Why Argentina is playing with 10 players after Enzo Fernandez red card in World Cup final
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Why Argentina is playing with 10 players after Enzo Fernandez red card in World Cup final originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Argentina spent the entirely of Sunday's first 90 minutes clinging to a scoreless draw, even as Spain came bearing down with the game's first 13 shots.
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Needing every bit of help just to keep the game scoreless, Argentina suffered a major blow in stoppage time when Enzo Fernandez was sent off and Lionel Messi's squad was sent down to 10 players.
Argentina was able to get the World Cup final to extra time, but Fernandez's absence put a team that already had its backs against the wall in even more trouble.
Here's why Argentina is down to 10 men in extra time.
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Why did Argentina go down to 10 men?
Fernandez received two yellow cards in Sunday's match against Spain, resulting in a red card and automatic ejection.
Yellow card totals reset after the quarterfinals, so each player started with a clean rap sheet, but two yellow cards in the same game are enough to bring out a red card. Fernandez was shown two yellows on Sunday, and the second automatically knocked him out for the remainder of the game.
A red card isn't the same as an ejection in most American sports. Fernandez can't be replaced, meaning Argentina has to play extra time with one fewer player than Spain. Argentina experienced the other side of that coin against Switzerland in the quarterfinals after the Swiss were forced down to 10 men in the second half.
Fernandez's second yellow came after a brutal collision with Pau Cubarsi, which sent the Spain defender flying into the air before a hard landing on the pitch.
Another look at the challenge from Enzo Fernández that resulted in his second yellow card and subsequent sending-off. pic.twitter.com/6TAclFhmDY
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Fernandez's red card was only the sixth in a World Cup final and the first in a final since John Heitinga was sent off for the Netherlands against Spain in 2010.
Why was Enzo Fernandez sent off?
Fernandez never received a straight red card, but an early yellow card for an interaction with the referee and a second yellow card for a collision with Spain's Pau Cubarsi earned him an automatic red card.
Fernandez tripped up Cubarsi as the two were running toward each other in stoppage time. Referees determined that Fernandez's role in the collision, which sent Cubarsi into the air before a hard landing on the pitch, was enough for a yellow. With two yellows, Fernandez was automatically sent off.