundits Thierry Henry and Alexi Lalas, the former Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain frontman stated: &#8220;I have talked a lot during the past month and a half, but these will be my last words.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>&#8220;Alexi [Lalas], Thierry, Rebecca [Lowe], thank you. It has been my pleasure to share this studio with you. I also thank Fox, the United States and everyone who watched. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. This is my last visit to the studio. For me, this was the first and last time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-a2155f14>FIFA have opened formal disciplinary proceedings into the mass confrontation involving Argentina&#8217;s players and coaching staff at full-time. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) faces potential heavy fines and player suspensions if any squad and staff members are found guilty of wrongdoing. Meanwhile, Spain will continue to celebrate an iconic European and World Cup double in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY Former Sweden international Zlatan Ibrahimovi\u0107 took aim at Leandro Paredes and Spain&#8217;s players following the tempestuous end to the World Cup final in New Jersey. The 44-year-old pundit condemned the Argentina midfielder&#8217;s fiery antics during a post-match brawl while questioning Spain&#8217;s lack of response to the provocation. Spain secured the World [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}