Joe Hart branded Leandro Paredes 'pathetic' for his attempt to get Harry Kane sent off during England's World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina. The incident occurred in a heated first half, with Argentina midfielder Paredes calling for referee Ismail Elfath to give Kane a red card after the England captain covered his mouth while speaking to the official.
England's World Cup heartbreak
England took the lead in the second half through Anthony Gordon, but a late collapse allowed Enzo Fernandez to equalise before Lautaro Martinez sealed Argentina's 2-1 win in the second minute of injury time. Argentina will now play Spain in Sunday's World Cup final, while England will face France in the third-place playoff on Saturday.
New rule on covering mouth
For this year's World Cup, a new rule has been implemented enabling referees to send off a player who speaks to an opponent while covering his mouth. The ruling was urgently introduced after Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni received a six-match ban from UEFA for using a homophobic slur towards Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr while covering his mouth during a Champions League game in February. During the group stage, Paraguay midfielder Miguel Almiron became the first player at the World Cup to be sent off for the offence after speaking to Turkey's Mert Muldur with his mouth covered following a heated altercation. However, the rule does not apply to non-confrontational situations, such as when players speak with referees.
Reaction to the incident
Explaining the incident during the half-time break, BBC presenter Mark Chapman said: 'Paredes, who as you can see, Harry Kane puts his hand over his mouth to talk to the referee and then Paredes suggests that isn't allowed. You just saw him [Kane] put his hand over and there he [Paredes] goes to try to argue you shouldn't put your hand over your mouth. The rules are that if you put your hand over your mouth and say something to another player. It looked like he was saying it to the referee.'
Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart shot back: 'Pathetic. He was talking to the referee. He was trying to be clear, it's so difficult to communicate out there. Harry Kane is just trying to have a personal conversation with the referee. I get it, of course they're going to do anything they can to win this game, if you're going letter of the law and you see that. But come on, just win the game by scoring more goals.'
Wayne Rooney added: 'I think it's ridiculous.'
