Iconic Real Madrid midfielder Steve McManaman is often forgotten when talking about the great Royal White players of the Galacticos era, but he actually had a better career than a lot of the more revered legends of the White House at that time.
A great player for Liverpool before becoming an integral squad player for Madrid, McManaman was a consummate professional with a high technical level who could score, assist, and win battles in midfiled. Now, he is an acclaimed pundit and does a lot of work covering La Liga for ESPN, and while he can sometimes get on the nerves of Madridistas for not taking their side, when he does deliver a sharp barb they agree with, it solidfies their opinion all the more.
Real Madrid fans have been screaming for years about how teams with Lionel Messi are often highly unprofessional and that the Barcelona legend does little as a leader to get his players to improve their behavior, often because he benefits from those antics despite putting on a quiet persona.
Spain put Argentina in their place
His Argentina were disgraceful throughout the World Cup tournament this year and somehow got into the Final by playing anti football, and they brought their very worst for the entire world to see, thankfully getting squashed by Spain 1-0 in the Final.
Steve McManaman joined the chorus of former greats taking Argentina to task for their behavior, and Real Madrid fans will be clapping at what he said on the ESPN broadcast after the game, via Planeta do Futebol, “They want to do anything but play football. They go for fouls, they kick, punch, time-waste, simulate, anything. We went crazy over Paraguay’s performance against France, but this from Argentina was worse, they were horrible. And in the biggest game in the world. The eyes of the entire universe were on this match and you’re subjected to that? If you’re neutral, all you’re praying for is for Spain to score a goal. In the Copa América, you see a lot of fouls, but Brazil doesn't act like that They want to win the right way. Nobody does what Argentina does, or what Paraguay did. A little touch, and you dive to the ground. Even in the disallowed goal, a step on Otamendi’s foot, it’s like someone shot him. He flies through the air. That’s cheating!”
It is indeed cheating, and it is exactly how Argentina have played for years, trying to injure players in the Copa America or blatantly diving with players like Nicolas Otamendi and Leandro Paredes being perennial offenders. It is tragic that Argentina were enabled by the refs to get this far to the Final, but Spain put them in their place.
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