Leandro Paredes came in for criticism from Wayne Rooney on BBC One for appearing to try to get Harry Kane sent off during England's World Cup semi-final against Argentina. Footage emerged at half-time showing the Three Lions captain covering his mouth while in conversation with referee Ismail Elfath, which he is entitled to do as his team's skipper.
Paredes protests to referee
After seeing what Kane was doing, Paredes protested to the official in an apparent attempt to get England reduced to ten men because of a new rule around hiding your mouth. However, doing so results in a red card only when it occurs during a confrontation between two players, not during a conversation, especially one with the match referee as captain.
Clarifying the distinction, BBC presenter Mark Chapman explained: "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."
Hart calls Paredes 'pathetic'
Former goalkeeper Joe Hart labelled Paredes' actions "pathetic", insisting that Kane "was talking to the referee and trying to be clear with him. 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 try and win this game. But come on, just win the game by scoring more goals."
Rooney: 'It's ridiculous'
Rooney then remarked: "I think it's ridiculous." He also believes it was all part of a plan to unnerve England. The pundit said: "Argentina would have definitely spoken about this before the game: 'Let's get into Jude [Bellingham], try and wind him up, try and make him get a yellow card, try and get him sent off'. It's really important that we don't take that bait, and we don't allow them to keep doing it, and we don't react badly to it."
England players urged to stay calm
Rooney added: "We have to be clever enough not to be involved. When there's a tackle there, go and win it with force, but do not get involved because the Argentina team, they do this a lot. They do this in other games, and they're used to it." Hart agreed: "I've loved how the England players have reacted and stood up to the battle. Anderson has chased the great man Messi around the field and not given him an inch. He has moments, of course he had, but that set the tone. That is exactly what you need in a game like this. You have got to stand up for yourself."
