No fairytale for Messi as Spain prove themselves as the world’s best

Don’t cry for Argentina – the best team won.

Spain, the undisputed number one side at this tournament, are World Champions for the second time, after Ferran Torres settled a one-sided and often feisty final with a superb strike in extra time to ensure there was no fairytale send off for Lionel Messi.

The Argentinian captain was anonymous for most of the game, In which his side ended up playing all of extra time with ten men after Enzo Fernandez was sent off for a second yellow card offence in the final moments of normal time, a violent lunge on Pau Cubarsi.

Fittingly for the brutal Argentines, Leandro Paredes, who had been substituted earlier, was also sent off as the violence continued after the final whistle.

It was far from a classic game, with Argentina trying to employ the same spoiling tactics that got them over the line against England in the semi-final. Where Thomas Tuchel got his tactics wrong in allowing Messi to dictate the play once England had gone ahead, Luis de la Fuente had the perfect game plan, starving Messi of the ball.

Spain were in control from the start, and attempted and completed around double the number of passes from Argentina, who did not manage a single attempt on target. In contrast to Argentina’s measly two off-target attempts, Spain had 20 attempts, 12 of them on target.

And the most important came in the 106th minute. Pedro Porro whipped in a cross from the right, Nico Williams did superbly at the back post to head the ball back into the centre of the penalty area and Torres did the rest, crashing a brilliant half-volley high into the net past Emi Martinez.

Cue delirious celebrations from the Spanish fans and chants of “Y Viva Espana” around the ground.

Martinez had made a string of saves after a shaky start, saving a Williams free-kick at the end of normal time, while Spanish keeper Unai Simon was effectively a spectator for most of the game.

It was ugly for most of the time, with the Argentines repeatedly getting away with off-the-ball challenges, and there was little sympathy among neutrals that Scaloni’s side have only runners-up medals.

De la Fuente and his team have matched Spain’s achievment from 2010 in adding the World Cup to the European Championship, in remarkably similar style. That final in South Africa was a triumph of good football over the thuggery of the Netherlands, and again this time the best team won.

Gerry Cox at the New York New Jersey stadium