That one day at the World Cup when an Argentine player drew the ire of the entire Netherlands with a single shot

The statistics from the 2022 World Cup quarter-final match in Qatar bear a striking resemblance to the lost Round of 16 game against Portugal in 2006. That match was famously dubbed 'The Battle of Nuremberg,' featuring a staggering twenty cards in total – sixteen yellow and four red. While the clash with Argentina had fewer cards (15), it was played with a similar aggressive intensity to that game many years ago.

Argentina may have been the superior side against the Netherlands, but they weren't shy about committing a foul or two themselves. The entire match was a fiercely contested affair. Lionel Messi was brought down multiple times by Wout Weghorst and his teammates, Cody Gakpo was fouled by Argentina's 'butchers,' but the real fireworks ignited in the 88th minute.

With only a few minutes left on the clock, the Netherlands was launching a desperate late offensive. Trailing 2-1, the South Americans believed they had the victory secured. With Luuk de Jong and Wout Weghorst upfront, balls were constantly pumped into Argentina's half. Frenkie de Jong received the ball once more, but Leandro Paredes dispossessed him with a sliding tackle.

The ball rolled towards Aké, who was also pushing forward. He controlled the ball, attempted to dribble, but was then brutally taken down by Paredes, then a Juventus midfielder. Aké landed between Paredes' legs and had no choice but to fall. If it had ended there, there would have been no issue.

However, Paredes continued towards the ball, swung his right foot back, and blasted the ball with immense force directly into the packed Dutch dugout. From that moment, chaos erupted. The players on the bench, initially stunned by what had happened, all furiously stormed onto the field towards Paredes. The Argentine, incidentally, paid little attention to the 'Oranje' mob charging at him; he was quickly wrestled to the ground. Virgil van Dijk, who witnessed the incident from midfield, sprinted directly at the Argentine and shoved him several yards away onto the turf.

Referee Lahoz sensed trouble from the moment the tackle was made and rushed over. He quickly realized he couldn't control the situation and stepped aside, watching from a distance as tempers flared even further, and Dutch and Argentine players were soon nose-to-nose. Noa Lang pushed Alexis Mac Allister to the ground, Steven Bergwijn tried to grab Enzo Fernandez by his shirt, and it was, remarkably, Weghorst who ultimately had to calm everyone down.

In 2024, Leandro Paredes was reminded of this moment in the insane duel and stated: "That shot was intentional, I can confirm that now. I did it after all the comments and remarks from the Dutch players and staff. The ball was there, and I decided to shoot."

• The latest news on the FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

• Check the match schedule here, including fixtures, results, and standings.

• Find everything about the Dutch national team here, from news and remarkable stories to statistics.

• Watch and listen to our daily World Cup podcast starting Wednesday, June 10.

• To ensure you don't miss anything, download our Sportnieuws.nl App.