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Mario Kempes calls for calm: "Let's not give credence to just anything"
Jul 23 2026 18:49 · By MIGUEL SANZ · 32 Reads
El Matador" underlines Spain's superiority and warns that "those versions going around out there without any proof do no one any good
Former Argentine international Mario Alberto Kempes pushed back against the conspiracy theories circulating on social media after the World Cup final in which Spain defeated Argentina and stated: "If we want to be demanding of the team, let's do so properly, but let's not give credence to anything that circulates without basis".
"I want to tell you something brief. You know what it meant to me to put on the Argentina jersey: there is nothing greater that can happen to a player than representing their country. And I had that fortune. I'm not going to lie to you, it wasn't the match we all expected," began the world champion with Argentina in 1978 in a video shared on his social media.
"It was noticeable that the team was not at the level of the previous three. And that happens in football, that's how it is: there are better and worse days. I experienced it many times, maybe a thousand times, but we have to keep moving forward," added the Argentine legend.
However, he said that "there is a huge difference" between the team's level and "the things" that have been circulating on social media in recent days.
"A team that lowers its level in a match is not the same as one that doesn't compete. Those versions that are going around out there without any proof don't do anyone any good," "El Matador" said.
Finally, the former player for Valencia and Hércules in Spain and Rosario Central and River Plate in his country concluded: "So I ask you that, if we want to be demanding with the team, let's do so as we should, but let's not give credence to anything that circulates without basis. This jersey is respected in good times and bad, so let's go Argentina forever".
Argentina, world champion in 1978, 1986, and 2022, was defending in the United States, Mexico, and Canada the title won in Qatar. Lionel Scaloni's team reached the final, but lost it to Spain 1-0, with a goal by Ferran Torres.