Watch Argentina’s Paredes spark mass melee after booting ball at Netherlands bench before Van Dijk wipes him out

LEANDRO PARADES sparked a mass melee after booting the ball directly at the Netherlands bench.

The Argentina midfielder, 28, made a cynical foul as he slid in on Nathan Ake right in front of the dugouts.

And after committing the blatant trip, he got up to smash the loose ball straight at the Dutch subs - although it flew over their heads.

The furious Holland stars raced on to the field in fury desperate to get revenge on the on-loan Juventus man.

Skipper Virgil van Dijk also sprinted across from defence to back up his team-mate, brutally barging Paredes to the ground.

It was experienced wind-up behaviour from the Argentina star with his side hoping to close out a quarter-final World Cup win.

Both Paredes and Van Dijk were booked for their role in the 88th-minute flashpoint - as Martin Keown singled out the former for sparking the late drama.

BBC co-commentator Keown declared: "He's caused a riot there."

Some fans at home felt Paredes was lucky to escape being sent off - one booking for the foul and another for kicking the ball.

But others were just delighted to see him get smashed by Van Dijk.

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One wrote: "Van Dijk sent Paredes FLYING.";

Another said: "So happy Virgil sent the lunatic Leandro Paredes to Mars. Deserved it."

A third added: "Virgil bodies Paredes back to Argentina."

And a final user joked: "Paredes got ran over by the Van Dijk express."

Argentina looked in total control, leading 2-0 with seven minutes to go.

But super-sub Wout Weghorst pulled one back on 83 minutes.

Then after the melee, the fourth official added an extra ten minutes of injury time.

And in the 11th of those, Weghorst struck again with a brilliantly-worked free-kick routine to equalise and force extra-time and penalties.

Argentina won the shoot-out 4-3 and will face Croatia in the semi-final on Tuesday after the 2018 finalists stunned Brazil on penalties.