A surreal scene unfolded in Friday's World Cup action, when a bizarre, testy sequence prompted benches to clear during the Netherlands-Argentina quarterfinal game.
The strange incident occurred in the 87th minute, when Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes took down Netherlands defender Nathan Ake on a hard tackle, then proceeded to pop up off the pitch and fire the ball at the Dutch bench.
Ake's teammates -- both in the game and on the bench -- promptly swarmed Paredes, including star center back Virgil van Dijk, who shoved Paredes back to the ground.
The wild scene came amid a frenzied late-game push for an equalizer by the Netherlands, who trailed 2-1 at the time. The Oranje later notched that goal in the 100th minute on a set-piece off a free kick -- and it may not have been possible without the added time from the melee caused by Paredes.
Things got chippy once again at the end of regulation.
On social media, fans responding to Paredes' wild stunt couldn't believe what they saw:
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram