You have just lost the biggest thing you might ever be part of. Before anything else you have to collect the medal that says so, from presidents, in front of everyone.
Sometimes restraint frays. Even so, it's hard to defend Argentina after the whistle. A punch thrown, a hand round a throat, an opponent on the floor, a second red card shown after the game was already dead. It was pulled apart in minutes.
Now you wait while the pitch goes from battle ground to presentation stage. The awards begin, the individual ones first, then the medals, then a long wait while another country is given the thing you had kept.
Spain formed a guard of honour. Argentina did not return it. They walked to the far end, turned to face their own supporters, and by the time they left the pitch the word from the studios was classless.
Why Argentina turned their backs on the trophy lift
Let's split hairs. There is no guard of honour in FIFA's running order. It isn't in the protocol, it isn't asked for, and no team is required to provide one. Spain chose to, and within a few minutes their choice had become the standard Argentina were measured against.
So what was asked of them in that time? Nothing. Not one thing. Stand somewhere, be seen losing, wait for it to finish.
And a group of men with nothing asked of them did something anyway. Facing their own supporters was the one place in the ceremony where they could make a decision. The studios called it a snub.
There's a different framing available to us today, in the hours we have to think, as opposed to the minutes they had to react.
It is very hard to watch someone else collect something that was yours, held precious for four years, because watching it change hands asks too much of your brave face. Perhaps the safer place to stand is with your own people, the ones who travelled and were still singing. Turning towards them might look disrespectful. There's also a reading where it's protective.
Any of this could be wrong. It's observed, not interrogated. Whatever they say when they are asked, the answers may be worse than the readings above, or duller, or nothing at all.
When you've lost, shouldn't you be looking after yourself too?