There were tears, there were fights, there were people booked who were not even on the pitch, there were pitch invaders, there was utter chaos.
It was nasty, it was bitter, it was a field full of dirty tricks, conmen and plenty wanting to take a sly dig. It was not to be condoned and the standard was poor … but it was utterly compelling.
In a World Cup dotted with remarkable matches, this was more remarkable than any, for good reasons and for a whole load of bad. And at the end of it, Lionel Messi ’s World Cup dream is still alive after Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis had their spot-kicks saved by Emi Martinez in a penalty shootout won 4-3 by Argentina.
