‘It is desperation’ – Wayne Rooney SLAMS Lionel Messi for how he tried to get Spain star Marc Cucurella sent off

WAYNE ROONEY hit out at Lionel Messi for his “desperation” in trying to get Marc Cucurella sent off during Argentina’s World Cup final defeat to Spain. Argentina’s talisman was involved in a confrontation with new Real Madrid man Cucurella in feisty scenes towards the end of Spain’s 1-0 triumph. There was a row between both sets of players after Enzo Fernandez was dismissed for sending Pau Cubarsi flying. Messi was seen having heated words with Cucurella before walking away from the defender and pointing at his rival. Cucurella appeared to put his hands over his mouth – in violation of Fifa‘s rules – but Rooney wasn’t happy with Messi’s antics, calling the situation “sad”. The ex-England skipper told BBC Sport: ‘It is desperation. Argentina play like that, we know that’s what they do. READ MORE ON THE WORLD CUP “But the one thing you want is good sportsmanship and that was sad to see Lionel Messi doing that.” Rooney’s fellow pundits were equally surprised at Messi’s behaviour as Joe Hart claimed the scenes showed how dominant Spain were in the game. He said: “Oh wow. Wow! Yeah, I didn’t enjoy that at all from Lionel Messi. “You realise how on top Spain are if even Lionel Messi is reverting to that.” Most read in Sport WORLD CUP 2026 FREE BETS AND SIGN UP OFFERS And Micah Richards wasn’t too impressed either as he added: “We don’t want to see people getting sent off in a World Cup final for that.” There was also stern criticism from Piers Morgan – a known fan of Messi’s rival Cristiano Ronaldo – as he called him a “nasty little sneak”. It all ended on a low note for Messi as his Argentina side were beaten 1-0 by Spain in extra time after Ferran Torres‘s extra time winner. The 2022 world champions didn’t even have a shot on target during the entire 120 minutes. Luis de la Fuente’s men had 65 per cent of the ball and ended up with 20 shots, 12 of which were on target. Spain easily could have gone 1-0 up earlier on after Nico Williams put the ball in the back of the net – only for the strike to be disallowed due to a foul on Nicolas Otamendi. There was more frustration from Argentina players after the final whistle as a number of stars were involved in a mass brawl. Some players were seen pushing and shoving each other as tensions threatened to spill over – with Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni forced to step in and stop it.