Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb

International Law and International Arbitration @ThreeCrownsLLP; Professor of Law @PittLaw @DurhamLawSchool; Soccer/Track/XC/Rugby Dad; Fly Fisherman.

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@AtaqueFutbolero @arevalo_martin So he decided that boxing was a safer sport than football?

[Gandalv @Microinteracti1]

The Champions Who Forgot to Play Football!

Here is a statistic to frame above your fireplace and show your grandchildren: Argentina’s first shot of any kind in Sunday’s World Cup final arrived in the 115th minute, a record of futility for a World Cup. Spain finished with 20 shots to Argentina’s two, twelve on target to none. Not one. In a final. ESPN called it arguably the worst World Cup final in living memory, and that was the polite version.

NBC Sports put it plainly: Argentina were more concerned with fouling and fighting than playing football, and the way several players behaved was a disgrace that tarnished their legacy.

According to Football365, Scaloni’s men committed more first-half fouls than they completed passes into the attacking third. Their 12.29 fouls per game was, per NBC, far and away the highest of any semifinalist.

The punditry class reached for the thesaurus. “It’s a disgrace,” said Gary Neville on ITV. Alan Shearer told the BBC that Leandro Paredes “threw two or three haymakers into someone’s face” in the post-whistle brawl that earned him a red card after the final had ended. Joe Hart called it “disgusting.” Lee Dixon called it “anti-football.” Wayne Rooney simply shrugged: we’ve seen this from Argentina before.

And where was the captain? Sitting on the turf, weeping, while his teammates disgraced the shirt he made famous. Sorry, but no. A captain’s job in that moment is not to cry. It is to get up, wade into the scrum, grab the idiots by the collar and order them to behave like gentlemen. Messi shook every Spanish hand, as Hart noted, and fair play. But leadership was required, and leadership stayed seated.

Consider the route, too: a group of Algeria, Austria and Jordan, then Cape Verde in the round of 32. All the jeopardy of a heated driveway.

Spain were everything football should be. One goal conceded in eight matches, the fewest ever for a champion. Rodri took the Golden Ball, Ferran Torres the trophy. As Norwegian commentator Trond Johannessen put it: mighty scenes, but the right outcome. The victory bandits were finally caught.

Wherever Argentina play next, anywhere on Earth, they will walk out to a wall of boos. They earned every decibel.

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[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@RugbyInsideLine Class. Honor. Integrity. ……

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@JoeQuinn7 @Tgarratt10 Oh FFS. Jude gave a finger slap. Paredes was choking and throwing haymakers. Get real.

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@Lammie_Art01 I felt that way until this WC. He literally turns towards the referee every time he loses the ball. He lost a lot of class points in my book this WC (and his classless teammates didn’t help)

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@dailyluff @CFC_Janty And he deserves a MASSIVE fine and ban. It brought shame to the game

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@FabrizioRomano This dude deserves the Roy Keane-Alfie Haaland treatment when he returns to the Premier League.

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@GrayConnolly Because the other team is in a blue-and-white striped shirt.

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@bisi_akins Balance has been restored to the force.

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@ClawForThatInch I feel that same way when I saw the way Paredes acted after the final whistle. Brought utter shame to the game.

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@JosinaAnderson Yes

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@maestroNW1234 @MatthewStadlen Totally agree, but why does it seem to have emerged from behind a veil just now? Maybe it’s my own ignorance and blindness, but they seemed to have just now openly embraced it.

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@czabe Overconfident from their performance at the Azteca.

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@JacobHorsfall_ “Today we settle all family business.”—Michael Corleone.

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@NoodleHairCR7 I wanted the Swiss to win, but that card was well deserved. Dude JUMPED to the ground untouched.

Respect the game or leave the field.

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@jasonrmcintyre I have no dog in this fight; in fact, I wanted the Swiss to win.

But that card was well deserved. We need to remove this scourge of diving from the game, and that dude jumped to the ground untouched.

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@DonteStallworth I lived in NE England in 1999-2000 and adopted Newcastle and have been happily miserable ever since.

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@CFC_Dubois I think they were forced to play against their will, no?

[Charles T Kotuby Jr FCIArb @CKotubyJr]

@the_Lawrenz Dan Burn is like the RAF, defending the skies iver London. “Never have so many owed so much to [one giant thick head].”