Spain star Aymeric Laporte calls out Argentina over England World Cup antics

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Spain centre-back Aymeric Laporte is not afraid to light the touch paper. In his view, Argentina have been pushing their luck from a disciplinary perspective, and the ex-Manchester City defender is out to prove that clean hearts always win.

The World Cup holders utilised their grit and dark arts - an early Enzo Fernandez elbow on Elliot Anderson set the tone for what followed - to outgun England.

Argentina lacked humility, best typified by substitute and new Chelsea arrival Valentin Barco's decision to invade the pitch and scream into Jude Bellingham's face after Fernandez had levelled.

Laporte claims he now knows what to expect, stating: "I'm not at all worried about aggression in football. If it's tolerated and the referee does his job, I have no problem with it.

"It's true that in recent matches we've seen things that have surprised us greatly, actions that are allowed to go unpunished. Especially against Argentina, a team that leaves a lot of marks.

"That shouldn't be allowed in football, especially in such big competitions, because it can destabilise and frustrate you. It's part of the referee's job to control these things so they don't get taken advantage of. If one or two players can do that, the match will be chaotic.

"From the beginning of the tournament, we've been a fairly fair team in that sense. We don't go around hitting opponents or committing reckless fouls. And I think that's what we have to do in this match. But it's true that it will depend a lot on the refereeing."

Slovenian official Slavko Vincic is the man in the middle tasked with regulating Argentina's antics.

Laporte was also bemused by Argentina's emotional celebrations post-England given they are actually still 90 minutes away from glory.

He said, explaining why the team did not get carried away after beating France in Dallas: "That's exactly what I just said: we don't want to do things halfway.

"It's true that many people didn't believe in us from the beginning, but we did believe in our abilities and we know we have the capacity to achieve it.

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"Anything less than a win will be a blow for us, that's clear. Obviously, it's fantastic to have gotten this far, to have eliminated the big teams we have, and to have played the way we have, but we have a winning mentality and until we achieve what we believe is rightfully ours, we can't celebrate."

Now 32, Laporte has walked a unique road since departing the Etihad Stadium, where he won six Premier League titles.

He spent two years in Saudi Arabia with Al-Nassr before rejoining his boyhood club Athletic Bilbao after the transfer window had closed.

The deal had collapsed before the deadline but FIFA later approved an exceptional International Transfer Certificate, ratifying a switch that has also breathed fresh life into his international career.

After missing half of Spain's qualification campaign, Laporte has played every minute of this World Cup.

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