Cristian Romero has hit back at Gary Neville following Argentina’s 2-1 win over England in the World Cup semi-finals, labelling the former Manchester United defender’s criticism as “stupid”.
Argentina come from behind to reach final
Reigning champions Argentina came from behind with two late goals to break English hearts and seal their place in a second successive World Cup final. Goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez cancelled out Anthony Gordon’s 55th-minute opener as the Three Lions were punished for dropping deep to defend their lead.
England had been quietly confident of beating Argentina, who had needed late goals to beat Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland in the previous rounds, and were on course to reach just their second World Cup final in 60 years when Gordon fired home from Morgan Rogers’ right-wing cross.
Neville's pre-match comments
Argentina’s defensive vulnerabilities had been well-documented, and in the build-up to the game, former England full-back Neville described Romero and his centre-back partner, Lisandro Martinez, as “the best, worst centre-half pairing in the world”.
“They seem to give a goal away between them every single game,” Neville said on his Stick to Football podcast. “But you watch them [for Argentina], they are scoring goals, heading the ball, they’re literally everywhere – it’s incredible. I call them the best, worst centre-half pairing in the world. Because they absolutely at times they can be unbelievable but the next, it’s the sublime to the ridiculous.”
Romero's response
After Argentina’s miraculous late comeback, Romero, who has started every game for Argentina alongside Martinez this summer, labelled Neville’s criticism as “stupid” and insisted he was just trying to do his best for his country.
“The only thing that I hope for is that when I retire, I am not that stupid. Hopefully I won't criticise a player or anyone,” Tottenham defender Romero told DSports. “Because at the end of the day, we are doing our best for our national team. Sometimes it goes right for us, sometimes badly, but we are just happy to be in a World Cup final again.”
“I think we are making history, for us it is something really huge, and we feel the significance of this shirt like no-one else.”
Manchester United defender Martinez added: “We're used to people always talking about us. It seems like they like doing it, and we respond on the pitch, that's it, always with respect.”
