Argentina's display in the 2026 World Cup final sparked fierce reactions, with some fans going as far as conspiracy theories to explain the performance of Lionel Messi's team-mates.
Those theories spread fast across social media as supporters scrambled to account for the defeat to Spain, who dominated throughout the 120 minutes.
For some Argentines, the players' calmness and the absence of real fire against Spain hinted that something was wrong, that the team had somehow entered the final restricted or affected by an unknown factor. They wanted an explanation off the pitch for a flat performance.
Messi, Emiliano Martínez and others knocked down those claims in the months after the tournament. Now Alexis Mac Allister has had his say.
Speaking to Argentine network "TyC", Mac Allister said: "I belong to a footballing family, and we are aware that these things do not exist."
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He continued: "Today we live in a world where anything can be said on social media without any punishment."
The Liverpool midfielder added: "People say whatever they like, and deep down we know what happened. We gave it our all, and it is unfortunate that we did not win."
"We are focusing on the positives," he went on. "It was a great disappointment because we felt we were close, but Spain were much better and deserved the win."
He stressed that "the physical qualities were good, but not in footballing terms, and that is where they made the difference."
Mental exhaustion told, too. It had set in after the historic comeback against England in the semi-final.
He added: "I was feeling good, with the general fatigue that comes from playing every three days and the mental exhaustion: the match against England was extremely tense, and the period before it was intense because of the history and how it is dealt with in our country, and perhaps that drained some of our energy."